Nanotechnology researchers in Japan, who in November retracted a paper in Nature for lack of reproducibility, have retracted two more articles after what they said was a failure to replicate their findings.
As we reported previously, the authors, led by Kenichiro Itami of Nagoya University, called for an investigation into the problems with their work, the conclusions of which have yet to be made public.
The new retractions involve articles published in ACS Applied Nano Materials.
Here’s the notice for “Graphene Nanoribbon Dielectric Passivation Layers for Graphene Electronics,” a paper which appeared in July 2019 and has been cited 11 times, according to Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science:
The authors retract this Article following the discovery that the original procedure of the synthesis of monomer 1 (the starting material for graphene nanoribbon 2 used in this Article) is not reproducible. While the focal point of this Article was the discovery of graphene nanoribbon-assisted improved charge-carrier transport properties of graphene, the reproducibility problem in the synthesis part undermines our confidence in the integrity of the study as a whole, and we therefore retract this Article.
Here’s the notice for “Step-Growth Annulative π-Extension Polymerization for Synthesis of Cove-Type Graphene Nanoribbons,” published in January 2020:
The authors retract this Communication following the discovery that the original procedure of the synthesis of monomer 1a is not reproducible. In addition, the exact molecular weights of 2a (Figure 1 and Figure S15) were calculated wrongly based on the assumption that all carbon atoms in graphene nanoribbon (GNR) 2a were 12C (monoisotopic), which affected the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF-MS) data of the GNR 2a. These issues undermine our confidence in the integrity of the study as a whole, and we therefore retract this Communication.
The Itami lab Twitter account this week posted the following alert:
A report on the retractions also appeared on the website of Nagoya University. Google translates the conclusion of the notice as:
In each case, there is a problem of reproducibility in a part of the content of the treatise, and the author made a request to the journal of the treatise based on his own judgment.
Update, 2100 UTC, 2/26/21: The Itami group has corrected a review that references two of their now-retracted papers.
Hat tip: Lemonstoism, author of World Fluctuation Watch
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We Japanese scientists work very hard. It is a huge shame to see Japanese papers are retracted.