“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

“compromised editorial handling and peer review process.

“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.

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

“clearly very suspicious and concerning

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

“it's seeing an increase in their filings in pursuit of incentive programs, and they are often "procedurally or substantively deficient,"