Retraction Notice to: A pilot study to assess a risk of a high-risk group of low back pain membership in workers who perform the manual material handling tasks (Ann Occup Environ Med 2021;33:e34)

The article titled “A pilot study to assess a risk of a high-risk group of low back pain membership in workers who perform the manual material handling tasks,” originally published in Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (Ann Occup Environ Med) in November 2021, authored by Sungho Lee, Seongchan Heo and Jong-Young Lee, has officially been retracted by the editorial board of the Ann Occup Environ Med.

Subsequent investigation has revealed that the content of this article was authored by a ghostwriter in a paper-writing company. This discovery establishes the presence of significant research misconduct, encompassing plagiarism and substantial alterations to authorship. Consequently, it has been established that this article breached the ethical standards upheld in scientific research and publication. This incident underscores a deeply regrettable misuse of the scientific publishing process. The editorial board of the Ann Occup Environ Med regards this matter with great seriousness, and we extend our sincerest apologies to the readers of the journal for our inability to detect and prevent such an occurrence during the article’s submission and review process.