Schneider Shorts 13.02.2026 – Prize for Academic Integrity (Europe category)

Schneider Shorts of 13 February 2026 – a Finnish nightmare for a Spanish scholar, a Portuguese Vice-Rector in trouble, a cure for cancer from US government, with a role model for women in German medicine, one champion of research ethics in England and another in Italy, and finally, why you must have a coffee (or a tea) now.

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Science Elites

Prize for Academic Integrity (UK-Europe category)

Huge congratulations to Shivadas Sivasubramaniam, Deputy Dean of School of Life and Health Sciences at University of Roehampton in UK for having been awarded the “2025 Tracey Bretag Prize for Academic Integrity (UK-Europe category)“. Here the university’s announcement from August 2025:

“The award recognises his national/international leadership in advancing ethical academic practice through the project named “UK-Biomedical Science Academic Working Group on Integrity and Ethical Engagement with GenAI.”

The Tracey Bretag Prize honours innovative and effective academic integrity initiatives that promote student learning, shape institutional culture, and reflect the late Professor Bretag’s vision of higher education grounded in ethics and humanity.”

You know where this is going, right?

Sholto David sure had his fun, the result is on PubPeer.

Reham M. Balahmar , Bhuvaneshwari Ranganathan , Vernon Ebegboni , Jumanah Alamir , Augustine Rajakumar , Venkataraman Deepak , Shiva Sivasubramaniam Analyses of selected tumour-associated factors expression in normotensive and preeclamptic placenta Pregnancy Hypertension (2022) doi: 10.1016/j.preghy.2022.06.001 

Here are these other two papers, tnot only do they share western blots with the study above, they also share confocal microscopy images with each other:

• Reham M Balahmar , Venkataraman Deepak , Shiva Sivasubramaniam Doxorubicin resistant choriocarcinoma cell line derived spheroidal cells exhibit stem cell markers but reduced invasion 3 Biotech (2022) doi: 10.1007/s13205-022-03243-x 
• Reham M. Balahmar , David J. Boocock , Clare Coveney , Sankalita Ray , Jayakumar Vadakekolathu , Tarik Regad , Selman Ali , Shiva Sivasubramaniam Identification and characterisation of NANOG+/ OCT-4high/SOX2+ doxorubicin-resistant stem-like cells from transformed trophoblastic cell lines Oncotarget (2018) doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.24151 

All these papers are from Sivasubramaniam’s time at the University of Derby, where he totally unironically led the Forensic Science department. The common first author on all of these three papers is Reham Balahmar, who apparently was left behind by his mentor at that fraudster fortress called Nottingham Trent University, his current whereabouts are unclear. Sivasubramaniam used to be senior lecturer at Nuttingham Trash for 22 years, and prior to that, he studied and earned his PhD there.

Dr Shiva is indeed a proper champion of research ethics, just recently he edited and contributed a chapter to the book “Ethics and Integrity in Education (Research)“, and contributed a chapter to yet another book on the topic, “Introduction to Research Ethics and Academic Integrity“. He is also a board member of European Network for Academic Integrity (ENAI) and as such he loves to teach research ethics, here in Romania, Georgia (Sakartvelo) and in Ukraine:

A man so busy he had no time to reply to my email. Well, ethics and integrity in academia need proper academic experts, not meddling kids like Sholto!

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Framing Ethics and Plagiarism

Meet another great hero of research ethics and integrity, Michele Caraglia, professor of biochemistry at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” in Italy. In 2024, he co-edited (with Girolamo Tessuto) an academic book titled “Framing Ethics and Plagiarism in Medical Research Writing and Publishing“, which “explores the complexities of ethics and plagiarism in medical research” and “helps readers understand how to scrutinize language in scientific writing and publishing“.

And this is how Caraglia’s professional expertise in plagiarism works in practice.

Michele Caraglia, Monica Marra, Girolamo Pelaia, Rosario Maselli, Mario Caputi , Serafino A. Marsico , Alberto Abbruzzese Alpha‐interferon and its effects on signal transduction pathways Journal of Cellular Physiology (2005) doi: 10.1002/jcp.20137 

Source text 1 (~35%, marked in blue) has Caraglia as first author and it was not cited:

• M. Caraglia , G. Vitale , M. Marra , S. Del Prete , A. Lentini , A. Budillon , S. Beninati , A. Abbruzzese Translational and post-translational modifications of proteins as a new mechanism of action of Alpha-Interferon: Review article Amino Acids (2004) doi: 10.1007/s00726-004-0085-5 

Source text 2 (marked in red) was cited, and that paper by Caraglia contains data forgeries:

• M Caraglia, P Tagliaferri , M Marra , G Giuberti , A Budillon , E Di Gennaro , S Pepe , G Vitale , S Improta , P Tassone , S Venuta , A R Bianco , A Abbruzzese EGF activates an inducible survival response via the RAS-> Erk-1/2 pathway to counteract interferon-alpha-mediated apoptosis in epidermoid cancer cells Cell Death & Differentiation (2003) doi: 10.1038/sj.cdd.4401131 

You might say, so what, self-plagiarism doesn’t count. Well it does count:

