EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: Mitochondrial Function Is Controlled by Melatonin and Its Metabolites In Vitro in Human Melanoma Cells

Abstract

EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: B. Bilska, F. Schedel, A. Piotrowska, J. Stefan, M. Zmijewski, E. Pyza, R. J. Reiter, K. Steinbrink, A. T. Slominski, M. K. Tulic, and K. Kleszczyński, “Mitochondrial Function Is Controlled by Melatonin and Its Metabolites In Vitro in Human Melanoma Cells,” Journal of Pineal Research 70, no. 3 (2021): e12728, https://doi.org/10.1111/jpi.12728.

This Expression of Concern is for the above article, published online on 02 March 2021 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), and has been issued by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Gianluca Tosini; and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. A third party reported that the panels in Figure 3B and 3 C shared an overlapping cellular section. The publisher confirmed these concerns, and following the initiation of its investigation, the publisher received further correspondence from University of Münster noting that the university had published a formal statement regarding one of the authors [1]. This statement reported the conclusions from a commission of inquiry which concluded that this author engaged in behavior consistent with scientific misconduct, and that the university had directed the authors to seek corrections with the publications involved in the inquiry. The University of Münster did not provide further details regarding the commission of inquiry with specific reference to this article.

The authors requested a correction for their article to replace both Figures 3B and 3 C and shared original data as well as further corroborating evidence regarding their experimental procedures. Following a review of the data, the editors determined that, while the authors had provided evidence to support their claims that the new data corresponded to the stated samples, the data provided could not be validated as being qualitatively the same. This Expression of Concern has been agreed to to inform and alert readers to the error in Figure 3 and the results of the publisher's and the university's investigation. All authors disagree with the Expression of Concern. On behalf of all authors, K. Kleszczyński requested correction for the error in Figure 3. Author E. Pyza supported this request.