“[s]ystematic, coordinated, and widespread manipulation of the peer-review process.

“pertaining to this peer-review manipulation scheme are now almost complete, and Guest Editor checks were further tightened to enable detection of issues as soon as possible.

“became aware of possible systematic manipulation and other issues such as plagiarism, image duplication, and authorship issues in a number of articles published in Special Issues

“to inquire about the specific details and official rationale for these retractions, including the peer review concerns.

“Given the rise in submissions across the research publishing ecosystem and other changes seen in recent years, the investment made by the academic publishing industry to ensure research integrity is higher than ever.

“compromised

“he has been sending batches of concerning papers to the journal since April 2025.

“procedurally or substantively deficient