But wait, here is another example of of Professor Caraglia’s amazing expertise on the topic of plagiarism:

Michele Caraglia, Daniele Santini , Monica Marra , Bruno Vincenzi , Giuseppe Tonini , Alfredo Budillon Emerging anti-cancer molecular mechanisms of aminobisphosphonates Endocrine Related Cancer (2006) doi: 10.1677/erc.1.01094 

These are the sources, “approx. 10% text were taken from the previously published article“:

• R.E. Coleman Bisphosphonates in breast cancer Annals of Oncology (2005) doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdi162 

Maybe in Naples it sounds credible that “RE Coleman” is Caraglia’s nom de plume? Next source contributed 15%, but here it is “merely” self-plagiarism:

• M. Caraglia, A. Budillon , P. Tagliaferri , M. Marra , A. Abbruzzese , F. Caponigro Isoprenylation of intracellular proteins as a new target for the therapy of human neoplasms: preclinical and clinical implications Current Drug Targets (2005) doi: 10.2174/1389450053765833

As you already saw, it is not just plagiarism which interests Caraglia. It’s also data forgery, as evidenced on PubPeer for almost 30 of Caraglia’s papers. Including with Kenneth Anderson and other cheaters at Data-Farber Cancer Institute in USA (Amodio et al 2016), and with the pathological liar and cheater Chiara Riganti (Kopecka et al 2016), who has a PubPeer record too shameful even for Italy (almost 60 fake papers, see also December 2025 Shorts).

Published in the same rotten Italian journal you saw above:

F Bruzzese , B Pucci , M R Milone , C Ciardiello , R Franco , M I Chianese , M Rocco , E Di Gennaro , A Leone , A Luciano , C Arra , D Santini , M Caraglia , A Budillon Panobinostat synergizes with zoledronic acid in prostate cancer and multiple myeloma models by increasing ROS and modulating mevalonate and p38-MAPK pathways Cell Death & Disease (2013) doi: 10.1038/cddis.2013.406 

The first author Francesca Bruzzese (now unit director at IRCCS National Cancer Institute in Naples) explained in January 2026 that “as this study was conducted over 13 years ago, raw image files, as well as the tumor tissue slices from mice, are no longer available.”

Totally not fake, this:

G. Pelaia, L. Gallelli , T. Renda , D. Fratto , D. Falcone , M. Caraglia , M. T. Busceti , R. Terracciano , A. Vatrella , R. Maselli , R. Savino Effects of statins and farnesyl transferase inhibitors on ERK phosphorylation, apoptosis and cell viability in non-small lung cancer cells Cell Proliferation (2012) doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2184.2012.00846.x 

And to avoid confusion, here is Caragia the last and corresponding author, penultimate are the cheater duo Pierosandro Tagliaferri and Pierfrancesco Tassone (read June 2025 Shorts):

Gabriella Misso , Mayra Rachele Zarone , Angela Lombardi , Anna Grimaldi , Alessia Maria Cossu , Carmela Ferri , Margherita Russo , Daniela Cristina Vuoso , Amalia Luce , Hiromichi Kawasaki , Maria Teresa Di Martino , Antonella Virgilio , Agostino Festa , Aldo Galeone , Giuseppe De Rosa , Carlo Irace , Massimo Donadelli , Alois Necas , Evzen Amler , Pierosandro Tagliaferri , Pierfrancesco Tassone, Michele Caraglia miR-125b Upregulates miR-34a and Sequentially Activates Stress Adaption and Cell Death Mechanisms in Multiple Myeloma Molecular Therapy — Nucleic Acids (2019) doi: 10.1016/j.omtn.2019.02.023 

Now, Caraglia the ethics hero as first author, with Tagliaferri, Tassone and with his plagiarism co-conspirators from Naples, Alfredo Budillon and Alberto Abbruzzese (you met them above). Albruzzese died in 2011, Caraglia wrote the obituary in Cell Death & Depravity, titled in bad English “Scientist who studied from amino acids to nanoparticles in anti-cancer therapy“.

Michele Caraglia , Anna Maria D’Alessandro , Monica Marra , Gaia Giuberti , Giovanni Vitale , Caterina Viscomi , Annamaria Colao , Salvatore Del Prete , Pierosandro Tagliaferri , Pierfrancesco Tassone , Alfredo Budillon , Salvatore Venuta , Alberto Abbruzzese The farnesyl transferase inhibitor R115777 (Zarnestra) synergistically enhances growth inhibition and apoptosis induced on epidermoid cancer cells by Zoledronic acid (Zometa) and Pamidronate Oncogene (2004) doi: 10.1038/sj.onc.1207814 

It is really frustrating. For people like Caraglia it is not enough to publish fake cancer research and engage in plagiarism, no, this old man wants you to adore him as Italy’s top authority on research ethics.

