A chemical engineering paper published in February has been retracted for data and authorship problems.
According to the retraction notice, the authors’ institutions investigated and found that not only was the data not reproducible, but “not all co-authors on the manuscript were aware of or agreed to the content and scientific conclusions in the article.”
Here’s the notice in the Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data for “Ionic Liquids as Promising Solvents for Biomass Derived Mannitol and Xylitol”:
The Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data retracts the article, “Ionic Liquids as Promising Solvents for Biomass Derived Mannitol and Xylitol” on the basis of the results of an investigation issued by the authors’ institutions that concluded the data could not be scientifically validated. The investigation also determined that not all co-authors on the manuscript were aware of or agreed to the content and scientific conclusions in the article.
We’ve emailed the authors, the journal editor, and the New University of Lisbon, where the authors conduct their research, and will update with any new information.
Hat tip: Jean-Claude Bollinger