[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 22 (Thursday, February 4, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 8203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02273]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Findings of Research Misconduct

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Findings of research misconduct have been made against Yibin 
Lin, Ph.D. (Respondent), former postdoctoral fellow, McGovern Medical 
School, University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth). 
Respondent engaged in research misconduct in research supported by U.S. 
Public Health Service (PHS) funds, specifically National Institute of 
Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health 
(NIH), grant R01 AI125216. The administrative actions, including 
debarment for a period of ten (10) years, were implemented beginning on 
January 7, 2021, and are detailed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wanda K. Jones, Dr. P.H., Acting 
Director, Office of Research Integrity, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 
240, Rockville, MD 20852, (240) 453-8200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that the Office of 
Research Integrity (ORI) has taken final action in the following case:
    Yibin Lin, Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center: Based 
on the report of an assessment conducted by UTHealth, Respondent's 
admission, and analysis conducted by ORI in its oversight review, ORI 
found that Dr. Yibin Lin, former postdoctoral fellow, McGovern Medical 
School, UTHealth, engaged in research misconduct in research supported 
by PHS funds, specifically NIAID, NIH, grant R01 AI125216.
    ORI found that Respondent engaged in research misconduct by 
knowingly and intentionally falsifying, fabricating, and plagiarizing 
data and text reported in the following published papers, which have 
been retracted, and manuscripts:

Published Papers

     Efficient Method for Genomic DNA Mutagenesis in E. coli. 
bioRxiv 2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.16.097097.
     A simple and efficient method for in vitro site directed 
mutagenesis. bioRxiv 2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.16.100107.
     A restriction-free method for gene reconstitution. bioRxiv 
2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.20.107631.
     Efficient Method for Protein Crystallization. bioRxiv 
2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.24.113860.
     Rice Tolerance to Drought is Complex Both Physiologically 
and Genetically. bioRxiv 2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.19.258293.
     ITS2 Pretrial Gene Identification Related to Seed and 
Flower Identification for Cyclea barbata. bioRxiv 2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.20.259804.

Manuscripts Submitted to bioRxiv in 2020 and Not Published

     Analysis of the Deduced Amino Acid Sequence of Lectin-like 
Protein.
     Comprehensive proteomic characterization of ovarian 
tumors.
     Insight into the membrane protein localization and 
antibiotic resistance by fluorescence microscopy.
     Invariant States of the Algebra of Observables.
     The Biochemical Analysis the Expression Levels of Pre-
synaptic, Post-synaptic, Nuclear and Mitochondrial Markers.
     The Overall Difference Analysis of Antioxidant of 
Isoflavone from Three Kinds of Soybean Stems.
     The Overall Difference Analysis of Antioxidant of 
Isoflavone from Three Kinds of Tomato.

Manuscript Rejected by bioRxiv and Resubmitted to medRxiv in 2020

     Invariant States of the Algebra of Observables.
    ORI finds that Respondent knowingly and intentionally falsified, 
fabricated, and plagiarized the whole content of six (6) papers and 
eight (8) manuscripts, falsely created fictitious author names and 
affiliations without listing himself as an author to disguise himself 
from being the offender, and submitted them for publication in bioRxiv 
and medRxiv, open access preprint repositories, by falsely assembling 
random paragraphs of text, tables, and figures from previous 
publications and manuscripts to improve his citation metrics.
    Dr. Lin entered into a Voluntary Exclusion Agreement (Agreement) 
and agreed to the following:
    (1) Because the Respondent also attempted to deceive the online 
publication sites bioRxiv and medRxiv by creating fictitious author 
names and affiliations without listing himself as an author, Respondent 
agreed to exclude himself voluntarily for a period of ten (10) years 
beginning on January 7, 2021, from any contracting or subcontracting 
with any agency of the United States Government and from eligibility 
for or involvement in nonprocurement programs of the United States 
Government referred to as ``covered transactions'' pursuant to HHS' 
Implementation (2 CFR part 376) of OMB Guidelines to Agencies on 
Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension, 2 CFR part 180 (collectively 
the ``Debarment Regulations''); and
    (2) Respondent agreed to exclude himself voluntarily from serving 
in any advisory capacity to PHS including, but not limited to, service 
on any PHS advisory committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or 
as a consultant for a period of ten (10) years, beginning on January 7, 
2021.

    Dated: January 29, 2021.
Wanda K. Jones,
Acting Director, Office of Research Integrity, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Health.
[FR Doc. 2021-02273 Filed 2-3-21; 8:45 am]
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