Michele Caraglia , Monica Marra , Carlo Leonetti , Giuseppina Meo , Anna Maria D’Alessandro , Alfonso Baldi , Daniele Santini , Giuseppe Tonini , Raffaello Bertieri , Gabriella Zupi , Alfredo Budillon , Alberto Abbruzzese R115777 (Zarnestra)/Zoledronic acid (Zometa) cooperation on inhibition of prostate cancer proliferation is paralleled by Erk/Akt inactivation and reduced Bcl-2 and bad phosphorylation Journal of Cellular Physiology (2007) doi: 10.1002/jcp.20960 

More by this Neapolitan gang, flagged by Claire Francis many years ago, again mostly in that horrible journal family Cell Death and Depravity:

Now, to some more fun facts about Caraglia.

Fun fact 1: One of Caraglia’s collaborators was the German professor at University of Würzburg, Ulf Rapp, who once led the investigation into the fraud affair of Friedhelm Hermann and Marion Brach. You saw a fake paper by Rapp and Caraglia’s Neapolitan gang above, here is another one:

Michele Caraglia, Monica Marra , Caterina Viscomi , Anna Maria D’Alessandro , Alfredo Budillon , Giuseppina Meo , Claudio Arra The farnesyltransferase inhibitor R115777 (ZARNESTRA) enhances the pro-apoptotic activity of interferon-alpha through the inhibition of multiple survival pathways International Journal of Cancer (2007) doi: 10.1002/ijc.22964 

Fun fact 2: Caraglia’s own research served as source of stolen western blots for another Neapolitan, the fraudster money embezzler Michele D’Amico (see Rossi et al 2015)

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Liliana and Roland

With pleasure I introduce you (again) to a great biomedical researcher in my own neighbourhood – the kidney researcher Liliana Schaefer, professor at the Goethe University of Frankfurt in Germany. Schaefer briefly featured on For Better Science before, as Editor-in-Chief of AJP Cell Physiology who issued outrageous corrigenda for papermill fraud (June 2022 Shorts), and as coauthor on bad papers by the Italian cheater Renato Iozzo, professor at Thomas Jefferson University in USA (May 2025 Shorts). This connection also earned Schaefer an adjunct professorship at Jefferson University.

Here is a new find with Iozzo:

Liliana Schaefer, Wasiliki Tsalastra , Andrea Babelova , Martina Baliova , Jens Minnerup , Lydia Sorokin , Hermann-Josef Gröne , Dieter P. Reinhardt , Josef Pfeilschifter, Renato V. Iozzo, Roland M. Schaefer Decorin-mediated regulation of fibrillin-1 in the kidney involves the insulin-like growth factor-I receptor and Mammalian target of rapamycin American Journal Of Pathology (2007) doi: 10.2353/ajpath.2007.060497 

Let me now explain something, also regarding the last author. Professor Schaefer wasn’t always called Schaefer. She came to western Germany from Poland, to get an MD degree at the University of Würzburg, back then her name was Liliana Denek. In Würzburg, she studied with a professor named Roland Schaefer (see for example Denek et al 1990), whom she apparently married, hence the name change. Liliana followed Roland to the University of Münster, where he became head of department and she became group leader, until in 2006 Liliana earned herself a professorship in Frankfurt. Roland followed and joined a university-associated clinic (MVZ Immunologie Sachsenhausen). At some point, the couple split, at least geographically – Roland now works in a private practice called DaVita Dinkelsbühl in Bavaria.

Liliana continues with science, and she doesn’t need Italian masters like Iozzo to inspire her. Here she is again with her mentor and husband Roland, the last author is Frankfurt’s pharmacology bigwig Josef Pfeilschifter, who acted as his university’s Dean of Medicine for 18 years until 2020:

Liliana Schaefer , Karl-Friedrich Beck, Igor Raslik , Sebastian Walpen , Daniel Mihalik , Miroslava Micegova , Katarina Macakova , Elke Schonherr , Daniela G. Seidler, Georg Varga, Roland M. Schaefer , Hans Kresse, Josef Pfeilschifter Biglycan, a nitric oxide-regulated gene, affects adhesion, growth, and survival of mesangial cells Journal of Biological Chemistry (2003) doi: 10.1074/jbc.m210574200

Yes, an unwritten law in German university medicine dictates that your boss must always be made coauthor. Hence, congratulations to Prof Pfeilschifter again. Another recurrent name is Hermann-Josef Gröne, who is professor at DKFZ in Heidelberg, now visiting at University of Marburg:

Andrea Babelova, Kristin Moreth , Wasiliki Tsalastra-Greul , Jinyang Zeng-Brouwers , Oliver Eickelberg, Marian F. Young , Peter Bruckner , Josef Pfeilschifter , Roland M. Schaefer , Hermann-Josef Gröne, Liliana Schaefer Biglycan, a danger signal that activates the NLRP3 inflammasome via toll-like and P2X receptors Journal of Biological Chemistry (2009) doi: 10.1074/jbc.m109.014266 

More by Liliana with her Roland and with Gröne:

Liliana Schaefer, Andrea Babelova , Eva Kiss , Heinz-J. Hausser , Martina Baliova , Miroslava Krzyzankova , Gunther Marsche , Marian F. Young , Daniel Mihalik , Martin Götte , Ernst Malle , Roland M. Schaefer , Hermann-Josef Gröne The matrix component biglycan is proinflammatory and signals through Toll-like receptors 4 and 2 in macrophages Journal of Clinical Investigation (2005) doi: 10.1172/jci23755 

Enough of alpha males! Here is Schaefer with her professorial colleague at the University of Giessen and another Poland native, Malgorzata Wygrecka. The journal is owned by the International Society for Matrix Biology, the president of which Schaefer was at the time of publication.

