The Editor-in-Chief has retracted the article entitled “[Sophocarpine inhibits the growth of gastric cancer cells via autophagy and apoptosis]” ([1]) due to significant concerns regarding the reliability and integrity of the data presented.

Recently, several issues were brought to the attention of the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief regarding the originality and authenticity of the images in this paper published in 2019 prior to the present publisher and EiC taking over the management of the journal. Specifically, Fig. 4A of the article is repeated, and Fig. 1C contains images identical to those in a paper published in 2021 [2]. This duplication of images raises serious questions about the validity of the results and the adherence to ethical standards of research.

On being contacted, the authors conceded that there were errors in their article and requested that it be retracted. The Editor-in-Chief is unable to retrospectively determine how these errors arose, and therefore after careful consideration and in accordance with the publication’s ethical guidelines, has decided to agree to the authors´ request to retract the article. All authors agree to this retraction.