Former Crick Ph.D. student loses COVID vaccine paper for fabrication
Science Translational Medicine has retracted a paper on COVID-19 vaccines after an institutional investigation revealed a former Ph.D. student fabricated data and falsified images in the article. The retraction is the former student’s second for fabrication this year. The July 2022 article looked at whether a vaccine targeting a particular part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus … Continue reading Former…
A former Ph.D. student at the Francis Crick Institute has had a paper on COVID-19 vaccines retracted due to fabrication of data and falsification of images. The retraction, announced on October 14, marks the second time the individual, Kevin Ng, has faced such consequences this year. The original article, published in July 2022, investigated whether a vaccine targeting a specific SARS-CoV-2 virus component could protect against various COVID-19 variants in mice.
Ng's work has been cited 83 times in Clarivate’s Web of Science. During the editorial investigation, Ng admitted to the fabrication, which also raises doubts about other experiments in the paper due to the unavailability of primary data and samples. Ng's supervisor, George Kassiotis, and two other Crick researchers are coauthors on the retracted paper.
The Crick Institute's investigation into a related Nature paper found Ng to be solely responsible for the fabrication, leading to a broader review of his other works. The institute found no evidence of malpractice by other authors. Following the retraction, Ng shifted his focus from science to covering classical music.
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