Truth is an absolute defense against defamation in the US (somehow some European screw this up). To successfully sue someone for defamation, you need to prove t

Truth is an absolute defense against defamation in the US (somehow some European screw this up). To successfully sue someone for defamation, you need to prove that they spread falsehoods about you, knowingly (or at least, they should have known better). If a bunch of her papers were manipulated (fact) to support a preconceived notion (fact), it would be impossible to successfully argue that someone would be negligently wrong to believe she was an academic fraud. Thus, no, it's not defamatory.