New details in Korean plagiarism case

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.comLinks 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/16359970A. McCook: "Fertility journal censures scientists," The Scientist, February 20, 2007. http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/52859J. 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&RESULTFORMATsomethingt http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/52859/#commentsSitrick and Company http://www.sitrick.com/home.htmlK. Weir, "Calif. stem cell grant raises concerns," The Scientist, March 26, 2007. http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/52994KY 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/11584476A McCook, "IVF-prayer study raises doubts," The Scientist, June 14, 2004. http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22226

New details in Korean plagiarism case

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