Concerns regarding data duplication and text inconsistencies in Zang et al., 'A tropical fermented-food-derived Lactiplantibacillus plantarum SP055 alleviates DSS-induced colitis...'

Academic fraud report · Geng Detector

Summary

This report flags a paper published as a journal pre-proof in Food Bioscience (DOI: 10.1016/j.fbio.2026.109190). Verdict: highly suspicious, based on textual analysis only; no image-level or plagiarism-database checks were performed. Key issues include (1) identical quantitative values reported for two distinct proteins (ZO-1 DSH ≈ 18.04% and Occludin DSH ≈ 18.04%, with DSL values of 17.40% and 17.54% respectively) in the IHC analysis, an implausibly precise coincidence; (2) contradictory organ references in the histopathology section, where 'spleen' appears despite Figure 6 only depicting liver and thymus sections, suggesting copy-pasted boilerplate; and (3) inconsistent group nomenclature between figures (CON/DSS/DH/DL/DSH/DSL) and 16S rRNA figure captions (DSS_DH, DSS_DL). The report recommends requesting raw IHC scans, ImageJ analysis logs, and institutional investigation. Confidence in findings 1 and 2 is high due to verbatim text evidence; finding 3 is suggestive but may reflect captioning errors rather than fabrication. Limitations: no access to raw images or original figures.

Verdict

🟠 Highly suspicious. Based exclusively on textual content of the pre-proof PDF. No image-level forensic analysis, Western blot inspection, or plagiarism database comparison was performed. The reported anomalies are concrete and internally verifiable from the manuscript text alone.

Key findings

Finding 1 — Implausibly identical IHC quantification values across distinct proteins. In §3.6.2, ZO-1 staining in the DSH group is reported at approximately 18.04%, and Occludin staining in the DSH group is also reported at approximately 18.04%. The corresponding DSL values are 17.40% and 17.54% respectively. Two independent antibody–tissue measurements yielding identical values to two decimal places is statistically implausible.
Finding 2 — Self-contradictory organ references ('Schrödinger's organ'). §3.6.1 and Figure 6 caption describe histology of liver and thymus only, yet the running text introduces 'splenic tissues' and concludes with 'liver or thymus' — strongly indicating copy-pasted text from a prior experiment template that was not fully edited.
Finding 3 — Inconsistent group nomenclature. Throughout the manuscript the groups are labelled CON, DSS, DH, DL, DSH, DSL. In the captions of Figure 10 and Figure 11 (16S rRNA analyses) the labels become DSS_DH and DSS_DL, suggesting merged datasets, default spreadsheet headers, or post-hoc relabelling.

Evidence highlights

DOI: 10.1016/j.fbio.2026.109190 (Food Bioscience, 2026, journal pre-proof).
ZO-1 DSH ≈ 18.04%; Occludin DSH ≈ 18.04% (verbatim from §3.6.2).
DSL values: ZO-1 = 17.40%, Occludin = 17.54%.
§3.6.1 text mentions liver and thymus, then 'splenic tissues', then reverts to 'liver or thymus'.
Figure 6 caption states: 'The third and fourth rows show liver and thymus sections' — no spleen is depicted.
Figure 10/11 captions introduce labels 'DSS_DH' and 'DSS_DL' absent from earlier figure conventions.

Notes

All findings are derived from the manuscript PDF text; raw IHC images, Western blots, and original analysis files were not available for review.
Findings 1 and 2 are presented as direct textual quotations and are therefore high-confidence observations; however, final determination of fabrication requires inspection of original experimental records and ImageJ quantification logs.
Finding 3 may reflect a captioning/labeling error rather than misconduct, and should be treated as suggestive rather than conclusive.
The authors' institution (Nanjing Agricultural University, based on context) and the journal editor have not yet been contacted as part of this report.
Report generated with AI assistance; intended for academic discussion only.