The journal Environmental Research, published by Elsevier, retracted six research articles in early January 2026. The retractions highlight ongoing concerns around data integrity, authorship transparency, plagiarism, and the misuse of computer-generated content in scholarly publishing.
Why were these papers retracted?
Across the six retractions, the journal cited multiple overlapping ethical concerns, including:
- Breach of publication policy by authors
- Use of computer-generated or AI-assisted content without disclosure
- Data fabrication, falsification, or duplication
- Plagiarism and improper attribution
- Concerns over authorship and institutional affiliations
- Unreliable or non-reproducible results
- Lack of ethical approvals
- Rogue editorial handling
List of Retracted Papers
1. Unearthing Earth’s secrets: Exploring the environmental legacy of contaminants in soil, water, and sediments
- Article Type: Review Article
- Published: 24 January 2024
- Retracted: January 14, 2026
- Key Issues:
- Breach of Policy by Author
- Computer-Aided Content or Computer-Generated Content
- Concerns/Issues about Authorship/Affiliation
- Unreliable Results and/or Conclusions
- Countries Involved: India, China, South Korea, Vietnam
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935124001506
2. Antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic, and antioxidant activities potential of Coleus aromaticus synthesized titanium dioxide nanoparticles
- Article Type: Research Article
- Published: November 2022
- Retracted: January 12, 2026
- Key Issues:
- Breach of Policy by Author
- Concerns/Issues about Data
- Concerns/Issues about Human Subject Welfare
- Concerns/Issues about Methods
- Investigation by Journal/Publisher
- Investigation by Third Party
- Lack of IRB/IACUC Approval and/or Compliance
- Results Not Reproducible
- Data and methodology concerns
- Lack of ethical approval
- Results not reproducible
- Countries Involved: Thailand, India, Saudi Arabia, USA
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935122020412
3. Fungi fabrication, characterization, and anticancer activity of silver nanoparticles using metals resistant Aspergillus niger
- Article Type: Research Article
- Published: January 2022
- Retracted: January 12, 2026
- Key Issues:
- Breach of Policy by Author
- Cites Retracted Work
- Concerns/Issues about Authorship/Affiliation
- Concerns/Issues about Data
- Date of Article and/or Notice Unknown
- Duplication of Data
- Falsification/Fabrication of Data
- Investigation by Journal/Publisher
- Investigation by Third Party
- Countries Involved: India, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Taiwan, USA
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935122000482
4. Magnetic porous Ag2O/Chitin nanostructure adsorbent for eco-friendly effective disposing azo dyes
- Article Type: Research Article
- Published: November 2022
- Retracted: January 12, 2026
- Key Issues:
- Image manipulation
- Unreliable results
- Author unresponsive
- Countries Involved: India, Vietnam
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001393512202151X
5. Synthesis of AgNPs from leaf extract of Naringi crenulata and evaluation of its antibacterial activity against multidrug resistant bacteria
- Article Type: Research Article
- Published: October 2022
- Retracted: January 12, 2026
- Key Issues:
- Plagiarism of data
- Methodological flaws
- Misleading results
- Countries Involved: India, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, USA
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935122017820
6. Unravelling the potential plant growth activity of halotolerant Bacillus licheniformis NJ04 isolated from soil and its possible use as a green bioinoculant on Solanum lycopersicum L
- Article Type: Research Article
- Published: October 2022
- Retracted: January 12, 2026
- Key Issues:
- Image manipulation
- Data reliability concerns
- Rogue editorial involvement
- Countries Involved: India, Estonia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935122019478