Abstract
These articles have been retracted at the request of the authors. Reason: In July of 2002, Mechanisms of Development started publishing its section Gene Expression Patterns (until then included under the Mechanisms of Development title) under the separate title Gene Expression Patterns, as a separate section of Mechanisms of Development. This change was clearly communicated at the time in the journal and on the journal's web site. The Editors also informed the authors about this. Early 2003, it came to our attention that a mistake was made during the split with regard to a number of Gene Expression Patterns articles in the pipeline (between initial submission and final acceptance). Due to a miscommunication for which the publisher accepts the responsibility, not all the editors used the same cut-off date for the split. As a result, some articles have been published under the Gene Expression Patterns title that should have been published in the main section of Mechanisms of Development. The publisher is very much aware of the serious nature of this mistake and we apologise to the authors, readers and editors of the journal. In the first months of 2003, we consulted with a number of the authors involved to discuss possible options to remedy the situation, and at the request of the authors, we agreed to retract the articles of the authors concerned, who requested this. We also agreed to offer this opportunity to those authors who were notified by the editors, but who misunderstood the message due to the fact that the proofs of their article still had the MoD logo and title on the opening page. The articles are re-published in this Supplement under the Mechanisms of Development title.