Madalina Viviana Nastase , Jinyang Zeng-Brouwers , Janet Beckmann , Claudia Tredup , Urs Christen , Heinfried H. Radeke , Malgorzata Wygrecka, Liliana Schaefer Biglycan, a novel trigger of Th1 and Th17 cell recruitment into the kidney Matrix Biology (2018) doi: 10.1016/j.matbio.2017.12.002 

Which brings us to a corrected paper by Schaefer and Wygrecka with their Giessen colleague Ralph Schermuly!

Here it is:

Malgorzata Wygrecka , Djuro Kosanovic , Lukasz Wujak , Katrin Reppe , Ingrid Henneke , Helena Frey , Miroslava Didiasova , Grazyna Kwapiszewska , Leigh M. Marsh , Nelli Baal , Holger Hackstein , Dariusz Zakrzewicz , Holger C. Müller-Redetzky , Steven De Maat , Coen Maas , Marc W. Nolte , Con Panousis , Ralph T. Schermuly, Werner Seeger, Martin Witzenrath , Liliana Schaefer, Philipp Markart Antihistone Properties of C1 Esterase Inhibitor Protect against Lung Injury American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2017) doi: 10.1164/rccm.201604-0712oc 

A similar issue in this paper which Schaefer coauthored:

Melanie Königshoff , Monika Kramer , Nisha Balsara , Jochen Wilhelm , Oana Veronica Amarie , Andreas Jahn , Frank Rose , Ludger Fink, Werner Seeger, Liliana Schaefer, Andreas Günther , Oliver Eickelberg WNT1-inducible signaling protein-1 mediates pulmonary fibrosis in mice and is upregulated in humans with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Journal of Clinical Investigation (2009) doi: 10.1172/jci33950 

There is absolutly no need to go complaining to the University of Frankfurt, they never find anything wrong: two of their medical geniuses, Florian Greten and the former Vice-Rector Simone Fulda, were found to be innocent victims of malicious PubPeer slander.

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Retraction Watchdogging

Outstanding achievements in biochemistry

Two retractions for Portuguese scholars, the last author on ßboth papers is Cecília Maria Pereira Rodrigues, full professor of pharmacy at University of Lisbon. It might also be relevant that Rodrigues is since 2021 Vice-Rector of Research and Innovation of her university, thus in charge of investigating herself.

Both papers were originally flagged by the pseudonymous sleuth Claire Francis:

D. M. S. Ferreira , R. E. Castro , M. V. Machado , T. Evangelista , A. Silvestre , A. Costa , J. Coutinho , F. Carepa , H. Cortez-Pinto , C. M. P. Rodrigues Apoptosis and insulin resistance in liver and peripheral tissues of morbidly obese patients is associated with different stages of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease Diabetologia (2011) doi: 10.1007/s00125-011-2130-8 

Springer Nature published this retraction on 6 February 2026, the problem in Figure 1 was not considered:

“The Editor-in-Chief has retracted this article. After publication, concerns were raised regarding western blot similarities in Figs. 2 and 5, specifically:

• Fig. 2a pINSR and 5c pJNK appear to overlap with 180 degree rotation;
• Fig. 2b pINSR and 5a pJNK appear to overlap with 180 degree rotation.

The Editor-in-Chief therefore no longer has confidence in the presented data.

D. M. S. Ferreira, R. E. Castro and C. M. P. Rodrigues agree to this retraction. The other authors have not responded to any correspondence from the editor or publisher about this retraction.”

Here the second retraction:

Sara R. Oliveira , Pedro A. Dionísio , Maria M. Gaspar , Leonor Correia Guedes , Miguel Coelho , Mário M. Rosa , Joaquim J. Ferreira , Joana D. Amaral , Cecília M. P. Rodrigues miR-335 Targets LRRK2 and Mitigates Inflammation in Parkinson’s Disease Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (2021) doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.661461 

The Frontiers retraction was also issued on 6 February 2026:

“Following publication, concerns were raised regarding the integrity of the images in the published figures. The authors failed to provide a satisfactory explanation during the investigation, which was conducted in accordance with Frontiers’ policies.

This retraction was approved by the Chief Editors of Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology and the Chief Executive Editor of Frontiers. The authors received a communication regarding the retraction and had a chance to respond. This communication has been recorded by the publisher.

Frontiers would like to thank the concerned reader who contacted us regarding the published article.”

It is very unusual for two publishers simultaneously retracting papers for such issues as duplicated gels (they normally ignore them). But then again, there’s much more for Rodrigues on PubPeer (over 20 papers), so who knows what really goes on in Lisbon.

