Zhou L, Deng ZZ, Li HY, et al. Onco Targets Ther. 2019;12:2289–2297.
We, the Editor and Publisher of the journal OncoTargets and Therapy have retracted the published article.
Following publication of the article, concerns were raised about the duplication of images from Figures 2 and 3 with images from an unrelated article. Specifically,
The image for Figure 2D, U87MG, Vector, and Figure 3D, LN-229, Vector has been duplicated with the image for Figure 3D, ZR-75-1, NC, and Figure 2D, MCF-7, Vector, respectively, from Peng L, Deng X, Gan X, et al. Targeting of TLE3 by miR‑3677 in human breast cancer promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Oncology Letters. 2020;19:1409-1417. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2019.11241.
The corresponding author was cooperative and did respond to our queries but was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for how the images came to be duplicated or provide satisfactory original data for the study. As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, the Publisher and Editor requested to retract the article and the corresponding author was notified of this decision.
We have been informed in our decision-making by our editorial policies and COPE guidelines.
The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.