Jiao D, Liu Y, Tian Z. Onco Targets Ther. 2019;12:6947–6959.
The Editor and Publisher of OncoTargets and Therapy wish to retract the published article. Concerns were raised over alleged image duplication in Figure 2E between panels Tca8113 and CAL-27, miR-493 mimics. There were also concerns over the alleged duplication of images in Figures 6C and 6E and with similar images from unrelated studies, specifically:
Figure 6C, panel CAL-27, miR-NC appears to have been duplicated with a similar image in Figure 4D from Zhang et al, 2019 (https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2019.4765).
Figure 6E, panel CAL-27, miR-493 mimics+pcDNA3.1 appears to have been duplicated with a similar image in Figure 4E from Zhao et al, 2019 (https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2019.4333).
The authors responded to our queries but were unable to provide an explanation for the alleged image duplication and could not provide the original raw data for their study and have therefore agreed to retract the article.
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The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.