Retraction notice to “Neural network-based optimization of hydrogen fuel production energy system with proton exchange electrolyzer supported nanomaterial” [Fuel 332 (2023) 125827] (Fuel (2023) 332(P1), (S0016236122026540), (10.1016/j.fuel.2022.125827))

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor in Chief. The decision to retract this article is due to several issues that have arisen in relation to referencing and authorship in this paper. A post on PubPeer raised concerns that there are problems with several references on this paper – including the subject, context, relevance, validity, and veracity of references. See here for more details of the issues on Pubpeer: https://pubpeer.com/publications/0B339D324BE1B700D3A45BA07AFBB1 . In addition, a large number of references were added after the original submission, at revision. The Editor felt there was little evidence of such a high number of these citations being necessary from the reviewers' comments. An authorship change was additionally made during revision. An author was added to the paper (Kosar Hikmat Hama Aziz) without validation or authorisation. This breached the journal's policy on authorship. The Corresponding (and other) Authors responded to requests for clarification on the question of authorship and the Pubpeer comment, but those explanations did not satisfactorily address all of the concerns. As such and due to the nature of the irregularities uncovered, the Editor has lost confidence in the validity/integrity and findings of the article and decided to retract the article. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are offered to readers. The Authors do not agree with the decision to retract the paper and dispute the grounds for it.