A journal has issued an expression of concern (EOC) for a cancer study after the publisher received what it called a “credible” tip that its results may not be reliable.
According to the EOC, published in RSC Advances, the paper is now under investigation.
Here’s the EOC for “Filled and peptide-modified single-walled carbon nanotubes: synthesis, characterization, and in vitro test for cancer cell targeting:”
The following article ‘Filled and peptide-modied single-walled carbon nanotubes: synthesis, characterization, and in vitro test for cancer cell targeting’ has been published in RSC Advances.
The Royal Society of Chemistry has been provided with credible information suggesting that the results presented in this paper, in particular Fig. 1 and 3 and the supplementary information, may not be reliable. The concerns raised are under investigation and the Royal Society of Chemistry is seeking verification of the information provided to establish whether the reported results are sound.
RSC Advances is publishing this Expression of Concern to alert readers to the concerns raised as the on-going investigation may take some time to complete.
This notice will be updated when a final outcome is reached.
The 2015 paper has been cited twice (once by its EOC), according to Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science, formerly part of Thomson Reuters.
Since the notice was issued earlier this year, we’ve reached out to editor Andrew Shore for an update on the investigation.
We’ve also contacted first and corresponding author Zhiyuan Hu, who is affiliated with the State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing and the China University of Petroleum, both of which are in Beijing.
We’ll update the post with anything else we learn.
Update: 10/19/16 1:03 p.m. Eastern time: Andrew Shore, executive editor of RSC Advances, said he had nothing to add to the previous statement while the investigation is ongoing.
Like Retraction Watch? Consider making a tax-deductible contribution to support our growth. You can also follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, add us to your RSS reader, sign up on our homepage for an email every time there’s a new post, or subscribe to our new daily digest. Click here to review our Comments Policy. For a sneak peek at what we’re working on, click here.
At first I thought ‘why is the Royal Society of Chemistry publishing cancer studies?’ Then I noticed it is NOT a cancer paper. The cancer test is incidental to “Filled and peptide-modified single-walled carbon nanotubes: synthesis, characterization, and in vitro test for cancer cell targeting”