Six Articles Cite a Single Ethical Approval Not Issued by the Institutions That Carried Out the Studies
A recent investigation reveals that six articles [1-6] cite the same ethical approval with the grant number of XYGW-2021-27. It is claimed that this approval was granted by the ethics committee of Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University; however, these studies were carried out at different hospitals across Hunan province, China.
Specifically, study [1] was carried out at a secondary-level hospital in Yiyang City, studies [2] and [4] were carried out at the First People's Hospital of Yuanjiang City, study [3] was carried out at the First People's Hospital of Ruanjiang City, while studies [5] and [6] were carried out at the Xiangya Hospital of Central South University.
Because Chinese regulations require ethical approval to be granted by the institution that conducted the study, the above-mentioned approvals were not granted in compliance with Chinese regulations.
These six articles have a common author: DAI Wenjie (戴文杰).
Reference
[1] 10.1038/s41598-026-74022-4
[2] 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1445323