Li S, Wen D, Che S, et al. Onco Targets Ther. 2018;11:3215–3223.
The Editor and Publisher of OncoTargets and Therapy wish to retract the published paper. Concerns were raised regarding the alleged manipulation and duplication of tumor images shown in Figure 6B. Specifically:
Figure 6B, top row images for sh-NC, appear to be duplicated with images of the same tumors in Figure 2D from Liu et al, 2019 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2019.108862) and Figure 6B from Li et al, 2018 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2018.03.122).
Similarly, Figure 6B, bottom row images for sh-LINC00152, also appear to be duplicated with images of the same tumors in Figure 2D from Liu et al, 2019 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2019.108862) and Figure 6B from Li et al, 2018 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2018.03.122).
The authors responded to our queries but could not provide a satisfactory explanation for the alleged duplication or provide adequate raw data for their study. The findings of the study were deemed invalid and the Editor requested 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The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.