The work, published August 27, 2024 as a preprint on the Open Science Framework, examined SEM images in more than 1 million studies published by 50 materials science and engineering journals since 2010. Researchers found only 8,515 articles published the figure captions and the image’s metadata banners, both of which are needed to determine whether the correct microscope is listed in papers. Of these papers, 2,400 (28%) listed the wrong microscope manufacturer or model, raising questions about the integrity of the conducted research.

For Richardson, study coauthor, there are telltale signs that suggest many of the images in question originate from the same source. For instance, captions in many different papers refer to using a Czech Hitachi instrument even though Hitachi is a Japanese company. Many papers also misidentified figures as originating from “Amirkabir,” Richardson pointed out, yet none of the authors was affiliated with Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran, Iran.

It’s technically possible researchers had more than one microscope in the lab and named the wrong one by mistake, noted Nick Wise, a fluid dynamics researcher at the University of Cambridge, in the U.K., whose sleuthing work has resulted in hundreds of retractions. But Wise thinks a significant proportion of the 2,400 studies could be researchers blindly reusing figures that aren’t theirs. “It’s a symptom of academic fraud,” he said.

Source: https://retractionwatch.com/2024/08/27/exclusive-thousands-of-papers-misidentify-microscopes-in-possible-sign-of-misconduct/#more-129909