Figure 2B: There's a duplicated image. I've added the red rectangles to show where I mean.
Would the authors please check and comment?
This was identified with the help of ImageTwin.ai
Supplementary Figure 4: Images have appeared elsewhere labelled as showing different cell types. They have also appeared in another paper with a consistent label, although I haven't checked the methods to see if the experimental procedures are the same.
Can the authors please clarify? What do the images show?
The first paragraph of the introduction is essentially a complete copy of a previous introduction from the same group of authors. The previous paper was not referenced. While it may be true that the general introductory material between two papers in the same area might be similar, duplicating an entire paragraph would seem to contravene the publishers' guidance on text-recycling and self-plagiarism.
Text similarity identified by Advacheck.
This paper Received: (20 January 2021)
Mesenchymal tissues are derived from the mesoderm (i.e., middle layer of the embryo) and include the musculoskeletal system, circulatory and lymphatic systems, and connective tissues. Sarcomas are malignant tumors of mesenchymal tissues, with an annual incidence of ~15,000 cases in the United States [1]. About 40% of sarcoma cases lead to death. Treatment of primary tumors often includes aggressive surgical resection and radiation therapy, but local recurrence remains a significant problem, especially for tumors in difficult anatomic locations such as the head and neck, paraspinal region, retroperitoneum, and pelvis [2]. Up to half of patients with large, high-grade sarcomas develop distant metastases, most frequently to the lung [3]. The efficacy of chemotherapy in treating local and distant recurrence is modest at best, and for the minority of patients who do respond, nearly all eventually develop chemotherapy resistance [4].
PI3K/Akt pathway and Nanog maintain cancer stem cells in sarcomas (Received: 23 February 2020)
Mesenchymal tissues are derived from the mesoderm (i.e. middle layer of the embryo) and include the musculoskeletal system, circulatory and lymphatic systems, and connective tissues. Sarcomas are malignant tumors of mesenchymal tissues, with an annual incidence of approximately 15,000 new diagnoses in the United States, of which about 40% lead to fatality [1]. Treatment of primary tumors often includes aggressive surgical resection and radiation therapy, but local recurrence remains a significant problem, especially for tumors in difficult locations such as the head and neck, paraspinal region, retroperitoneum, and pelvis. Up to half of patients with large, high-grade sarcomas develop distant metastases, most frequently to the lung [2]. The efficacy of chemotherapy and radiation in treating local and distant recurrence is modest at best, and for the minority of patients who do respond, nearly all eventually develop resistance [3].
There's a relationship between images of mice shown in three different papers, I've added a diagram below to show what I mean. I think it would be really helpful if the authors could clarify.
Figure 6: An image of a tumour appeared in a previous paper. The ruler has moved. The cells lines should be different. The ruler appears to be duplicated between the photos, indicating that at least one was photoshopped. I'll update the picture in the next comment.
Retracted 19 March 2024.
The Editors-in-Chief have retracted this article after concerns were raised about some of the data reported. Specifically:
Additionally, the authors were unable to provide documentary evidence that they received ethics approval for the animal work reported in this article. The Editors-in-Chief no longer have confidence in the reliability of the results and conclusions of this article.
M. Celeste Simon agrees with this retraction. Sam S. Yoon agrees with this retraction but disagrees with the retraction wording. The Publisher was unable to confirm current contact details for Changhwan Woon. Jun Lu and Sandra W. Ryeom did not respond to correspondence from the Publisher about this retraction.
References
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