David Latchman has ‘no case to answer’ after research misconduct investigation

University College London has ruled that David Latchman, master of Birkbeck, University of London, has “no case to answer” after an investigation into possible research misconduct.

But UCL also said that the professor of human genetics “has accepted that there were procedural matters in his lab that required attention”.

In January, it emerged that UCL was investigating a number of journal papers, including those authored by Professor Latchman’s research groups.

This followed the retraction of a paper from 2002 by the Journal of Biological Chemistry over the reuse of an image from a 2001 paper.

In total, about 25 papers that have Professor Latchman as an author had questions raised about them on the PubPeer post-publication peer review website.

A statement from UCL released today says: “UCL has considered allegations of potential research misconduct concerning UCL staff under our Procedure for Investigating and Resolving Allegations of Misconduct in Academic Research and related procedures.

“UCL confirms that the conclusion of its investigation is that Professor Latchman has no case to answer in relation to research misconduct. Professor Latchman has accepted that there were procedural matters in his lab that required attention,” it continues.

A spokesman for the university, where Professor Latchman still maintains a lab, declined to give any further details of the “procedural matters” or say how many papers UCL had investigated. 

david.matthews@tesglobal.com