Wolters Kluwer Retracts Nine Chinese Transplant Papers

Publisher Wolters Kluwer has retracted nine publications on Chinese transplant research from the journal Liver Transplantation, Hepatology, and Transplantation upon identification of potential ethical breaches flagged by a 2019 scoping review by Rogers et al. in BMJ Open “Compliance with ethical standards in the reporting of donor sources and ethics review in peer-reviewed publications involving organ transplantation in China: a scoping review“.

The scoping review concluded that 445 Chinese papers reporting research on Chinese transplant recipients failed to comply with international professional and ethical standards in banning publication of research using material from executed prisoners. The review called for retraction of these literature pending investigation of individual papers.

In ETAC’s letter to Wolters Kluwer, we noted that international bodies—including the WHO, World Medical Association, The Transplantation Society, Amnesty International, and the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group—widely condemn the use of executed prisoners’ organs in transplantation, and that the papers flagged in the scoping review by Rogers et al. (2019) breach this international ethics guidance by reporting research that used organs or data derived from executed prisoners. This prompted an investigation conducted under COPE guidelines (Committee on Publication Ethics), which involved direct correspondence with the authors to safeguard the integrity of the scholarly record. The investigation culminated in the retraction of the identified articles.

To date, there have been 60 papers retracted by various publishers in response to the scoping review. ETAC commends the journals for these retractions and their commitment to uphold the ethical standards of transplant research, and urges the remaining papers also be retracted.

Links:

• Retraction watch reports 44 papers have been retracted https://retractionwatch.com/2025/10/24/despite-new-retractions-suspect-organ-transplant-papers-remain-in-the-literature/
• ETAC reports eight retractions by Elsevier https://endtransplantabuse.org/elsevier-retracts-eight-chinese-transplant-papers/

Papers retracted by Wolters Kluwer: 

• Hao, C., Erzheng, C., Anwei, M., Zhicheng, Y., Baiyong, S., Xiaxing, D., Weixia, Z., Chenghong, P., & Hongwei, L. (2026). Retraction: Validation of limited sampling strategy for the estimation of mycophenolic acid exposure in chinese adult liver transplant recipients. Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, 32(5), E26. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41925358/
• Hao, C., Anwei, M., Bing, C., Baiyong, S., Weixia, Z., Chuan, S., Erzhen, C., Xiaxing, D., Weihua, Q., Weiping, Y., Chenghong, P., & Hongwei, L. (2008). Monitoring mycophenolic acid pharmacokinetic parameters in liver transplant recipients: prediction of occurrence of leukopenia. Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, 14(8), 1165–1173. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18668650/
• Li, F., Yang, M., Li, B., Yan, L., Zen, Y., Wen, T., & Zao, J. (2007). Initial clinical results of orthotopic liver transplantation for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis. Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, 13(6), 924–926. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17538987/
• Ren, J., Lu, M. D., Zheng, R. Q., Lu, M. Q., Liao, M., Mao, Y. J., Zheng, Z. J., & Lu, Y. (2009). Evaluation of the microcirculatory disturbance of biliary ischemia after liver transplantation with contrast-enhanced ultrasound: preliminary experience. Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, 15(12), 1703–1708. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19938144/
• Shi, Z., Yan, L., Zhao, J., Li, B., Wen, T., Xu, M., Wang, W., Chen, Z., & Yang, J. (2010). Prevention and treatment of rethrombosis after liver transplantation with an implantable pump of the portal vein. Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, 16(3), 324–331. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20209592/
• Yan, S., Tu, Z., Lu, W., Zhang, Q., He, J., Li, Z., Shao, Y., Wang, W., Zhang, M., & Zheng, S. (2009). Clinical utility of an automated pupillometer for assessing and monitoring recipients of liver transplantation. Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, 15(12), 1718–1727. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19938127/
• Zhu, Z. J., Shen, Z. Y., Gao, W., Zheng, H., Deng, Y. L., Pan, C., Sun, L. Y., Zeng, Z. G., & Sun, J. S. (2010). Feasibility of using a liver infected with Clonorchis sinensis for liver transplantation: fourteen cases. Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, 16(12), 1440–1442. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21117256/
• Bai, D. S., Dai, Z., Zhou, J., Liu, Y. K., Qiu, S. J., Tan, C. J., Shi, Y. H., Huang, C., Wang, Z., He, Y. F., & Fan, J. (2009). Capn4 overexpression underlies tumor invasion and metastasis after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.), 49(2), 460–470. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19053044/
• Yu, S., Wu, L., Jin, J., Yan, S., Jiang, G., Xie, H., & Zheng, S. (2006). Influence of CYP3A5 gene polymorphisms of donor rather than recipient to tacrolimus individual dose requirement in liver transplantation. Transplantation, 81(1), 46–51. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16421475/

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