Integrity review of 'Vapour–liquid–solid–solid growth of two-dimensional non-layered β-Bi₂O₃ crystals with high hole mobility' (Nature Materials, DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02141-w)

Academic fraud report · Geng Detector

Summary

Verdict: No clear signs of academic misconduct identified in the available textual evidence; the paper is provisionally rated 'clean.' The review covered four dimensions: timeline consistency, statistical plausibility of reported values, methodological coherence, and physical reasoning. The 2.5-year review cycle (received 2 July 2022, accepted 15 January 2025) is unusually long but plausible for a Nature Materials submission proposing a new VLSS growth mechanism combined with in-situ HAADF-STEM and DFT work. Reported hole mobilities (60.4 ± 4.8, 130.4 ± 6.2 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at room temperature; 364.6 ± 35.4 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at 80 K) show non-uniform standard deviations consistent with real measurements. The instrumentation chain (TESCAN VEGA 3 SEM with EBL attachment, evaporator, Keysight B1500A) is internally consistent. Limits: only text and figure captions were available, so pixel-level checks (Western blot splicing, image reuse, FFT verification of the 0.27/0.28 nm lattice spacings) could not be performed. Original .dm3/.tif micrographs are recommended if a re-audit is required.

Verdict

No evident misconduct was detected from the textual content, figure captions, timeline, and methodological description. The paper is provisionally considered clean, pending pixel-level image re-analysis.

Key findings

Timeline (received 2 Jul 2022; accepted 15 Jan 2025; online 7 Mar 2025) is internally consistent and plausible for a high-impact submission with extensive revisions.
Hole-mobility values and their standard deviations (e.g., 60.4 ± 4.8, 130.4 ± 6.2, 364.6 ± 35.4 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹) are heterogeneous and physically reasonable (larger SD at 80 K consistent with greater device-to-device variation).
The fabrication–characterization chain (TESCAN VEGA 3 SEM + EBL attachment, evaporator, Keysight B1500A) is methodologically self-consistent; no equipment-mismatch errors were found.
The proposed VLSS mechanism and the interfacial free-energy integral F=∫(σ₁−σ₂)dA are dimensionally and physically reasonable; no calculus or dimensional errors were identified.
Use of BiOCl as an intermediate phase for confined growth of a non-layered 2D oxide is mechanistically credible.

Evidence highlights

DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02141-w
Submission-to-acceptance interval: ~30 months
Reported mobilities: 60.4 ± 4.8 (1.0 nm), 130.4 ± 6.2 (2.4 nm, peak, RT), 364.6 ± 35.4 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ (80 K)
Lattice spacings cited: 0.27 nm and 0.28 nm (require FFT verification on originals)
Growth equation in Eq. (3)/(4): F=∫(σ₁−σ₂)dA

Notes

Image-level forensics (Western-blot splicing, background clone detection, flow-cytometry reuse, HAADF FFT checks) could not be executed because only extracted text and captions were provided.
If a dispute arises, requesting uncompressed .dm3/.tif files for Figures 1–2 (HAADF-STEM) and any device/optical images is recommended for a second-pass audit.
This assessment is AI-assisted and limited to textual analysis; final determinations of misconduct require institutional investigation.