Hi Marian, I'm sorry that you and your group have been targeted by such ridiculous misconduct. The papers are literally a copy of each other - and you can tell which one is the original by the resolution of the figures!
Being Brazilian myself, I find it very odd that the authors' names are composed of a single name and a single surname. The institutions' addresses are also suspiciously incomplete - I believe people would indicate their affiliation along the lines "Hospital de Clinicas, Department of XYZ, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Unicamp" for instance. Putting together the vary suspicious over simplicity of the names and the over simplicity of their institutions, I find it hard to even track who the authors could be - making me believe that someone trying to take advantage from this paper probably failed even at this sphere. I am quite sure that all institutions mentioned: USP, UNICAMP and UFRJ have a research integrity office and you should get in touch with them. However, at this level, PubPeer seems to be a good option as well. I am also wondering if the other papers in that same magazine volume could be plagiarised? Paola ________________________________ From: CCP4 bulletin board <[email protected]> on behalf of Marko Hyvonen <[email protected]> Sent: 03 June 2026 12:14 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] Off topic question: apparent verbatim plagiarism ⚠ External sender. Take care when opening links or attachments. Do not provide your login details. Dear Marian, Sorry to hear this has happened. A shocking case of plagiarism, even the fact that they left the original corresponding authors details there. I suspect you will not get reply from the journal. Having a statement “All manuscripts are checked for plagiarism and ethical compliance.” on their website and publishing a verbatim copy of a paper is hardly reassuring of their processes. I would, in this order: Contact the “new” authors, both to ask if they know about this and, if not, to alert them in case it was done without them knowing. I suspect they have not done this but perhaps journal itself to boost its impact factor and traffic to site. I would also contact J Med Chem Editor-in-chief to let them know about this – they might offer advice as this is probably not the first time they see this and affects them too. If it seems that the “new” authors are responsible, contact their host institutions’ offices of research integrity. I know University of São Paulo has one, suspect UFRJ and UNICAMP have too. Write a note on PubPeer portal https://pubpeer.com/ , but only if do not get any traction otherwise, especially as you might name and shame innocent parties inadvertently with that. Best, Marko From: CCP4 bulletin board <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Marian Oliva Sent: 03 June 2026 11:11 To: [email protected] Subject: [ccp4bb] Off topic question: apparent verbatim plagiarism Dear CCP4 colleagues, I would like to bring to your attention a very unusual and concerning case of apparent plagiarism and to seek advice from the community on how best to proceed. Recently, we discovered that an article we originally published in 2020 in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00855) appears to have been republished in the Journal of Research in Health Sciences under a different title and with a completely different list of authors (DOI: 10.31472/JRHS.2024.2.3<https://jrhsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/Vol16I2-3.pdf>) in 2024 (https://jrhsjournal.com/volume-16-issue-2-2024/) What is particularly striking is that the overlap is not limited to concepts, text fragments, or results. The manuscript appears to reproduce, essentially verbatim the main text, paragraph by paragraph; the figures, reproduced identically; the figure legends; the experimental descriptions; the acknowledgements section and; even the name of the original corresponding author remains present in the text. In other words, apart from the title and author list, the article appears to be an exact copy of the original publication. We have already contacted the Editor of the Journal of Research in Health Sciences and provided documentation of the overlap. However, we have not yet received a response. In an attempt to understand what may have happened, I searched for the listed authors. Most appear to have ResearchGate profiles and publication records. Interestingly, the allegedly plagiarized paper does not appear among their listed publications, and none of the authors seem to have a research background related to the scientific field of the original work. This raises the possibility that the listed authors may themselves be unaware of the publication. The journal itself appears to be indexed in Medline and has been present in PubMed for several years, making the situation even more surprising. I would therefore be grateful for any advice from colleagues who may have encountered similar situations. In particular: - What additional steps would you recommend beyond contacting the journal editor? Should the matter be reported to PubMed/Medline or other indexing services at this stage? - Are there organizations or formal procedures that have proven effective in obtaining investigations and retractions in comparable cases? Any guidance or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for your time and advice. Best regards, Marian Marian Oliva Unit for Biological, Immunological, and Chemical Drug Development Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS +34 918669485 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> C/ Ramiro de Maeztu, 9. 28040-Madrid **NOTA DE CONFIDENCIALIDAD** Este correo electrónico, y en su caso los ficheros adjuntos, pueden contener información protegida para el uso exclusivo de su destinatario. Se prohíbe la distribución, reproducción o cualquier otro tipo de transmisión por parte de otra persona que no sea el destinatario. Si usted recibe por error este correo, se ruega comunicarlo al remitente y borrar el mensaje recibido. **CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE** This email communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the sole use of the designated recipient named above. 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