An article that helped Tohoku University President Akihisa Inoue win the Japan Academy Award has been retracted from a leading U.S. scientific journal after the author violated protocol by reusing his own previously published material without acknowledging it.

The incident, announced Friday, amounts to what is known in academia as "double publication," and is frowned upon because it can lead to suspicions that one is attempting to create the appearance of doing original research.

Double publication consists of the use of text, figures or data from earlier publications without citation. It is considered a severe breach of academic ethics.