BMJ 2013;347:f5500 doi: 10.1136/bmj.

f5500 (Published 6 September 2013)

News

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NEWS
Journal agrees to retract paper after university found study was never done
Clare Dyer
BMJ

The University of Queensland has asked the European Journal of Neurology to retract a research paper after finding no evidence that the study described was ever carried out. The lead author of the paper, which was published online in October 2011, is Bruce Murdoch, the founding head of the universitys Centre for Neurogenic Communication Disorders and former head of the universitys School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

had returned an $A20 000 (12 000; 14 000; $US18 000) grant from a non-governmental organisation due to our concerns that it had been allocated on the basis of information from the discredited paper. The National Health and Medical Research Council had also been informed, although no council funding was involved, Hoj added.

The paper described a technique, transcranial magnetic stimulation, which the authors claimed would help patients with Parkinsons disease regain some of their ability to speak. Presenting the findings at an Australian speech pathology conference in June 2012, Murdoch claimed that the technology had the potential to revolutionise the way neurological speech and language disorders are treated. A press release for the conference hailed Murdochs clinical trials as having produced overwhelmingly positive results.

In a memo to colleagues he said that the university was finalising investigation into how the integrity issues arose and what consequential action may need to be taken.

The university first became aware of the allegations in September 2012 when a whistleblower raised concerns. After a preliminary investigation, an inquiry panel was established in July this year. Its preliminary findings led to the decision to ask for the paper to be retracted. Tony Schapira, of University College London, coeditor in chief of the European Journal of Neurology, said, We condemn the actions of scientists who seek to deceive the scientific community. The community expects and should receive the highest standards of honesty and ethical conduct.

But Peter Hoj, the University of Queenslands president and vice chancellor, said in a statement, As a result of its investigation to date, UQ [University of Queensland] has asked the journal that published the paper to retract it on the grounds that no primary data can be located and no evidence has been found that the study described in the article was conducted.

The journal has agreed to retract the paper, titled Treatment of articulatory dysfunction in Parkinsons disease using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.1 Hoj said that the university was investigating in line with its research misconduct policy and procedures and the Australian code for the responsible conduct of research. It had informed the Crime and Misconduct Commission of the allegations and

Numerous checks are in place for publications, including peer review and author statements, but in the end we remain dependent upon the integrity of submitting authors.

Murdoch is understood to have retired after resigning last year. The BMJ was unable to contact him for comment.
1 Murdoch BE, Ng ML, Barwood CHS. Treatment of articulatory dysfunction in Parkinsons disease using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Eur J Neurol 2012;19:340-7.

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