EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: Development of pH‐Responsive Hydrogel From Copolymers of Artemisia Vulgaris Seed Mucilage, Mucin, and poly(methacrylate) for Controlled Delivery of Acyclovir Sodium

EXPRESSION OF CONCERN : F. Taslim, M.U. Ashraf, M. Farooq, A. Mahmood, R.M. Sarfraz, H. Ijaz, N. Shahid, and H.A. Gad, “Development of pH‐responsive Hydrogel from Copolymers of Artemisia vulgaris Seed Mucilage, Mucin, and poly(methacrylate) for Controlled Delivery of Acyclovir Sodium,” Macromolecular Rapid Communications 45, no. 22 (2024): 2400421, https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.202400421 . This Expression of Concern is for the above article, published online on 28 September 2024 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), and has been issued by agreement between the journal Editor‐in‐Chief, Bo Weng, and Wiley‐VCH GmbH, Weinheim. Concerns were raised on PubPeer [1] regarding similar images in Figure 7. Following an investigation, it was not clear if there was any deliberate stretching or resizing of images because of the initial poor quality of the photographic data used. Due to the poor image quality, the publisher was unable to rule out that the images were not manipulated. Therefore, the journal has decided to issue an Expression of Concern to inform and alert readers. References [1] Elisabeth M Bik, “Development of pH‐responsive Hydrogel from Copolymers of Artemisia vulgaris Seed Mucilage, Mucin, and poly(methacrylate) for Controlled Delivery of Acyclovir Sodium,” PubPeer , 2026, https://pubpeer.com/publications/9E25D43FBD85FFA5112224D2FBB379