Abstract:
A CASE OF PLAGIARISM
(Case No. 09302011)
Mark Guiltinan, Professor of Plant Molecular Biology from Penn State University pointed out a plagiarism in a paper published in Biotechnology Volume 9, Number 3, 355-361, 2010.
On the receipt of the letter from Mark Guiltinan, the case forwarded to the Ethics Committee of the Science Alert. As per the report of the Ethics Committee, article entitled "Callus Induction and Somatic Embryogenesis in Five Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) Genotypes in Ghana" authored by J.N. Buah, published in Biotechnology Volume 9, Number 3, 355-361, 2010 contains substantial sections of text that have been taken verbatim from earlier publication without clear and unambiguous attribution.
Science Alert considers misappropriation of intellectual property and duplication of text from other authors or publications without clear and unambiguous attribution totally unacceptable.
Plagiarism is a violation of copyright and a serious breach of scientific ethics. The Editors-in-Chief and Publisher agreed to officially retract this article.
Science Alert is highly thankful to Mark Guiltinan, Professor of Plant Molecular Biology from Penn State University for pointing out this plagiarism.
Detail of article from which text has been copied by J.N. Buah:
Zhijian Li, Abdoulaye Traore, Siela Maximova and Mark J. Guiltinan, 1998. Somatic Embryogenesis and plant regeneration from floral explants of Cacao (Theobroma Cacao L.) using thidiazuron. In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol. -- Plant 34: 293-299.