A Korean scientist who co-authored a paper allegedly stolen from another scientist has turned the tables on the journal editor who spoke out on the paper in question, accusing him of defamation and threatening him with legal action.
The paper, published in both a Korean journal and a 2005 issue of Fertility and Sterility, described the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to measure mitochondrial DNA in women with premature ovarian failure. In February, F&S editor-in-chief Alan DeCherney told The Scientist that the F&S authors, who he concluded had essentially submitted a translated version of a published Korean paper, had "perjured themselves" when they signed a statement saying the paper wouldn't appear anywhere else, and called the incident a "blight on the field."
According a story in the British Medical Journal, a lawyer for Kwang-Yul Cha, first author of the the F&S paper, sent DeCherney a letter accusing him of "false and defamatory statements" to The Scientist and the Los Angeles Times, which first reported this story.
DeCherney told The Scientist he would not confirm the letter and its contents, nor comment on the latest accusations. He said in an Email that the publications committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which publishes F&S, will meet Friday (April 13) to "make a decision on this matter."
Meanwhile, Sook-Hwan Lee, corresponding author of the F&S paper, is under investigation by Korean courts for copyright infringement, after not including the name of the first author of the Korean paper, Jeong-Hwan Kim -- who claims he conducted the bulk of the research published in both papers -- in the list of authors on the F&S report.
In a statement Emailed to The Scientist, Lee said the paperwork F&S asked the authors to sign was about "financial" conflicts of interest, not about duplicate publications. "None of the other authors, except myself, knew that the article had been published in [a Korean journal]. Hence, Dr. DeCherney's 'perjury' allegation against the authors is without merit."
She said most of the work was done without Kim. She agreed to let Kim to participate in the project -- which she says was Cha's concept, thus earning him top-billing -- on the condition that any paper that resulted would be submitted to a Science Citation Index (SCI) journal, such as F&S. Lee said that Kim violated this agreement by submitting the paper to a non-SCI Korean journal, and she has filed her own legal complaint against Kim. Since Kim did participate in the research, Lee said tried to reach him about the F&S paper, but he had moved to Singapore and she couldn't find him.
Lee "has no authority" to require that the paper be submitted to an SCI journal, "and I wouldn't have [worked with her if I knew I] should have to abide by such a condition," Kim told The Scientist in an Email. He reaffirmed his assertion that he produced both the original concept and the bulk of the work, and he was not hard to reach. Lee had a copy of the manuscript sent to the Korean journal, he said, which contained his Email and home addresses, as well as a phone number. "What else do you need to know to contact a person in the 21st century?" he asked.
Lee said she accepts that she was at fault. "I express my sincere regret for the controversy and assume full responsibility as the corresponding author of the paper. No one else is to blame. No harm, sanctions or reputational damage should be directed to my co-authors."
Lee's statement was sent to The Scientist by a representative of Sitrick and Company, a public relations firm "best known for its communications work in sensitive situations," according to its Web site.
In a letter to the LA Times, first F&S author Kwang-Yul Cha reaffirmed that he did not know the paper had already been published in a Korean journal. And since Lee is listed as an author on both the F&S and Korean papers, plagiarism is "out of the question." He added that he originated the idea for the project and provided guidance and oversight for the collection of the patient samples, and Kim's role was "marginal."
Cha has faced criticisms over some of his other published research. In 2001, Cha co-authored an article in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine that showed prayer from strangers boosted the success of couples undergoing in vitro fertilization. After questions emerged about the paper's validity, the lead author withdrew his name, but the journal has not retracted it.
