Statement by Science Editors on Korean Stem Cell Probe

In response to findings by Korean investigators of fabricated data in a May 2005 Science paper on patient-specific embryonic stem cells, the editors of Science issued a statement on 23 December urging a prompt conclusion of the retraction process for the paper.

An investigating committee of the Seoul National University released preliminary findings on fabrication of results in the paper by Woo Suk Hwang and his colleagues. Hwang, the lead author, and Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh, the corresponding author, had already asked that the paper be retracted because of questions raised about some of the data.

In the statement, the editors of Science said, "We are continuing to move forward with a formal retraction of the 2005 paper." The process typically requires written consent from all authors of a paper before the retraction is finalized. Science has yet to receive consent forms from the 23 co-authors of the paper in addition to Hwang and Schatten. "If a statement is not provided in a timely manner by the authors or the investigation committee on behalf of Seoul National University, we will move forward with an editorial retraction," the editors of Science said. The retraction would be made by the editors even without the formal consent of all the co-authors.

Science also updated an Editorial Expression of Concern, posted online the previous day, about the 2005 paper and another by the same research group in 2004. The expression of concern, to be published in Science on Jan. 6, is an official notice to the readers of the journal regarding the status of the papers. It notes that, given questions about the 2005 paper, the editors also are undertaking a careful review of the widely hailed 2004 Science paper by Hwang and his colleagues that reported the first derivation of embryonic stem cells from a cloned human embryo.

Both the investigating committee and Science are pursuing possible problems with the 2004 paper. Science will continue to communicate the results of the inquiries as they become available.

Science has issued a chronology on the current controversy. The text of the new statement as well as previous updates can be found here.

The text of the Editorial Expression of Concern can be found here.