This paper was published in BioImpacts in 2013 (doi: 10.5681/bi.2013.005).1 Based on an email received from a researcher recently, we were informed that this published paper presented some data (i.e., Fig. 3a and 3b) as same as data presented in three other published papers (i.e., doi: 10.1111/Cbdd.12318; doi: 10.2147/Ijn.s24326; and doi: 10.1186/1477-3155-10-46),2-4 which are considered as the ethical misconduct.
This issue was brought up with and comprehensively investigated by the editorial team of BioImpacts through comparison of the papers and the within-data.
As a result, in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the editors decided to retract this paper. The authors were informed and advised on this serious ethical breach.
Based on the COPE guidelines on the retraction, BioImpacts considers retracting a publication if:
It has clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g., data fabrication and/or falsification) or honest error (e.g. miscalculation or experimental error).
The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper crossreferencing, permission or justification (i.e. cases of redundant publication).
As a peer-review multidisciplinary international "Publish Free" and "Access Free" journal, BioImpacts strongly adheres to the "Publication Ethics", and its foremost goal is to preserve the integrity of the scientific reports in the highest standards, therefore, the journal takes all issues of publication misconduct seriously.
References
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