Abstract
The Journal Editor and Sage hereby issue an expression of concern for the following article:
Aryal, B., Mathema, S., Pokharel, T. M., Pokharel, S., & Sharma, M. K. (2025). Mental Health Problems Among Secondary School Teachers’ in Nepal. Sage Open, 15(3).
Sage was alerted by a reader to concerns over methodological transparency, ethical approval, and participant consent in the article.
The authors were contacted for comments and responded to say that they could only provide draft questionnaires and partial data as they no longer had access to the complete raw dataset. As only partial information was available, the extent to which the reported findings could be verified was limited.
Additionally, the authors confirmed that oral consent was obtained and that the reference to written consent in the article was erroneous. They further indicated that ethical permission had been obtained through the Dean’s Office of the Faculty but were unable to provide formal documentation confirming this approval.
Due to the above unresolved concern and in line with COPE guidance, the publisher is placing this expression of concern on this article to alert readers.