A journal editor has retracted a paper published this month that showed sperm could be made from human embryonic stem cells, claiming the authors plagiarized portions of the paper.

According to ScienceInsider, Graham Parker, editor-in-chief of Stem Cells and Development, was told soon after the article appeared that it contained portions of a 2007 review article in Biology of Reproduction. Parker confronted the first author, Karim Nayernia of Newcastle University, who said the allegedly plagiarized portions of the paper were inserted by a postdoc. Parker told ScienceInsider he did not believe it was an innocent mistake, so he decided to retract the article.


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