James Tour Responds to Plagiarism by Dr Andrew Barron + Debunking Incorrect Claims from YouTubers

See the point-by-point refutation of Kevin Ausman's accusations:

"The amount of energy needed to refute [false information] is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it." - Brandolini's law

Dr. James Tour of Rice University has been accused of plagiarism by his long-time colleague and friend, Professor Andrew Barron of Swansea University. The origins of this claim are as unexpected as they are modern: a YouTube video. The saga began when Professor Barron alleged that Dr. Tour had plagiarized content, a claim that reached the ears of Rice University via an undergraduate student. What ensued was a thorough investigation by the institution, highlighting the seriousness with which such accusations are treated.

In this video Dr. Tour categorically dismantles and refutes the allegations. addressing and debunking specific accusations that ranged from the absurd—such as hijacking a funeral for religious purposes and refusing to pay graduate students beyond their third year—to the more technical, involving exaggerated claims about MRI research and a serious accusation of plagiarism.

References & Links:

AI Voice Recreation Sources:
•"James Tour Gets EXPOSED by His Own Colleagues" - YouTube
Contains transcription to "Youtube Guy" and clips from the author

• Email exchange between Dr. Andrew Barron and Dr. James Tour
• Email exchange between Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Rice University and Dr. James Tour

List of accusations:
• Plagiarism: Accusation that James Tour plagiarized a manuscript.
• Hijacking a Funeral: Allegation that Tour hijacked a colleague's funeral.
• Graduate Student Payments: Claim that Tour refused to pay graduate students beyond their third year.
• MRI Claims: Assertion that Tour made wild and bold claims about solving problems in MRI imaging.
• Hype in Research: Accusation that Tour often made exaggerated claims about his scientific discoveries and their significance.
• False Accusations of Origin of Life Researchers: Claim that Tour made unfounded accusations against origin of life researchers regarding their work.
• Misrepresentation of Research Contributions: Assertion that Tour made misleading claims about his contributions to fields such as flash Joule heating, nanotubes, and other materials science areas.
• Misleading Impact Factors: Claim that Tour misrepresented the impact factors of journals to inflate the significance of his publications.

God bless.

~

00:00:00 The Main Characters
00:00:28 Accusations of Plagiarism
00:01:39 Andrew Still My Friend
00:02:51 It's because of OOL Criticism
00:03:51 The Accusations
00:05:31 Hijacking a Funeral
00:06:50 Refusing to Pay Grad Students
00:09:00 'MRI Imaging'?
00:09:28 Only Posting 1 or 2 Papers
00:12:43 Consider Donating!
00:13:04 Nanotubes for Cancer Research
00:14:51 Oil and Gas Research
00:15:38 The Claim of Plagiarism
00:20:00 Nothing New
00:20:32 The Timeline of Events
00:20:43 Andy Barron approved the work
00:21:08 Dr. Tour sounds the alarm
00:21:35 The MRS meeting
00:23:25 Retracting the Paper
00:23:58 Dr. Tour posts and update
00:25:37 Correspondence with Nature
00:26:25 Integrity and Transparency
00:28:59 Do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus?
00:29:20 Buddies
00:29:45 YouTuber gets impact factor wrong
00:30:39 YouTuber claims flash graphene is 'garbage'
00:31:32 YouTuber: They didn't produce graphene
00:32:11 YouTuber: Resorting to quoting reddit comments
00:32:38 Graphite vs Graphene on a Raman spectrum
00:33:46 YouTuber: Graphene is ONLY a single layer
00:35:20 YouTuber: It's on the internet so it must be true
00:36:01 Where's the mass production of graphene?
00:36:55 Retraction and revised mechanism
00:37:21 Rice University found no evidence of plagiarism
00:39:00 Andrew Barron retires from research
00:39:52 Summary
00:45:05 No answers to OOL questions
00:50:10 Scriptures

[Romansv]

Thank you for your courage and transparency. The best witness is ultimately character. Thank you for your witness!

[jimhagberg]

God bless you Dr. Tour, as you’ve been such a blessing to me & so many others.

I spent 37 years at one Company. A fellow employee, whom I thought was my friend, was making false accusations about my work. On one of my last days before my retirement, he stepped up to my window and told me that I was doing my job well and that he was telling the Company that I wasn't! Ironically he was the only one at this Company that said that to me.
So, Dr. Tour, I pray that God will give you the strength, encouragement and wisdom to persevere through this insulting injustice.
You are a great encouragement to me in my Christian walk and in my resistance to the claims of origin of life "science"!

[paulsocie]

We are not at war with the flesh but, with principalities, evil powers and forces!

Yet, evil resides in us and it wars with the flesh! They will attack the righteous, give false testimony and false witness against them.

It is a spiritual war and some human are unprotected by the Lord, our God!

God Bless, Dr. Tour❣️

[gardenladyjimenez]

Thank you for offering an extensive answer to such charges.

[duydatyds]

Be courage, Dr Tour. The facts that they're coming out to attack you (not your work) is the proof that you're on the right path.

[tymmiara]

I did my physics undergrad and PhD at the University of Manchester (where graphene was discovered) and even though I did not work with graphene, I can confirm that every serious undergraduate there is aware that "graphene" does not mean "monolayer graphene". There are two huge buildings in Manchester studying graphene (the National Graphene Institute and the Graphene Innovation Centre) and all of them would be out of their jobs if all they studied was single-layer pristine graphene. Anyone who conflates graphene and pristine monolayer graphene is showing their ignorance of the field of 2D materials.

[redeemedchannel]

All they have left is character attacks..

[flamingswordapologetics]

Well done, and I am sure this took hours upon hours of work, so sad it comes to this just because they don't like you, your faith, your work.

[mannyfabin]

Dr Tour brought the receipts, Barron brought conjectur. Salute to you Dr Tour and respect.

[BruthaVIII]

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5: 11-12.

[justaguy]

Damn, with friends like Andrew Barron, who needs enemies. It would be one thing if he came to James with these issues, but to go to another source and defame him all over the internet, while also ducking James' attempts to reach out to him....such shady behavior. That's not what a friend does.

[chrismiller]

My family loves you brother! Thank You and God Bless.

[DrJamesTour]

UPDATE: We had to repost, here are the previous comments.

[steveneastep]

Dr. Tour,
Beautifully presented. Thanks for persevering under the storm. Your friend and admirer, Steven J. Eastep, MD ( Medical doctor and and previously a synthetic bioorganic chemist}. +

[billbissenas]

Brutal takedown of the accusations made by Ausman and Barron. They messed with the wrong guy. They never expected Dr Tour to have documentation that make them look like fools.

[MaudieSchentke]

Dear Dr. Tour I will pray for you. I can sense how Painful this character attack by a friend was

[rickshafer]

People just get mad when they find out their life view is wrong.

[Greenie-x]

The excessive use of swearing says volumes about his state of mind.

[MonteVanNortwick]

Dr. Tour, Be strong and courageous. The lies of the enemy will continue...