The New England Journal of Medicine doubled down on its refusal to retract a 2016 paper co-authored by a Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth health policy professor who resigned last week after allegations of plagiarism, STAT reports.
Here are six things to know:
1. Dartmouth initiated an investigation into H. Gilbert Welch, MD, after a Dartmouth associate professor and a UC Los Angeles associate professor claimed Dr. Welch's 2016 paper was "identical or virtually identical … in numerous key aspects" to a paper the duo submitted to NEJM in 2015 that was rejected.
2. The investigation found Dr. Welch "engaged in research misconduct, namely, plagiarism, by knowingly, intentionally or recklessly appropriating the ideas, processes, results or words of complainants without giving them appropriate credit," according to a June 2018 letter written by Dartmouth leadership and obtained by Retraction Watch, a blog that reports on retractions of scientific papers. Dr. Welch denied the investigation's findings.
3. The dean of the medical school reportedly proposed Dr. Welch could remain a Dartmouth employee if he revised the article to list Samir Soneji, PhD, and Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez, PhD — the two individuals who brought the allegations to light — as first authors and resign from teaching. Dr. Welch, however, refused and announced his resignation Sept. 13.
4. Drs. Soneji and Beltrán-Sánchez have objected to NEJM's repeated refusal to retract Dr. Welch's paper, telling STAT Sept. 14: "We believe the failure of the New England Journal of Medicine to retract creates a dangerous precedent whereby plagiarism is allowed in the most prestigious journals. We hope the Journal will adhere to the highest ethical principles and retract the plagiarizing article."
5. Drs. Soneji and Beltrán-Sánchez reached out to the Committee on Publication Ethics, a publication and journal membership organization, to weigh in on the case. In a letter obtained by STAT, COPE said that "given that the investigation at Dartmouth College concluded that the author had plagiarized a portion of this work … it appears that a retraction should be considered."
6. NEJM told STAT Sept. 13 it will not retract the paper, despite COPE's statement: "The communication from COPE does not change our decision, and our view matches that of the U.S. Office of Research Integrity, which determined that the case represents an authorship dispute."
To access the full report, click here.