This bad paper features some of the authors we met on the second retraction:

Sara R. Oliveira , Pedro A. Dionísio , Hugo Brito , Lídia Franco , Catarina A. B. Rodrigues , Rita C. Guedes, Carlos A. M. Afonso, Joana D. Amaral, Cecília M. P. Rodrigues Phenotypic screening identifies a new oxazolone inhibitor of necroptosis and neuroinflammation Cell Death Discovery (2018) doi: 10.1038/s41420-018-0067-0 

A study with Belgian colleagues:

Ana F. Nunes , Joana D. Amaral , Adrian C. Lo , Maria B. Fonseca , Ricardo J. S. Viana , Zsuzsanna Callaerts-Vegh , Rudi D’Hooge , Cecília M. P. Rodrigues TUDCA, a Bile Acid, Attenuates Amyloid Precursor Protein Processing and Amyloid-β Deposition in APP/PS1 Mice Molecular Neurobiology (2012) doi: 10.1007/s12035-012-8256-y 

The sleuth is right, high-lied indeed. This paper might need to be retracted also, by Sage:

Joana M Xavier , Ana L Morgado , Susana Solá , Cecília M P Rodrigues Mitochondrial translocation of p53 modulates neuronal fate by preventing differentiation-induced mitochondrial stress Antioxidants & Redox Signaling (2014) doi: 10.1089/ars.2013.5417 

Massive image reuse here:

Marta B. Afonso , Pedro M. Rodrigues , Tânia Carvalho , Marta Caridade , Paula Borralho , Helena Cortez-Pinto , Rui E. Castro , Cecília M.P. Rodrigues Necroptosis is a key pathogenic event in human and experimental murine models of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis Clinical Science (2015) doi: 10.1042/cs20140732 

The only common author in the above case of reuse is Paula Borralho, a pathologist at University of Lisbon. She is likely married or otherwise related to Rodrigues’s mentee Pedro Borralho, see his dodgy papers Castro et al 2013, Ferreira et al 2014, Gomes et al 2016, or this, with Rodrigues’s own past mentor at University of Minnesota, Clifford Steer:

Pedro M Borralho , Isabel B Moreira Da Silva , Márcia M Aranha , Cristina Albuquerque , Carlos Nobre Leitão , Clifford J Steer , Cecília M P Rodrigues Inhibition of Fas expression by RNAi modulates 5-fluorouracil-induced apoptosis in HCT116 cells expressing wild-type p53 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (2007) doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2006.09.005 

In this regard, here a paper from Rodrigues’s postdoc stay with Steer, instead of cloned western blots we have cloned FACS plots:

Cecilia M. P. Rodrigues, Guangsheng Fan , Phillip Y. Wong , Betsy T. Kren , Clifford J. Steer Ursodeoxycholic Acid May Inhibit Deoxycholic Acid-Induced Apoptosis by Modulating Mitochondrial Transmembrane Potential and Reactive Oxygen Species Production World Journal of Surgery (1998) doi: 10.1007/bf03401914 

For more fake stuff Rodrigues published with her mentor Steer, see Aranha et al 2009, Viana et al 2010, or this:

Rui E. Castro , Susana Solá , Rita M. Ramalho , Clifford J. Steer , Cecília M.P. Rodrigues The bile acid tauroursodeoxycholic acid modulates phosphorylation and translocation of bad via phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in glutamate-induced apoptosis of rat cortical neurons The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (2004) doi: 10.1124/jpet.104.070532 

But we shouldn’t get distracted from blaming Professor Rodrigues:

Joana M Xavier , Ana L Morgado , Cecília MP Rodrigues , Susana Solá Tauroursodeoxycholic acid increases neural stem cell pool and neuronal conversion by regulating mitochondria-cell cycle retrograde signaling Cell Cycle (2014) doi: 10.4161/15384101.2014.962951 

Everything is falsifiable:

Susana Ourô , Cláudia Mourato , Sónia Velho , André Cardador , Marisa P Ferreira , Diogo Albergaria , Rui E Castro , Rui Maio , Cecília M P Rodrigues Potential of miR-21 to Predict Incomplete Response to Chemoradiotherapy in Rectal Adenocarcinoma Frontiers in Oncology (2020) doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.577653 

The Vice-Rector Rodrigues also was Scientific Council member of Portugal’s national funding agency FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) and governing board member of the European Association for the Study of the Liver. In 2022, Rodrigues was awarded by FEBS society with the Sir Hans Krebs Medal, for her “outstanding achievements in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology“.

I am a very bad science journalist obviously, so I can’t give advice to Portuguese professionals, but aren’t these 2 retractions for one of country’s top scholars, uhm, you know, maybe, news?

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Unfair accusations by Mika Sillanpää

Trouble for a scholar in Finland – Susana Rodriguez-Couto, originally from Spain and since 2021 full professor of separation science at LUT University. She now separated herself from three papers.

As the PubPeer thread shows, the following paper is basically a garbled copy of not one, not two, not three, but four other Iranian papermill product which this genius coauthored, three of them already retracted. I think Prof Rodriguez-Couto should sue her papermill provider for providing a bad service!

