When Sam Payne reviewed a paper in March for Elsevier’s BioSystems, he didn’t expect to come across a figure he had created in his research. He quickly scrolled through the rest of the paper to find more figures, all copied from his work.
Although the journal rejected the paper at Payne’s recommendation, he worried the authors would try to publish elsewhere. Months later, Payne’s worry was justified. The paper, by researchers at First Moscow State Medical University, in russia, appeared in Wiley’s Proteomics in May.
Payne’s posts on X about the whole experience received over 3 million views. They spurred Wiley to “immediately” initiate an investigation in accordance with Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines, said a spokesperson for Wiley, who told that the publisher will retract the article.
