PLOS Raises Peer-Review Concerns for Coal-Mine Dust-Control Study

The PLOS One editors have issued an Expression of Concern for a 2023 article that analyzed dust-pollution control at opencast coal mines through a joint social-regulation model based on evolutionary game theory. The notice cites concerns about the integrity and/or reliability of the peer-review process for the submission. It does not present a new study of dust pollution, identify specific errors in the original analysis or report an assessment of the article’s scientific validity.

The original research concerned the optimization of dust-pollution regulation in opencast coal mining through an evolutionary game model. The supplied Expression of Concern provides no results from that model and no additional evidence about mine dust emissions, regulatory outcomes or the performance of the proposed framework. PLOS advised readers to interpret the 2023 article with the notice in mind.

The editors said that the article was among a series of submissions for which they had concerns about the integrity and/or reliability of peer review. They also clarified that they did not have concerns regarding the authors’ conduct during peer review. Their statement therefore distinguished the reliability of the review process from the conduct of the authors, while leaving the scientific assessment of the paper unstated.

The notice, published on October 21, 2026, states that PLOS did not evaluate the article’s integrity or scientific validity. As a result, it does not establish that the original model was invalid, that its conclusions were inaccurate or that the proposed approach to dust-control regulation had been ineffective in practice. It likewise does not provide findings about changes in dust pollution, the behavior of participating organizations or the effectiveness of any policy.

The Expression of Concern records a concern about peer-review reliability and asks readers to account for that concern when interpreting the earlier article, but it is not a retraction, correction or new scientific evaluation of the coal-mine dust-control research.

Subject of Research: An Expression of Concern for a 2023 modeling study of dust-pollution regulation at opencast coal mines

Article Title: Expression of Concern: How to optimize dust pollution control in opencast coal mines: Analysis of a joint social regulation model based on evolutionary game theory

Article References: The PLOS One Editors (2026). Expression of Concern: How to optimize dust pollution control in opencast coal mines: Analysis of a joint social regulation model based on evolutionary game theory. PLOS One, 21(10), e0360866. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360866

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0360866

Keywords: PLOS One, peer review, opencast coal mining, dust pollution, environmental regulation, evolutionary game theory, research integrity, Expression of Concern, Expression, Concern, optimize, dust