uBiome Inc., San Francisco, California, USA.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Mol Cell Biol. 2018 Sep 28;38(20). doi: 10.1128/MCB.00309-18. Print 2018 Oct 15.
We analyzed 960 papers published in (MCB) from 2009 to 2016 and found 59 (6.1%) to contain inappropriately duplicated images. The 59 instances of inappropriate image duplication led to 41 corrections, 5 retractions, and 13 instances in which no action was taken. Our experience suggests that the majority of inappropriate image duplications result from errors during figure preparation that can be remedied by correction. Nevertheless, ∼10% of papers with inappropriate image duplications in MCB were retracted (∼0.5% of total). If this proportion is representative, then as many as 35,000 papers in the literature are candidates for retraction due to inappropriate image duplication. The resolution of inappropriate image duplication concerns after publication required an average of 6 h of journal staff time per published paper. MCB instituted a pilot program to screen images of accepted papers prior to publication that identified 12 manuscripts (14.5% out of 83) with image concerns in 2 months. The screening and correction of papers before publication required an average of 30 min of staff time per problematic paper. Image screening can identify papers with problematic images prior to publication, reduces postpublication problems, and requires less staff time than the correction of problems after publication.
我们分析了 2009 年至 2016 年在《分子细胞生物学》（MCB）上发表的 960 篇论文，发现其中有 59 篇（6.1%）含有不当重复的图像。这 59 个不当重复图像的实例导致了 41 次更正、5 次撤稿和 13 次未采取行动。我们的经验表明，大多数不当重复图像是由于在准备图像时出现错误而导致的，这些错误可以通过更正来纠正。然而，在 MCB 中，有不当重复图像的论文中约有 10%（约占总数的 0.5%）被撤稿。如果这一比例具有代表性，那么文献中就有多达 35000 篇论文因不当重复图像而需要撤稿。在发表后解决不当重复图像的问题需要平均每个已发表的论文花费 6 小时的期刊工作人员时间。MCB 实施了一项在发表前筛选已接受论文图像的试点计划，在两个月内发现了 12 篇（83 篇中的 14.5%）存在图像问题的手稿。在发表前筛选和更正论文平均需要每个有问题的论文花费 30 分钟的工作人员时间。图像筛选可以在发表前识别出有问题图像的论文，减少发表后的问题，并比发表后更正问题需要更少的工作人员时间。
