Journals retract four articles criticising vaccines by author who used a pseudonym

A paper claiming a possible link between human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and a rise in cervical cancer has been retracted by the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics.1

The paper, drawing on publicly available data on cervical cancer incidence in Sweden, had been submitted by a scientist calling himself Lars Andersson and claiming a connection with the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. After it was published on 30 April 2018, the institute denied knowledge of Andersson, who admitted when questioned by the journal that he had used a pseudonym.

The journal’s editors published a statement online on 9 May saying that the deception was unacceptable but did not retract …