Negin Nasseh , Tariq J. Al-Musawi , Mohammad Reza Miri , Susana Rodriguez-Couto, Ayat Hossein Panahi A comprehensive study on the application of FeNi@SiO@ZnO magnetic nanocomposites as a novel photo-catalyst for degradation of tamoxifen in the presence of simulated sunlight Environmental Pollution (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114127 

These papers also share data with each other and with other products from the same papermill, it is very complicated and I applaud the sleuth who found this all. It’s so bad that Elsevier even retracted it, never mind the Finnish affiliation. Highlights mine:

“This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor.

A complaint was recorded about this article on PubPeer at https://pubpeer.com/publications/40045BCF519B0DA7C64335B3E15E78. It was found that the article in question overlaps significantly with the following three other publications with numerous common authors: International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry 102 (2020) pp. 2342-2362. doi: 10.1080/03067319.2020.1754810

Desalination and Water Treatment 195 (2020) Pages 435-449 https://doi.org/10.5004/dwt.2020.25870

Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 128 (2021) 105725, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2021.10572.

The editor assessing the Environmental Pollution article felt that these four articles are essentially duplicate works, using the same figures across different articles and reported virtually the same findings and conclusions. The figures in the Environmental Pollution article frequently show evidence of distortion and/or rotation or flipping compared with the same image in the other articles. Despite these similarities, inconsistencies were noted between the Env. Poll. and Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. articles: for example the authors interpreted the band energy value differently, the pHpzc values were differently reported and the order of elements in EDS analysis was differently reported. Conversely the results and discussions regarding the degradation rate across varying TMX concentrations were identical between the papers, although neither of these articles presented the full range of dosage data upon which these discussions were based in graphical format.

Furthermore unauthorised authorship changes were made when the revised version of this paper was submitted, with authors Mohammad Reza Miri and Susana Rodriguez-Couto being added to the paper. No satisfactory explanation was given for this change, nor was it approved by the editor. The post-publication explanation for the addition of these two new authors was not plausible. This authorship change breaches the policies of the journal and as a result, and because of the aforementioned scientific irregularities and duplicate reporting of results, the editor no longer has confidence in either the contribution that the authors have made to this paper, or the results contained therein, and is therefore retracting it. The journal apologises for not having identified the problematic authorship change during the review process and for any resulting inconvenience.”

Well yes, Rodriguez-Couto was added to the paper during the revision. She is obviously a papermiller with more on PubPeer, and due to her history with Iranian papermills she is easily extortable by the Iranian secret service.

Let’s have a look at one of these aforementioned retracted papers by Rodriguez-Couto, there are even hand-drawn spectra which were reccled accross two papers:

Maryam Khodadadi , Susana Rodriguez-Couto, Fatemeh Sadat Arghavan , Ayat Hossein Panahi Synthesis and characterisation of FeNi3@SiO2@TiO2 nano-composite and its application as a catalyst in a photochemical oxidation process to decompose tetracycline Desalination and Water Treatment (2020) doi: 10.5004/dwt.2020.25870 

The retraction notice which Elsevier issued in October 2025, was short:

“This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief.

After image duplication concerns were raised in a PubPeer post, the Editor-in-Chief requested an explanation from the authors but received no response. After careful and thorough evaluation of the relevant articles and in the absence of a credible explanation, the editor lost confidence in the article and decided to retract it.

Apologies are offered to the readers of the journal for not identifying the issue during the submission process.”

Which brings us to the third retraction, also mentioned above:

Negin Nasseh , Fatemeh Sadat Arghavan , Susana Rodriguez-Couto, Ayat Hossein Panahi Synthesis of FeNi₃/SiO₂/CuS magnetic nano-composite as a novel adsorbent for Congo Red dye removal International Journal of Environmental & Analytical Chemistry (2022) doi: 10.1080/03067319.2020.1754810

Taylor & Francis retracted this paper on 23 April 2025:

“Since publication, significant concerns have been raised about the integrity of the data and reported results in the article. Specifically, the figures detailed below were found to have the following concerns.

Figure 1 (Graphical scheme of FeNi3/SiO2/CuS nanoparticle synthesis) was found to be a duplication of Figure 2 (Schematic diagram of synthesizing steps of FeNi3 @SiO2 @TiO2 magnetic nanocomposite) of Synthesis and characterization of FeNi3 @SiO2 @TiO2 nano-composite and its application as a catalyst in a photochemical oxidation process to decompose tetracycline

Figure 3 (Microphotographa of FE-SEM) was found to be duplicated with distortion of Figure 6 (FE-SEM images (A to C) and of A comprehensive study on the application of FeNi3@SiO2@ZnO magnetic nanocomposites as a novel photo-catalyst for degradation of tamoxifen in the presence of simulated sunlight and a duplicate with distortion of Figure 6 (FE-SEM images of FeNi3 (a), FeNi3 @SiO2 (b), and FeNi3 @SiO2 @TiO2 (c) nanoparticles) of Synthesis and characterization of FeNi3 @SiO2 @TiO2 nano-composite and its application as a catalyst in a photochemical oxidation process to decompose tetracycline

Figure 4 (Microphotographs of TEM) was found to be duplicated with distortion with TEM images

