Investigation Report: Data Presentation Smoothing Concerns in Tian et al., 'Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons with a Boron-Doped Zigzag Armchair Topology' (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2025; DOI 10.1002/anie.202500110)

Academic fraud report · Geng Detector

Summary

This report evaluates concerns about a paper published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition in 2025 describing boron-doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emitters. The overall verdict is 'Questionable' (suspect). The principal issue is that spectra and OLED device curves in Figure 4 (absorption/fluorescence) and Figure 7c (EQE–luminance) appear unusually smooth, lacking the minor baseline noise and point scatter typically seen in raw instrument output. This pattern is consistent with aggressive smoothing or cosmetic curve editing rather than outright fabrication, but raw data were not supplied. No timeline or citation anomalies were detected: the manuscript was received January 2, 2025 and published online February 21, 2025, with references chronologically consistent. The authors should be requested to disclose underlying numerical data. Current evidence supports data-presentation concerns only, not confirmed misconduct.

Verdict

Questionable (🟡). Concerns are limited to abnormal visual smoothness of spectroscopic and device figures; no confirmed fabrication or falsification.

Key findings

Figure 4 (absorption and fluorescence spectra): baseline regions (e.g., 300–400 nm) appear atypically flat and free of minor instrumental noise; the y-axis baseline shows little fluctuation.
Figure 7c (EQE–luminance curve for OLED): curve trace is exceptionally regular with no visible scatter of individual measurement points, which is uncommon for raw OLED characterization.
Such visual regularity is consistent with either strong smoothing during plotting or manual trace editing; it does not by itself constitute proof of data manipulation.
Timeline and literature citations: manuscript received January 2, 2025; version of record online February 21, 2025; all referenced works are chronologically consistent with this window.
Methodology described (one-pot Scholl oxidative cyclization, CV, TD-DFT, MOMAP) is standard for this subfield.

Evidence highlights

DOI: 10.1002/anie.202500110
Authors: Xinyu Tian, Zengming Fan, Zeyi Li, Shitong Zhang, Zhiqiang Li, Xuming Zhuang, Yue Wang, Chuandong Dou
Figures inspected: Figure 4 (UV-vis absorption and fluorescence spectra); Figure 7c (external quantum efficiency vs. luminance curve)
Submitted: January 2, 2025; Published online: February 21, 2025
Original raw data files (CSV/Excel with individual data points) were not provided in the manuscript or Supporting Information.

Notes

Severity for the smoothness concern is rated 🟡 (moderate) and is based on visual inspection alone; independent reanalysis of underlying numerical data is required to reach a higher-confidence conclusion.
The report explicitly advises against filing a formal journal complaint at this stage, as evidence supports only a presentation-quality concern rather than demonstrable misconduct.
Recommended follow-up: request raw spectroscopic and OLED device data from the corresponding authors; raise the smoothness question on PubPeer; re-evaluate after raw data are released.
This investigation did not flag any image-duplication, statistical, authorship, or citation-integrity issues.
Final determination of academic misconduct remains with the publisher/institutional investigation bodies.