Alison McCook
mail@the-scientist.com
Links within this article:
KY Cha et al, "Quantification of mitochondrial DNA using real-time polymerase chain reaction in patients with premature ovarian failure," Fertility and Sterility, December 2005.
http://www.the-scientist.com/pubmed/16359970
A. McCook: "Fertility journal censures scientists," The Scientist, February 20, 2007.
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/52859
J. Gornall, "Duplicate publication: A bitter dispute," BMJ, April 7, 2007.
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/334/7596/717?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT
somethingt
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/52859/#comments
Sitrick and Company
http://www.sitrick.com/home.html
K. Weir, "Calif. stem cell grant raises concerns," The Scientist, March 26, 2007.
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/52994
KY Cha and DP Wirth, "Does prayer influence the success of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer? Report of a masked, randomized trial," Journal of Reproductive Medicine, September 2001.
http://www.the-scientist.com/pubmed/11584476
A McCook, "IVF-prayer study raises doubts," The Scientist, June 14, 2004.
http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22226
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[Comment posted 2007-04-17 00:02:11]
However, we are hopeful that with the disclosure and consideration of all the facts involved, a fair outcome will result not only in the pending legal proceeding but also with Fertility and Sterility.
As a fellow research scientist with more than 23 years of research experience in the U.S., as well as knowledge of the scientific community in Korea, I feel some background information may prove to be helpful and insightful regarding the dual-publication issue.
I personally have very strong objections to this practice where the dual publication in a non-SCI Korean journal and an SCI journal were pursued. I do not know for certain how widespread this practice has been in recent years. But I am pleased that it was halted in 2006 with the publication of a new guideline by Korean scientific leaders.
Given that the practice of publishing in both a non-SCI domestic journal and a SCI international journal was accepted by some in Korean, it is somewhat understandable that Dr. Lee followed this practice, although I think it was a terrible mistake. All the other authors were not even aware of the fact that this paper was previously published in a Korean journal and, thus, are innocent.
We at Pochon CHA University believe the matter should be corrected, and Dr. Lee is planning to retract the first paper from the Korean journal. The paperￂﾒs scientific integrity is without question and it should remain in F&S.
Based on my conversations with all of the other authors, I believe that Dr. Kimￂﾒs contribution was marginal compared to the research project in total. Authorship of a scientific paper is based less on who drafted the text than on who performed the scientific work and whose original idea and investigative thought went into the research. In particular, in this type of genetic studies, it is crucial how the samples are organized and collected, including both patient and control samples. Dr. Kim deserves authorship because of his partial but direct contribution, and Dr. Lee did credit him as an author in her submission of the manuscript to F&S.
Needless to say, the data and results produced from a lab are attributable to the principal investigator and the rightful, proprietary property of the sponsoring institution. The fact of the matter is that Dr. Lee was the principal investigator and director of the lab and all of the resulting data was attributable to Dr. Lee and the rightful property of CHA Hospital. It is also a fact that Dr. Kim took this data without anyoneￂﾒs knowledge or proper permission which was a huge violation of trust with Dr. Lee, the other researchers and the entire organization, as well as a serious breach of company policy and that of the implicit rule regarding research data and intellectual property within every research lab. I believe this is why he did not leave any contact information and could not be reached.
Kwang-Soo Kim, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School
Director of Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, McLean Hospital
Chair Professor, Pochon CHA University College of Medicine
Co-Director of CHA Stem Cell Institute
[Comment posted 2007-04-11 13:37:06]
[Comment posted 2007-04-11 04:28:40]
[Comment posted 2007-04-10 23:14:39]
LINK
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[Comment posted 2007-04-10 18:30:34]
2. The ethics of publishing the same material in different languages is also complicated. Much depends on the actual expectations of the parties- including in this case the original Korean journal and the English-language F&S.
3. "[The] corresponding author of the F&S paper, is under investigation by Korean courts for copyright infringement, after not including the name of the first author of the Korean paper...". If the Korean journal owns the copyright, the list of authors seems irrelevant (at least under US copyright law). If the original authors retained copyright, this would be quite interesting. There are some "authors" and journals who leave copyright in the hands of the nominal author-list, but this case might illustrate contractual difficulties of multi-author' copyrights in which most of us would care not to get involved!.