A group of researchers in Iran now have had more than 60 papers retracted for concerns about peer review and plagiarism as a publisher investigates its back catalog.

Previously, Elsevier said they would retract 26 papers from the research group at Islamic Azad University in Tehran for fake reviews in 2017 and 2018. The latest batch of 33 retracted papers originally appeared in Springer Nature’s Journal of Fusion Energy as far back as 2009.

The retraction notices state an investigation by Springer Nature found problems “including but not limited to peer review concerns” and “significant overlap” with other published works. The authors did not respond to correspondence regarding the retractions, the notices stated.

Source: https://retractionwatch.com/2024/07/26/authors-up-past-60-retractions-amid-ongoing-investigation/