Int J Mol Med 42: [Related article:] 2538-2550, 2018; DOI:
10.3892/ijmm.2018.3810
Following the publication of the above paper, it was
drawn to the Editor's attention by a concerned reader that certain
of the data panels (namely, three of the six panels) in Fig. 3
showing the results of migration assay experiments were strikingly
similar to data in a paper which was submitted for publication at
around the same time by the same research group to the journal
Stem Cells International, where the results were described
differently. Upon performing an independent analysis of the data in
this paper in the Editorial Office, it came to light that data
included in Figs. 1C, 6D and 7B-D were also strikingly similar to
data appearing in a few other articles written by the same research
group, one of which had already been published and one of which was
submitted for publication at around the same time as the above
paper. Moreover, two pairs of data panels in Fig. 3 also contained
overlapping sections of data, such that data which were intended to
show the results of differently performed experiments had
apparently been derived from a smaller number of original
sources.
Given the apparent re-use of a large number of the
data featured in the above paper in other articles by the same
research group, and in view of the overlapping data identified in
Fig. 3, the Editor of International Journal of Molecular
Medicine has decided that this paper should be retracted from
the Journal on account of a lack of confidence in the presented
data. The authors were asked for an explanation to account for
these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not receive a reply.
The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience
caused.
