Palaeontologist cleared of fabricating data in dino-killing asteroid paper

Investigations conducted by The University of Manchester find the allegations made by Melanie During, published in Science in December 2022, that Robert DePalma " wanted to claim credit for identifying the dinosaur-killing asteroid's season of impact and fabricated data in order to be able to publish a paper before she did " were unfounded. The University of Manchester conducted a thorough and rigorous investigation into the allegations published in Science on 6 December 2022 and subsequently submitted to The University of Manchester by Melanie During and her PhD supervisor at Uppsala University, Professor Per Ahlberg. The investigation was conducted in accordance with the University's Code of Practice for Investigating Concerns about the Conduct of Research and the conclusions were further tested by an Appeal Panel. Both the Panel of Investigation and the Appeal Panel consisted of senior academic experts both internal and external to the University of Manchester, including members with expertise in isotope analysis. These investigations concluded that: - Robert DePalma did not fabricate data. There was compelling evidence that DePalma was already working on seasonality prior to Melanie During's introduction to the Tanis site, and that the isotope data published in the Scientific Reports paper already existed at that time. Although there was no evidence of fabrication, there were several instances of poor research practice in the way the isotope data was managed and presented, which together constituted research misconduct, but did not invalidate the conclusions of the Scientific Reports paper.