This update follows the previous Expression of Concern for the article “microRNA-217 suppressed epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition through targeting PTPN14 in gastric cancer” by Chen at al., copied at the end of this update, published June 26 2020.
The Editorial Office has contacted the listed authors of the Bioscience Reports article to investigate the origins of the images in Figures 2A and B, sections of which had been published previously in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2017; 21 (8): 1759-1767. Whilst the images were published first in European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, the images in the Bioscience Reports article show a wider field of view. The authors of the Bioscience Reports article have corresponded with the Editorial Office and have provided the Editorial Office with raw data pertaining to these images, in which no further issues have been identified. The Editorial Office has also contacted the authors of the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences article as well as the publisher, Verduci Editore, for further information on whether raw data was available or received during the submission process, but received no response from the authors and no response from the publisher pertaining to the data from the Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. article.
The authors of the Bioscience Reports article, who have cooperated fully with the Bioscience Reports Editorial Office during this investigation, state that these image are their own original work, and given that the Editorial Office has not identified any further issues, the article will remain published with an Expression of Concern to alert readers to the duplicated images and prior publication.
Original Expression of Concern
Biosci Rep. (2020) 40(6), Pulished June 26 2020: The Editorial Office has been made aware of potential issues surrounding the scientific validity of this paper, hence has issued an Expression of Concern to notify readers whilst the Editorial Office investigates.