(D to F) of FeNi3@SiO2@ZnO and its parent particles) of A comprehensive study on the application of FeNi3@SiO2@ZnO magnetic nanocomposites as a novel photo-catalyst for degradation of tamoxifen in the presence of simulated sunlight and a duplicate of Figure 7 (TEM images of FeNi3 (a), FeNi3 @SiO2 (b), and FeNi3 @SiO2 @TiO2 (c) nanoparticles) of Synthesis and characterization of FeNi3 @SiO2 @TiO2 nano-composite and its application as a catalyst in a photochemical oxidation process to decompose tetracycline

Figure 5 (XRD patterns of FeNi3.SiO2.CuS, FeNi3.SiO2 and FeNi3) was found to be a duplicate of Figure 1 (XRD patterns of FeNi3, FeNi3@SiO2 and FeNi3@SiO2@ZnO particles) of A comprehensive study on the application of FeNi3@SiO2@ZnO magnetic nanocomposites as a novel photo-catalyst for degradation of tamoxifen in the presence of simulated sunlight and a

duplicate of Figure 5 (XRD spectra of FeNi3, FeNi3 @SiO2, and FeNi3 @SiO2 @TiO2 nanoparticles) of Synthesis and characterization of FeNi3 @SiO2 @TiO2 nano-composite and its application as a catalyst in a photochemical oxidation process to decompose tetracycline –

Figure 6 VSM analysis of FeNi3.SiO2.CuS, FeNi3.SiO2 and FeNi3) was found to be a duplicate of Figure 8 (VSM analysis of FeNi3, FeNi3 @SiO2, and FeNi3 @SiO2 @TiO2 nanoparticles) of Synthesis and characterization of FeNi3 @SiO2 @TiO2 nano-composite and its application as a catalyst in a photochemical oxidation process to decompose tetracycline.

As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article. The authors do not agree with the retraction.”

Now to another study by Rodriguez-Couto, which Elsevier hasn’t retracted so far:

Ayat Hossein Panahi , Mohammad Kamranifar , Mohammad Hadi Moslehi, Susana Rodriguez-Couto , Negin Nasseh Synthesis and characterization of FeNi3 nanoparticles and their application as catalysts for penicillin G degradation in a Fenton-like reaction Desalination and Water Treatment (2020) doi: 10.5004/dwt.2020.25122 

Here is my theory, hear me out: LUT brought this charming Spanish lady in to replace their former superstar Mika Sillanpää whom they had to sack in 2019 because he sexually harassed female subordinates, bullied and threatened students and colleagues, even stole university’s money. After he was exposed, Sillanpää sued and reported all his victims and the journalists to the Finnish police. Read the Coda here:

As long as Rodriguez-Couto sticks to papermill fraud and doesn’t do those other things Mika did, her well-paid professorship at LUT will be safe as houses.

I wrote to Rodriguez-Cuoto and her LUT. The professor replied with these explanations:

“I haven´t never paid for authorship, neither was a “gift author”, I worked in all the papers I authored.

I don´t have any Iranian papermill, these were just some scientific collaborators.

I was not affiliated at LUT or any other Finnish institution at that time.

These retractions were done due to unfair accusations by Mika SIllanpää, of course under a fake name, but all LUT knows is him.“

WOW.

By the way: if you wish to meet Rodriguez-Cuoto, she is organising a water treatment conference at LUT for June 2026. Together with two other full professors at LUT: Eveliina Repo, a mentee of Sillanpää (see PubPeer and August 2025 Shorts), and Amit Bhatnagar, whom LUT used to celebrate as Highly Cited Researcher together with LUT professor Behnam Mohammadi-Ivatloo (until Clarivate delisted them both for papermilling). In Bhatnagar’s case, see his PubPeer record of ~50 papermill products, with coauthors like Sillanpää, Jörg Rinklebe, Yong Sik Ok and Pau Loke Show).

This, by Bhatnagar and the papermill gangster Mukesh Kumar Awasthi, was retracted last year:

Vinay Kumar , Neha Sharma , Mridul Umesh , Manickam Selvaraj , Badria M. Al-Shehri , Pritha Chakraborty , Lucky Duhan , Shivali Sharma , Ritu Pasrija , Mukesh Kumar Awasthi , Siva Ramakrishna Lakkaboyana , Rodrigo Andler , Amit Bhatnagar, Subhrangsu Sundar Maitra Emerging challenges for the agro-industrial food waste utilization: A review on food waste biorefinery Bioresource Technology (2022) doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127790 

The retraction from April 2025 revealed bought authorships and editorial misconduct by Ashok Pandey:

“Review of this submission was handled by the then Editor-in-Chief (Ashok Pandey) despite an extensive record of collaboration, including co-publication, with one of the paper co-authors (Mukesh Kumar Awasthi). In addition, authorship changes were made during the revision of this paper; the authors Manickam Selvaraj and Badria M. Al-Shehri were added to the revised paper without validation or authorisation.”

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Science Breakthroughs

Two to three cups daily

You can always trust The Guardian to bring you the most important and the most reliable science news. They have news from Harvard, turns out that coffee, among other miracles, also prevents dementia!

