The above-cited article has been retracted by the American Diabetes Association, the publisher of Diabetes. This article was previously the subject of an expression of concern in the April 2016 issue of the journal (Diabetes 2016;65:1122–1123. DOI: 10.2337/db16-ec04a. PMID: 27208022).
Because of ongoing concerns related to instances of potential image duplication, the American Diabetes Association’s Panel on Ethical Scientific Programs (ESP) believes that the study as a whole is unreliable and that the only responsible course of action for updating the status of Diabetes 2008;57:594–605 is to issue a full retraction. The American Diabetes Association has approved the Panel’s recommendation.
The ESP maintains that the following instances of potential duplication affect the overall reliability of the study:
Lanes 4 and 5 of the of the phospho p760K strip in Fig. 3A appear to be duplicates of lanes 1 and 2 of the Total p70S6K strip in Fig. 3B.
Lanes 1–4 of the total p70S6K strip in Fig. 3B appear to be duplicates of lanes 2, 3, 1, and 4, respectively, of the IB:GLUT4 strip in Fig. 4I of the following 2006 FEBS Letters article:
∘Prada et al. FEBS Lett 2006;580:4889–4894. DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2006.08.004. PMID: 16919274
These lanes, with size, brightness, and contrast adjustments, appear to also have been previously published in the following articles:
∘Flores et al. Diabetes 2006;55:2554–2561. DOI: 10.2337/db05-1622. PMID: 16936204 (Fig. 6F, lanes 2–5, bottom strip)
∘De Souza et al. FASEBJ 2007;21:1153–1163. DOI: 10.1096/fj.06-7148com. PMID: 17209127. (Fig. 6B, IB:IRS1)
∘Ropelle et al. Endocrinology 2007;148:5220–5229. DOI: 10.1210/en.2007-0381. PMID: 17717055 (Fig. 2B, total AMPK)
In addition, these images appear to have been subsequently republished in independent and unrelated experiments reported in the following articles:
∘Ropelle et al. PLoS ONE 2008;3:e3856. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003856. PMID: 19052642 (Fig. 2G, IB:JAK2, and Fig. 2H, IB:STAT3)
∘Ropelle et al. J Physiol 2009;587:2069–2076. DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2008.164202. PMID: 19273580 (Fig. 2C, IB:α-tubulin)
∘Flores et al. Gastroenterology 2012;143:741–753.e1–e4. DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2012.05.045. PMID: 22677195 (Fig. 1D, IB:IKKβ, and Fig. 2D, IB:IRβ)
∘Calisto et al. Crit Care 2012;16:R158. DOI: 10.1186/cc11478. PMID: 22897821 (Fig. 4B, IB:IR, lanes 2–5)
∘Cintra et al. Life Sci 2012;91:395–401. DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2012.08.002. PMID: 22906631. (Fig. 1B, β-actin)
Lanes 1 and 2 and lanes 3 and 4 in Fig. 6L, total eIF4E, appear to be identical. In addition, the total eIF4E strip appears to be a duplicate of an image originally published in the following 2006 FEBS Letters article:
∘Prada et al. FEBS Lett 2006;580:4889–4894. DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2006.08.004. PMID: 16919274 (Fig. 4C, IB:IRS-1)
This image appears to also have been previously published in the following articles:
∘Tsukumo et al. Diabetes 2007;56:1986–1998. DOI: 10.2337/db06-1595. PMID: 17519423 (Fig. 5B, Akt strip, lanes 1–4)
∘Ropelle et al. Endocrinology 2007;148:5220–5229. DOI: 10.1210/en.2007-0381. PMID: 17717055 (Fig. 2D, total AMPK, and Fig. 2F, α-tubulin, with horizontal and vertical rotation)
Furthermore, the image may have been subsequently republished, with size, orientation, brightness, and contrast adjustments, in independent and unrelated experiments reported in the following articles:
∘De Souza et al. J Physiol 2010;588:2239–2253. DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2009.183996. PMID: 20421289 (Fig. 1G, IB:Foxo1, and Fig. 1C, IB:IRS2)
∘Oliveira et al. Diabetes 2011;60:784–796. DOI: 10.2337/db09-1907. PMID: 21282367 (Fig. 3A, IB:IKKβ)
∘Calisto et al. Crit Care 2012;16:R158. DOI: 10.1186/cc11478. PMID: 22897821 (Fig. 4B, IB:Akt, lanes 1–4)
Diabetes is a member journal of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (publicationethics.org). As such, the editors of the journal and the ESP refer to COPE’s guidelines and recommendations when reviewing such matters.
