Journal retracts global-warming study

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FAIRFAX, Va., May 16 (UPI) -- Accusations of plagiarism have led a scientific journal to retract a study that condemned scientific support for global warming, its editors say.

The journal Computational Statistics and Data Analysis published a federally-funded study in 2008 headed by statistician Edward Wegman of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., that suggested climate scientists colluded in their studies and cast doubts on global warming.

CSDA journal editor Stanley Azen of the University of Southern California said the journal's legal team "has decided to retract the study," following complaints of plagiarism, USA Today reported Monday.

Plagiarism experts said both the 2008 study and a 2006 congressional report authored by Wegman student Yasmin Said contained text from Wikipedia articles and textbooks.

Both have denied the allegations.

"Neither Dr. Wegman nor Dr. Said has ever engaged in plagiarism," said their attorney Milton Johns.

In a March e-mail to the journal, Wegman blamed a student who "had basically copied and pasted" from other sources into the congressional report and the same text was used in the journal study.

"We would never knowingly publish plagiarized material," wrote Wegman, a former CSDA journal editor.