Prestigious medical journal retracts nine more articles authored by concussion expert Paul McCrory

Nine articles from internationally renowned concussion expert Dr Paul McCrory have been retracted from a prestigious medical journal and dozens more have had notices of concern placed above them, after repeated allegations of plagiarism against the neurologist and former long-term sports concussion advisor.

The British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) and its publisher, BMJ, said in a statement and editorial on Monday that their trust in McCrory’s work was “broken”. They had verified allegations of plagiarism for five articles authored by the journal’s former editor. Three more articles contained “duplicate (or redundant) publication”.

In the ninth retracted article, “McCrory inaccurately quotes and misrepresents the position of Dr Augustus Thorndike,” the BJSM editors said. “The quote distorts Thorndike’s recommendations for managing ongoing participation in contact sport after concussion, which McCrory used to support his stance in the article.”

The editors’ investigations had “revealed a pattern of publication misconduct on the part of McCrory”, they said, which led to their decision to place a notice to readers, “an expression of concern” on all his sole-authored pieces.

“Plagiarism is scientific misconduct. ​​To plagiarise while holding the position of editor-in-chief of a journal is an abuse of the power and responsibilities that come with this office. It undermines both science and the trust placed in editors to protect the integrity of the scientific record,” the editorial said.

“The scientific record relies on trust, and BMJ’s trust in McCrory’s work – specifically the articles that he has published as a single author – is broken. We will investigate any new allegations that we receive about McCrory’s work