A group of nanotechnology researchers in Iran is up to nine retractions after losing four papers in a go for problematic figures.
The work was led by Abolfazl Akbarzadeh, a medicinal chemist at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, who has spent time as a visiting professor at Boston University and UCLA. Commenters on PubPeer including Elisabeth Bik and “Hoya camphorifolia” have raised questions about the papers, with posts dating back to November 2020.
The latest retractions involve articles that appeared in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, a Taylor & Francis title. Evidently, the papers appear to have had…artificial data.
Here’s the notice for “Synthesis, characterization and in vitro evaluation of magnetic nanoparticles modified with PCL–PEG–PCL for controlled delivery of 5FU,” which appeared in February 2018 and has been cited 25 times, according to Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science:
We, the Editors and Publisher of the journal Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, have retracted the following article:
Nahideh Asadi, Nasim Annabi, Ebrahim Mostafavi, Maryam Anzabi, Rovshan Khalilov, Siamak Saghfi, Masoud Mehrizadeh & Abolfazl Akbarzadeh (2018) Synthesis, characterization and in vitro evaluation of magnetic nanoparticles modified with PCL–PEG–PCL for controlled delivery of 5FU. Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 46(sup1), 938–945, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21691401.2018.1439839
Since publication, a reader alerted the Publisher that Figures 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 had been previously published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology and other journals, specifically:
Figures 2, 3, 6 and 8 appear to have been duplicated with Figures 3A, 12A, 8 and 11, respectively, from Akbarzadeh et al., 2012 (https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S24326).
Figures 3 and 6 appear to have been duplicated with Figures 9A and 7, respectively, from Akbarzadeh et al., 2012 (https://doi.org/10.2147/NSA.S24328).
Figures 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 appear to have been duplicated with Figures 7B, 6, 6B, 11 and 9, respectively, from Jahangiri & Akbarzadeh, 2015. (https://doi.org/10.3109/21691401.2015.1090443).
Figure 8 appears to have been duplicated with Figure 6 from Ebrahimi et al., 2014 (https://doi.org/10.3109/21691401.2014.944646).
Figure 8 appears to have been duplicated with Figure 7 from Ebrahimi et al., 2014 (https://doi.org/10.3109/21691401.2014.968822).
All the articles that had previously published these images shared at least one author in common with this published article. The reused images were described as originating from a new study with no reference to the previous study. We contacted the corresponding author and last author, and they acknowledged the similarities in the data published. As this error directly impacts the reported results and conclusions, the Editor and Publisher have agreed to retract the article to ensure correction of the scholarly record. The corresponding author [Akbarzadeh] has been informed.
We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions.
The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.
The three other newly retracted articles are “In vitro study and characterization of doxorubicin-loaded magnetic nanoparticles modified with biodegradable copolymers;” “Novel drug delivery system based on doxorubicin-encapsulated magnetic nanoparticles modified with PLGA-PEG1000 copolymer;” and “Preparation and in vitro evaluation of Methotrexate-loaded magnetic nanoparticles modified with biocompatible copolymers” – all from 2016. The papers received 15, 41 and eight citations, respectively.
Akbarzadeh, who according to his CV was once on the editorial board of the journal, has not responded to a request for comment. His previous retractions, from 2018 through 2020, were in journals including Bioimpacts, the Journal of Nanobiotechnology, and the International Journal of Nanomedicine.
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