The recent South Korean science scandal involving Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk ended with Dr. Hwang’s lab completely dismantled and the entire country shamed. A similar scandal is now beginning to unravel at Columbia University thanks to vigiliant bloggers. It seems that Professor Sames from Columbia University has quietly retracted two publications from the JACS (Journal of the American Chemical Society). Specifically the publications are:
- JACS 2004 – Oxidative C-arylation of Free (NH)-Heterocycles via Direct (sp3) C_H Bond Functionalization
- JACS 2005 – Selective and Catalytic Arylation of N-Phenylpyrrolidine: sp3 C-H Bond Functionalization in the Absence of a Directing Group
Another publication has an added disclaimer about one of its results.
What angers me is the double standard that is apparent between the treatment of this scandal and the South Korean Scandal. When the American media found out about Dr. Hwang, they couldn’t wait to destroy him. Now when a similar thing is happening in the states, the media has barely said a word on the matter. The cynical part of me believes that the real reason the media went after Dr. Hwang is to assauge themselves that US is still the best in scientific research.
I actually believe that the treatment that Dr. Hwang received was completely appropriate and that Professor Sames should also be terminated immediately. A graduate student spends an average of 5 years doing grunt work, publishing journal articles that attribute most of the credit to the advisor. The advisor in turn, gets to use the “intellectual capital” derived from these publications to increase his warchest (grant money), which eventually leads to the much sought after (but rarely found) tenured professor position. Since the advisors derive such huge benefits from their students, they better be ready to take on the consequences when they don’t actually verify the research that is done under them and their graduate students go astray.
