Retraction Note to: Do offenders avoid offending near home? A systematic review of the buffer zone hypothesis

Retraction Note to: Crime Sci (2020) 9:8 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40163-020-00118-5

The authors have retracted this article (Bernasco & van Dijke, 2020). After publication, Professor Kim Rossmo reported that his own analysis of the data failed to replicate the published findings. Professor Rossmo claimed that 16 of the 33 publications analyzed did not meet the authors’ own inclusion criteria.

The authors attempted to replicate their own findings by re-assessing the 33 publications. Based on the results, they concluded that Professor Rossmo’s concern was fully justified. Some publications were based on simulation rather than empirical analysis. Some publications did not provide information on the complete distribution of the home-crime distance. Some publications did not measure or did not report distances with sufficient precision. In sum, the findings of the article are not reliable.

The authors apologize to the readers and the Editors of Crime Science for any problems caused by drawing conclusions not sufficiently supported by evidence, and they thank Professor Rossmo for bringing the issue to their attention.

During all stages—submission, review procedure, and communications after publication—the authors and Professor Rossmo have provided complete access to data and to the methods used for selecting and assessing them. Both authors agree to the retraction.