Mao J, Lin K, Liu X, Liu J, Liang G, Sheng Z. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2025;19:5143–5152.
We, the Editors and Publisher of the Drug Design, Development and Therapy have retracted the published article.
Following publication, the authors notified the journal that the study had inadvertently included participants who should have been excluded according to the inclusion criteria. The authors stated this occurred due to a data misclassification, and requested retraction as a result of this error.
As part of the investigation by the journal and the publisher, it was identified that the published article appeared to have similarity with another article which shares some of the same authors, and was published at the same time:
Sheng Z, Mao J, Mei Z, et al. Effects of prophylactic infusion of equivalent doses of metaraminol and norepinephrine for preventing spinal anesthesia-induced hypotension during cesarean delivery on fetal and maternal outcomes: a dual-center, non-inferiority randomized clinical trial. Int J Surg. 2025;111(8):5280–5287. DOI: 10.1097/JS9.0000000000002602.
The articles do not reference each other.
When approached for an explanation for the similarity, the authors provided an explanation but were unable to fully address the concerns raised.
As the journal no longer has confidence in the findings of this study, and the Publisher has been unable to verify the validity of the published work that is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article. The corresponding author listed in this publication has been informed.
We have been informed in our decision-making by our editorial policies and the COPE principles.
The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.