The publisher of World Journal of Engineering wishes to retract the article Aigbodion, V.S., C.C., E., E.T., A., I.Y., S., I.C., E. and C.A., M. (2019), “Morphology and properties of composite coating on mild steel: effect of bath temperature and snail shell weight composition”, World Journal of Engineering, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 296-303. https://doi.org/10.1108/WJE-07-2018-0232. It has come to our attention that Figure 3 is a duplicate of Figure 4a in Aigbodion V, Neife S, Suleiman I. Surface modification of mild steel by co-deposition using Zn-ZnO-Ant hill particulate composite coating in simulated sea water. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part M. 2018;233(3):857-867. doi:10.1177/1475090218792382, and of Figure 7a in Suleiman, I.Y., Aigbodion, V.S., Obayi, C.O. et al. Surface characterisation, corrosion and mechanical properties of polyester-polyester/snail shell powder coatings of steel pipeline for naval applications. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 101, 2441–2447 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-2908-7. While the Materials and Methods sections of these articles indicate that the substrates used are different materials (as can be determined from their compositions shown in each article’s respective Table 1), the SEM or EDS images across the articles are identical and suggests that they have been fraudulently manipulated. Further concerns were also identified with Figure 9, with the image failing to match the description provided in the text of the article. The author V.S. Aigbodion cooperated with the investigation, but was unable to address the identified discrepancies satisfactorily; we were unable to contact the co-authors using the information originally provided at submission. As a result of these concerns, the findings of the article cannot be relied upon. Emerald’s publishing ethics policies emphasise that the deliberate adjustment or manipulation of an image or figure to affect the interpretation of the data is unethical. V.S. Aigbodion would like to note that the authors of this article do not agree with the content of this notice. The publisher of the journal sincerely apologizes to the readers.
The retracted article is available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/WJE-07-2018-0232
