PLOS ONE Issues Expression of Concern Over PPP Study Peer Review

The editors of PLOS ONE have issued an Expression of Concern for a 2024 research article titled “Decision analysis of PPP project’s parties based on deep consumer participation.” The notice states that the article was identified as one of a series of submissions for which the journal has concerns about the integrity or reliability of the peer-review process. Published on October 19, 2026, the notice advises readers to interpret the article in light of the Expression of Concern. It does not announce a final finding that the research is invalid, nor does it withdraw the article from the journal’s record.

The editors explain that PLOS did not evaluate the article’s integrity or scientific validity while following up on the matter. The notice therefore does not identify a confirmed error in the study’s data, methods, analysis or conclusions, and it does not state that the research has been disproved. The concern is directed at the peer-review process rather than directly at the conduct of the article’s authors.

PLOS ONE’s editors explicitly say they do not have concerns regarding the authors’ conduct during peer review. The available Expression of Concern does not describe the study population, dataset, analytical model, numerical results or recommendations. Because the notice provides no technical assessment of the underlying project analysis, the Expression of Concern does not establish whether the paper’s treatment of public-private partnership decisions or consumer participation was sound.

Its documented focus is limited to concerns about the reliability or integrity of peer review identified across a series of submissions. This wording leaves the original research in place while formally alerting readers to a concern about how the manuscript was reviewed. The notice does not describe how the original article’s findings should be changed, and it provides no evidence of misconduct by the named authors.

The notice identifies the affected paper and its citation, allowing readers to connect the formal editorial concern directly to the research it concerns. The immediate editorial message is limited but clear: readers should consider the 2026 Expression of Concern when interpreting the 2024 PPP decision-analysis article. The notice does not replace that article with a finding of scientific invalidity, and it does not provide a basis for claims beyond the stated concern about the integrity or reliability of peer review.

Subject of Research: An editorial Expression of Concern about peer review for a 2024 public-private partnership decision-analysis article

Article Title: Expression of Concern: Decision analysis of PPP project’s parties based on deep consumer participation

Article References: The PLOS One Editors (2026). Expression of Concern: Decision analysis of PPP project’s parties based on deep consumer participation. PLOS One, 21(10), e0360779. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360779

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0360779

Keywords: PLOS ONE, Expression of Concern, peer review, research integrity, scientific validity, public-private partnerships, decision analysis, consumer participation, editorial oversight, Expression, Concern, Decision