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Letter to the Editor

1801 Aldrich Ct., Northfield, MN 55057

I have read with interest the editorial by David S. Buchanan and Lawrence P. Reynolds (84:1307, 2006), and the letter to the editor by James R. Males and Michael L. Galyean (84:1308, 2006), regarding the matters of alleged scientific misconduct or erroneous reporting associated with papers concerning work previously published in the Journal of Animal Science concerning the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Terminal Sire Line Genetic Evaluation Program and Maternal Line Genetic Evaluation Program.

In reference to 2 papers that rely on data from the NPPC-sponsored Maternal Line Genetic Evaluation Program (82:41–53, 2004 and 84:2590–2595, 2006), I call upon the authors and co-authors to publish corrected data.

Before reading these published articles, I had worked hard to bring to light the truth regarding data that I believe was incorrectly represented in the initial NPPC reports and subsequent papers. Concerning your editorial and letter, I would like to call attention to 2 specific obligations that I believe we have as scientists, and then discuss the data that I have already presented to you and others.

One obligation I believe that researchers have in their efforts to publish scientific papers is to accurately represent the data, so that the work can be repeated by future scientists and relied upon for further expansion of our knowledge. Another obligation we have is to listen carefully to concerns or complaints of inaccuracy or incorrect analysis. I feel that the authors and co-authors of these papers, and potentially other papers now in the process of publication, and which relied upon this data and scientific work, failed to accurately represent the data, and when questions arose, those scientists failed to listen or act to resolve the issues.

I have communicated this to sponsor institutions, including Iowa State University and the National Pork Board. I have also communicated with researchers directly, and I have communicated my concerns before now to the leadership of the Journal of Animal Science and the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS). I did this as an obligation I believe that I have as a scientist and as a person with direct knowledge of the facts. I heard the concerns, listened to them, and acted accordingly. I also believe that I had the obligation, being in possession of the raw data [N. DeBuse was an employee of Newsham Hybrids (USA) Inc. (Colorado Springs, CO)], to stop the rumor mill and the vicious cycle that was and still is impacting the swine geneticists involved in this situation. I don’t feel that my obligations have been fulfilled, despite my efforts and complete transparency in sharing the data.

I would like to state clearly that the following are true, to the best of my knowledge, of the data included in the maternal line study and that the raw data that I am in possession of has been shared with the Journal, the ASAS, and the researchers involved in the articles:

1. Female lines represented were not all F₁-cross-bred females;
   
2. An F₁ crossbred to many scientists is specifically a cross of 2 lines, but many of the entrant lines were not the cross of 2 primary lines;
   
3. At least one portion of the Newsham population submitted was not an F₁ cross of 2 lines;
   
4. Not all participants in the trial provided F₁-cross females, and the NPPC Genetic Programs Committee and one or more of the co-authors of the papers were aware of this before the inception of the trail;
   
5. The proportion of the test population that originated from Newsham Hybrids included 2 distinct lines, one of which (P) was a cross of 3 lines and the other of which was a back-cross (P’) of the P line with a Large White-type synthetic line; and
   
6. These papers, where the primary authors were not directly in possession of the raw data, represent a potentially serious danger to our ability to uphold the quality of scientific publications.
   

In my prior private urging to move towards a retraction or erratum for the papers, I was promised by one co-author that, given the factual data, his objection to an erratum or retraction would be changed. I have now provided the written, original data and a clear summation of the data elements to the Journal, the ASAS, and the researchers involved in the papers. I feel that the lack of response from any entity to which these data were provided is, prima facie, evidence of a lack of scientific integrity. It is not the duty of scientists to present data as the data were presented to a nonscientific committee. Rather, it is the responsibility, nay the obligation, of scientists to listen and review carefully the data as provided and to act accordingly.

Please accept this letter as another strong nudge to correct the data presented in these papers. Journal editors, society presidents, and researchers share the obligations mentioned above and have failed to act correctly.

Received for publication April 17, 2007.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. P. Reynolds Public discourse concerning swine genetics papers J Anim Sci, May 1, 2008; 86(5): 1033 - 1034. [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Johnson Letter to the editor J Anim Sci, May 1, 2008; 86(5): 1036 - 1037. [Full Text] [PDF]

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