RETRACTED: Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize

• Published in: Food and chemical toxicology 2012-11, Vol.50 (11), p.4221-4231
• Main Authors: Séralini, Gilles-Eric, Clair, Emilie, Mesnage, Robin, Gress, Steeve, Defarge, Nicolas, Malatesta, Manuela, Hennequin, Didier, de Vendômois, Joël Spiroux
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0278-6915; 1873-6351
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2012.08.005

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). The journal Food and Chemical Toxicology retracts the article “Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize,” which was published in this journal in November 2012. This retraction comes after a thorough and time-consuming analysis of the published article and the data it reports, along with an investigation into the peer-review behind the article. The Editor in-Chief deferred making any public statements regarding this article until this investigation was complete, and the authors were notified of the findings. Very shortly after the publication of this article, the journal received Letters to the Editor expressing concerns about the validity of the findings it described, the proper use of animals, and even allegations of fraud. Many of these letters called upon the editors of the journal to retract the paper. According to the journal’s standard practice, these letters, as well as the letters in support of the findings, were published along with a response from the authors.1Please see Food and Chemical Toxicology 53 (1), pp. 440–483, for all Letters to the Editor and the response.1 Due to the nature of the concerns raised about this paper, the Editor-in-Chief examined all aspects of the peer review process and requested permission from the corresponding author to review the raw data. The request to view raw data is not often made; however, it is in accordance with the journal’s policy that authors of submitted manuscripts must be willing to provide the original data if so requested.2http://www.elsevier.com/journals/food-and-chemical-toxicology/0278-6915/guide-for-authors#8101.2 The corresponding author agreed and supplied all material that was requested by the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief wishes to acknowledge the co-operation of the corresponding author in this matter, and commends him for his commitment to the scientific process. Unequivocally, the Editor-in-Chief found no evidence of fraud or intentional misrepresentation of the data. However, there is a legitimate cause for concern regarding both the number of animals in each study group and the particular strain selected. The low number of animals had been identified as a cause for concern during the initial review process, but the peer review decision ultimately weighed that the work still had merit despite this lim