Retraction Notice of 7 articles in the special issue “Decarbonizing Energy Systems: Smart Grid and Renewable Technologies”

The Editors in Chief, Guest Editors and Publisher led an initial investigation into the Special Issue “Decarbonizing Energy Systems: Smart Grid and Renewable Technologies”, after concerns were raised about the authorship and the peer-review of some papers published in it. Through this investigation, a pattern of irregular and concerning author and reviewer activity was uncovered, including coordinated misconduct by a group of individuals involved in multiple publications. The corresponding authors of the articles were given the opportunity to answer the results of this investigation and have not provided convincing evidence concerning the authorship and peer-review manipulation issues that were raised. In addition, there is a suspicion of identity theft. The Editors in Chief, Guest Editors and Publisher agree there are enough indicators to cause serious doubts over the legitimacy of the work and of the peer-reviewing of these articles.