Wang J, Ma W, Guo Q, et al. Int J Nanomedicine. 2016;11:5851–5870.

We, the Editor and Publisher of the journal International Journal of Nanomedicine, have retracted the following article.

Following publication of the article, concerns were raised about the duplication of images from Figures 2 and 6. Specifically,

Images for Figure 2A, DOX-Sol and HA-VES12/DOX, have been duplicated. Images for Figure 6B, 2 hours, HA-VES4/CY7 and 4 hours, HA-VES12/CY7 have regions of overlap. Images for Figure 6B, 2 hours, HA-VES12/CY7 and 4 hours, HA-VES4/CY7 have regions of overlap. Images for Figure 6B, 4 hours, HA-VES4/CY7 and 4 hours, HA-VES12/CY7 have regions of overlap. Images for Figure 6D, HA-VES7/DOX and HA-VES12/DOX, have been duplicated.

The authors responded to our queries but were unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for the duplicated images or provide satisfactory data for the study. As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article and the authors were notified of this.

We have been informed in our decision-making by our editorial policies and COPE guidelines.

The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.