Brief Communication Arising from a Corrigendum to "Atomic-resolution chemical analysis using a scanning transmission electron microscope"

TL;DR

This paper critically examines a corrigendum related to atomic-resolution chemical analysis using a scanning transmission electron microscope, revealing inconsistencies and discussing publication and attribution issues.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the corrigendum's data claims, clarifies the physical inconsistencies, and discusses publication and attribution concerns.

Findings

The corrigendum's explanation is physically inconsistent.

The original manuscript was peer-reviewed and recommended for publication.

The paper suggests citing concurrent work by Batson for proper attribution.

Abstract

This manuscript was originally submitted to Nature for consideration as a "Brief Communication" in response to a "Corrigendum" that appeared in 2006 (1) to an earlier paper in Nature. That corrigendum was the subject of a Nature editorial (2) stating that "key data were misrepresented by the authors, both during the review process and in the final published version of the paper" and it claimed to provide an explanation for alterations in their data that had the effect of changing their priority claim from a result no better than previous work by Isaacson and Scheinfein that was 1 Angstrom shy of atomic resolution to what appeared to be atomic resolution. In this manuscript we show that this explanation is physically inconsistent with the evolution of their data. When originally submitted to Nature, the manuscript was peer-reviewed, deemed "carefully and properly argued" and recommended for publication with appropriate responses from the corrigendum authors. Subsequent exchanges with those authors did not reach a satisfactory state and publication did not occur. We now have learnt that an article is likely to appear in Nature concerning the circumstances surrounding the concerns expressed in this initial document and we consider it important and relevant that this document and the supplementary material be made available in the public domain. As to the question of proper attribution of priority, we would suggest instead citing the concurrent work of Batson (3). 1. Browning, N.D., Chisholm, M.F., and Pennycook, S.J. Corrigendum:Atomic-resolution chemical analysis using a scanning transmission electron microscope, Nature 444, 235 (2006). 2. Editorial. Correction or retraction? Nature 444, 123-124 (2006). 3. Batson, P.E. (1993). Simultaneous STEM imaging and electron energy-loss spectroscopy with atomic-column sensitivity. Nature 366, 727-728.