Optimizing Stem Cell Functions and Antibacterial Properties of TiO₂ Nanotubes Incorporated with ZnO Nanoparticles: Experiments and Modeling [Retraction]

Liu W, Su P, Gonzales III A, et al. Int J Nanomedicine. 2015;10(1):1997–2019.

The Editor and Publisher of International Journal of Nanomedicine wish to retract the published article. Concerns were raised regarding the duplication of figures and results with those from an earlier publication, Liu et al, 2014 (https://doi.org/10.1039/C4NR01531B), by the authors. Specifically:

• Figures 1B and 1b appear to have been published previously as Figures 1B and 1b from Liu et al, 2014.
• Results from Table 2 had previously been published in Table 2 from Liu et al, 2014.
• Parts of Figure 2A appear to have been previously published in Figure 4 from Liu et al, 2014.
• Figures 2B and 2C appear to have been previously published as Figures 5a and 5b in Liu et al, 2014, respectively.
• Figure S1B appears to have been duplicated with Figure 3b from Liu et al, 2014, albeit with some adjustment to the image’s orientation.

It was acknowledged the earlier Liu et al, 2014 publication had been referenced, however the authors failed to properly cite this article as the source of the figures and results described above. In addition, the authors were unable to provide a satisfactory justification to the Editor for the need to republish these same figures and results. The Editor requested for the article to be retracted.

The authors do not agree with the decision to retract the article.

Our decision-making was informed by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retraction.

The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.

This retraction relates to this paper