Here Guardian‘s news from 9 February 2026:

“Health records for more than 130,000 people showed that over 40 years, those who routinely drank two to three cups of caffeinated coffee or one to two cups of caffeinated tea daily had a 15-20% lower risk of dementia than those who went without.

The caffeinated coffee drinkers also reported slightly less cognitive decline than those who opted for decaf and performed better on some objective tests of brain function […]

“Our study alone can’t prove causality, but to our knowledge, it is the best evidence to date looking at coffee and tea intake and cognitive health, and it is consistent with plausible biology,” said the lead author, Yu Zhang, who studies nutritional epidemiology at Harvard University.””

Here is the paper, in JAMA, it is based on the data from the Nurses’ Health study and the Health Professionals Follow-up study, where participants were followed up “for up to 43 years”:

Yu Zhang , Yuxi Liu , Yanping Li , Yuhan Li , Xiao Gu , Jae H. Kang , A. Heather Eliassen , Molin Wang , Eric B. Rimm , Walter C. Willett , Frank B. Hu , Meir J. Stampfer , Dong D. Wang Coffee and Tea Intake, Dementia Risk, and Cognitive Function JAMA (2026) doi: 10.1001/jama.2025.27259 

Guardian also reminds us that “Tea and coffee both contain antioxidants that may be beneficial, and a caffeine boost can motivate people to work, learn and exercise“.

More coffee here.

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Results in a few months

In USA, Preident Donald Trump and his Secretary of Disease Robert F Kennedy Jr continue their project to kill as many people as possible, home and abroad.

On 10 february 2026, KFF Health News reported that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) “is studying ivermectin as a potential cancer treatment“:

“There are enough reports of it, enough interest in it, that we actually did — ivermectin, in particular — did engage in sort of a better preclinical study of its properties and its ability to kill cancer cells,” said Anthony Letai, a physician the Trump administration appointed as NCI director in September.

Letai did not cite new evidence that might have prompted the institute to research the effectiveness of the antiparasitic drug against cancer. The drug, largely used to treat people or animals for infections caused by parasites, is a popular dewormer for horses.

“We’ll probably have those results in a few months,” Letai said. “So we are taking it seriously.”

He spoke about ivermectin at a Jan. 30 event, “Reclaiming Science: The People’s NIH,” with National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya and other senior agency officials at Washington, D.C.’s Willard Hotel. The MAHA Institute hosted the discussion, framed by the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. […]

“If lots of people believe it and it’s moving public health, we as NIH have an obligation, again, to treat it seriously,” Bhattacharya said at the event.”

Ivermectin became popular with far-right covidiots and antivaxxers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the key ivermectin proselytiser Peter McCullough is now advising RFK Jr, and is key figure of his Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. RFK Jr ministry and NCI refused telling the media how much money they plan to spend on poisoning cancer patients with ivermectin, knowing these people, they will probably do these “clinical trials” in Africa (read December 2025 Shorts).

One wonders, why are fascist quacks so obsessed with the antiparasitic ivermectin as a cure-for-all? Well, it seems racism plays a role! The antisemite associate of Didier Raoult, the IHU Marseille professor Eric Chabriere, once promoted ivermectin with the argument that it kills “vermin”, and that’s why Jewish critics oppose ivermectin use, Chabriere tweeted. Kill the vermin, cleanse the Volkskörper (white nation’s body) from cancer, both the literal one and the metaphorical cancers these racists imagine.

Fittingly, the KFF article mentions the antisemite Mel Gibson: “On a January 2025 episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast, actor Mel Gibson claimed that a combination of drugs that included ivermectin cured three friends with stage 4 cancer.” In Florida, where they are working to re-install Jim Crow laws, “Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis […] announced last fall that the state plans to fund research to study the drug as a potential cancer treatment.”

Anthony Letai became NCI director in September 2025, prior to that he was professor at Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). Yes, the fraud place which had to pay lots of money to Sholto David (read December 2025 Shorts). In his DFCI role, Letai coauthored some problematic research, see PubPeer.

Elsewhere, the failed candidate for that NCI director’s job, the Brown University professor Wafik El-Deiry, continues to try and impress RFK Jr with rabid antivaxxery. His journal Oncotarget just published a paper by some unhinged idiots, claiming that COVID-19 vaccinations cause cancer, and not in a distant future, but the next day!

This paper has not been rejected 16 times for nothing. They pretend that causation between a shot 💉 and discovery of a cancer days later is possible.🤦‍♂️ There are literally guidelines for the minimum latency between exposure and cancer, and it's measured in *years*📆!!pubpeer.com/publications…

— Thomas Kesteman🦠🧫🔬🌏 (@tkes.bsky.social) 2026-02-08T17:15:19.457Z

Here is that clinical report, where the authors proudly admit it was rejected 16 times, even by Spandidos and an Iranian journal:

Patrizia Gentilini , Janci C. Lindsay , Nafuko Konishi , Masanori Fukushima , Panagis Polykretis Exploring the potential link between mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations and cancer: A case report with a review of haematopoietic malignancies with insights into pathogenic mechanisms Oncotarget (2026) doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.28827 

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