The Editors-in-Chief have retracted this article. After publication, concerns were raising regarding extensive overlap between the data presented in this article and another article from the same authors that was under consideration within a similar time frame [1].
The authors have stated that the data were misused in the other article [1] by mistake and provided the raw data for validation. However, further checks by the Publisher found several cases of overlap in the raw data images representing different groups, as well as signs of image editing.
The Editors-in-Chief therefore no longer have confidence in the presented data.
Qing Yuan agrees to this retraction. Yan-wen Jiang, Ting-ting Ma and Qiu-hong Fang have not responded to any correspondence from the editor or publisher about this retraction. The Publisher has not been able to obtain a current email address for Lei Pan.
Footnotes
The online version of the original article can be found at 10.1186/s12950-014-0040-5.
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
References
- 1.Yuan Q, Jiang YW, Fang QH. Improving effect of Sivelestat on lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury in rats. APMIS. 2014;122(9):810–7. doi: 10.1111/apm.12222. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]