The PLOS One Editors have issued an Expression of Concern regarding the article "Deep CNN-based detection of cardiac rhythm disorders using PPG signals from wearable devices." The notice alerts readers to issues identified after the article was submitted and before it was published, and it advises caution when interpreting the study’s findings. The Expression of Concern was published July 28, 2026 and carries DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0354777.
The editors report that two references cited in the article — identified in the notice as References 11 and 35 — were retracted after the submitted manuscript was filed and before the manuscript was published. The Expression of Concern does not provide the titles or authors of those retracted works within the notice text, nor does it describe how reliance on those references affects specific results or interpretations presented in the affected article. The notice simply records the temporal fact of the retractions and flags them as part of the rationale for issuing the Expression of Concern.
In addition to the issue of cited retracted references, the PLOS One Editors state that they have concerns about the article’s compliance with the journal’s Authorship policy. The notice does not detail which aspects of authorship policy are at issue, which authors are implicated, or whether the concerns relate to attribution, contributions, conflicts of interest, or other authorship criteria. No findings of misconduct, corrections, or retraction actions are announced in this Expression of Concern; the editors merely indicate that authorship compliance concerns form part of the cumulative issues leading to the notice.
Given the combined concerns, the editors explicitly advise readers to interpret the article with caution. The Expression of Concern is intended as a formal flag to the research and clinical community while matters are addressed. The notice does not describe ongoing investigational steps, timelines, or planned updates, and it does not substitute for subsequent editorial actions that might follow further review or investigation.
The Expression of Concern cites the original article as:
The Expression of Concern itself is published by The PLOS One Editors on July 28, 2026 (PLoS One 21[7]: e0354777) and is made available under the journal’s open access terms. Links provided in the notice include the DOI for the original article and links to its PubMed and journal pages. The notice also explicitly links the Expression of Concern to the affected article’s page and PDF.
The Expression of Concern lists the related article page and provides a direct link to the affected article. The notice includes a short reference section that points readers to the original study record and its online identifiers. The notice does not report any resolution, correction, or retraction of the original article at the time of publication of the Expression of Concern.
Notes and limitations
All statements in this rewrite reflect the content of the PLOS One Expression of Concern notice. The notice identifies two retracted cited works and raises unspecified authorship policy concerns but does not provide further investigational detail, corrective steps, or outcomes. Where the notice omits specifics (for example, the exact nature of the authorship concerns or the identities and content of References 11 and 35), those details were not reported in the source and are therefore not included here.
Practical considerations for clinicians and researchers
Citation
This summary is based solely on the PLOS One Expression of Concern: The PLOS One Editors (2026) Expression of Concern: Deep CNN-based detection of cardiac rhythm disorders using PPG signals from wearable devices. PLoS One 21(7): e0354777. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0354777