U. of Illinois Chancellor Corrects ‘Serious Errors’ in 2006 Paper

Phyllis M. Wise, chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has made a significant correction to a paper, published in 2006, that presents non-original work as original, the blog Retraction Watch reports.

According to a correction in the journal Neuroscience, Ms. Wise’s paper contained “a number of serious errors” and was “written in a way that misleads the readers to think that it is an original article.” The article, “Estrogen Therapy: Does It Help or Hurt the Adult and Aging Brain? Insights Derived From Animal Models,” is a review of a 2001 article co-written by Ms. Wise. But the previous article receives no attribution.

Ms. Wise, who researches women’s health, has attracted critics in recent months for her decision to revoke a professorship offered to Steven G. Salaita after he wrote a series of tweets critical of Israel. The university’s Board of Trustees has backed her decision.

Ms. Wise told Retraction Watch that she had no plans to correct any other papers.