Xing H, Wang X, Xiao SS, et al. Int J Nanomedicine. 2017;12:7709–7720.
The Editor and Publisher of International Journal of Nanomedicine wish to retract the published article. Concerns were raised regarding the alleged duplication of images in Figures 1 and 5, specifically:
Figure 1A, panel TNS-PEM (x50,000) appears to have been duplicated with regions of panel TNS-PEM-IGF1-100 (x50,000).
Figure 5A, panel TNS-PEM (14 d), TNS-PEM-IGFI-50 (14 d) and TNS-PEM-IGFI-100 (14 d) all appear to have been duplicated with regions of each other.
Figure 5B, panel TNS (21 d), TNS-PEM (21 d), TNS-PEM-IGFI-50 (21 d) and TNS-PEM-IGF1-100 (21 d) all appear to have been duplicated with regions of each other.
The authors responded to our queries but were unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for the alleged duplication and could not provide satisfactory original data that would validate the findings of their study. The Editor advised for the article to be retracted.
Our decision-making was informed by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retraction.
The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.