RETRACTED ARTICLE: Vaginal progesterone for prevention of preterm labor in asymptomatic twin pregnancies with sonographic short cervix: a randomized clinical trial of efficacy and safety
Assessed by RV013 · Clinical Chair in Health Services Research
Assessed on 12 Nov 2025
OverallReviewer's overall integrity assessment, derived from all research questions Serious concerns
DOI 10.1007/s00404-015-3767-1 (opens in new tab)
Resource ripekg:research-integrity-assessment/RIPEAF8D7B98E670B0858
5 Research Questions · 27 Evidence Items
Q1.1 — Does the study have an associated retraction?
Rationale: Agree, retracted on webpage too
Supporting Evidence (1)
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
Vaginal progesterone for prevention of preterm labor in asymptomatic twin pregnancies with sonographic short cervix: a randomized clinical trial of efficacy and safety
10.1007/s00404-021-06152-1 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 31202
Rationale: Breach of Policy by Author;Lack of IRB/IACUC Approval and/or Compliance;Objections by Author(s);Upgrade/Update of Prior Notice(s)
About Author: Mohamed Abdelhafez
Q1.2 — Does the study have an associated expression of concern or other relevant post-publication notice?
Rationale: Agree, PubPeer notice but copied from journal
Supporting Evidence (2)
PubPeer ThreadSource: PubPeer.com — post-publication peer review comments
https://pubpeer.com/publications/6E7031A842CC900FC7D513986AC9BF (opens in new tab)Expression of ConcernSource: Retraction Watch database
Vaginal progesterone for prevention of preterm labor in asymptomatic twin pregnancies with sonographic short cervix: a randomized clinical trial of efficacy and safety
10.1007/s00404-015-3767-1 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 31203
Rationale: Concerns/Issues About Data;Investigation by Company/Institution;Updated to Retraction
PubPeer CommentSource: PubPeer.com — a platform for post-publication peer review
Copy/pasted from: "Retraction Note: Vaginal progesterone for prevention of preterm labor in asymptomatic twin pregnancies with sonographic short cervix: a randomized clinical trial of efficacy and safety. Published: 27 July 2021. The Editor-in-Chief has retracted this article. Contrary to the statement in the article, the authors did not obtain approval from a research ethics committee before conducting this interventional randomized control trial and therefore this study is in breach of the Declaration of Helsinki [1] and the editorial policy of the Journal. Concerns about the data reported in the article are under investigation by the University of Mansoura. Waleed El-Refaie stated on behalf of all co-authors that they do not agree with this retraction. [1]. WMA Declaration of Helsinki—Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. "
Thread: https://pubpeer.com/publications/6E7031A842CC900FC7D513986AC9BF (opens in new tab)
Q1.3 — Do other studies by the research team highlight causes for concern?
Rationale: Agree, numerous concerns with one author in particular
Supporting Evidence (22)
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
Vaginal progesterone for prevention of preterm labor in asymptomatic twin pregnancies with sonographic short cervix: a randomized clinical trial of efficacy and safety
10.1007/s00404-021-06152-1 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 31202
Rationale: Breach of Policy by Author;Lack of IRB/IACUC Approval and/or Compliance;Objections by Author(s);Upgrade/Update of Prior Notice(s)
About Author: Mohamed Abdelhafez
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
Vaginal progesterone for prevention of preterm labor in asymptomatic twin pregnancies with sonographic short cervix: a randomized clinical trial of efficacy and safety
10.1007/s00404-015-3767-1 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 31203
Rationale: Concerns/Issues About Data;Investigation by Company/Institution;Updated to Retraction
About Author: Mohamed Abdelhafez
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
Laparoscopy - or not - for management of unexplained infertility
10.1080/01443615.2022.2144529 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 40512
Rationale: Concerns/Issues About Data;Lack of IRB/IACUC Approval and/or Compliance;Original Data and/or Images not Provided and/or not Available
About Author: Ahmed Badawy
Q2.2 — Are there concerns relating to the timing or absence of study registration?
Rationale: Unregistered
Supporting Evidence (2)
Clinical Trial RegistrationSource: Clinical trial registry (e.g. ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN)
No trial registration found
Assessment Rationale:How INSPECT-AI determined the prospective registration status by comparing dates Registry registration date (study_first_submit_qc_date) is missing or empty.
Study Design EvidenceDates and timelines extracted by INSPECT-AI from the publication text
Recruitment Start: 06-2012
Recruitment Start Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the recruitment start date Methods: 'This was a prospective, randomized, controlled, parallel-group study conducted during the period from June 2012' - indicates recruitment started in June 2012.
Recruitment End: N/A
Recruitment End Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the recruitment end date No explicit recruitment end date found after a full search of the document.
Study End: 11-2014
Study End Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the study end date Methods: 'This was a prospective, randomized, controlled, parallel-group study conducted during the period from June 2012 through November 2014' - indicates study concluded in November 2014.
Overall — What is the overall integrity assessment of the study?
Rationale: 3 serious concerns and one some concerns