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Why do some retracted papers continue to be cited?

Author

Listed:
  • Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva
  • Helmar Bornemann-Cimenti

    (Medical University of Graz)

Abstract

Perpetuation of retracted publications is an ongoing and even increasing problem in the scientific community. In addition to the direct distortion of scientific credibility, the use of retracted findings for interpretation und discussion in subsequent publications poses the risk of drawing false and, for example in medical research, even harmful conclusions. One major contributor to this development is that many authors are not aware of the retraction status of a paper they cite. COPE guidelines state that the “retracted status should be indicated as clearly as possible”, but this is definitely not true for many retracted publications. Likewise, databases do not consequently link retracted articles with the notice of retraction. Furthermore, many papers are deposit in the “original”, i.e. pre-retraction version on personal or institutional websites or online repositories. Similarly, printed “stock files” are obviously unaffected by a retraction. Clear identification of a retracted article using a watermark and in databases is a crucial step while incorporation of an electronic “retraction check” in reference management software and during the online submission is necessary to detect and avoid citing retracted literature. Solving this problem needs the close attention of everybody involved in the publishing process: authors, reviewers, and publishers.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva & Helmar Bornemann-Cimenti, 2017. "Why do some retracted papers continue to be cited?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(1), pages 365-370, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:110:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-016-2178-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-016-2178-9
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Judit Dobránszki & Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva, 2019. "Corrective factors for author- and journal-based metrics impacted by citations to accommodate for retractions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(1), pages 387-398, October.
    2. Briony Swire-Thompson & David Lazer, 2022. "Reducing Health Misinformation in Science: A Call to Arms," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 700(1), pages 124-135, March.
    3. Jacqueline Leta & Kizi Araujo & Stephanie Treiber, 2022. "Citing documents of Wakefield’s retracted article: the domino effect of authors and journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(12), pages 7333-7349, December.
    4. Kiran Sharma, 2021. "Team size and retracted citations reveal the patterns of retractions from 1981 to 2020," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(10), pages 8363-8374, October.
    5. Judit Bar-Ilan & Gali Halevi, 2018. "Temporal characteristics of retracted articles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 1771-1783, September.
    6. Eleonora Alabrese, 2022. "Bad Science: Retractions and Media Coverage," CESifo Working Paper Series 10195, CESifo.
    7. Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva & Serhii Nazarovets, 2023. "Partial citation analysis of five classes of retracted papers, and devising a new four-tier citation classification system for retracted (and other) papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(8), pages 4887-4894, August.
    8. Liu, Xiaojuan & Wang, Chenlin & Chen, Dar-Zen & Huang, Mu-Hsuan, 2022. "Exploring perception of retraction based on mentioned status in post-retraction citations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3).
    9. Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva & Judit Dobránszki, 2018. "Multiple versions of the h-index: cautionary use for formal academic purposes," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(2), pages 1107-1113, May.
    10. Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva, 2020. "The ethics of publishing in two languages," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 535-541, April.
    11. Jodi Schneider & Di Ye & Alison M. Hill & Ashley S. Whitehorn, 2020. "Continued post-retraction citation of a fraudulent clinical trial report, 11 years after it was retracted for falsifying data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 2877-2913, December.
    12. Istvan-Szilard Szilagyi & Gregor A. Schittek & Christoph Klivinyi & Holger Simonis & Torsten Ulrich & Helmar Bornemann-Cimenti, 2022. "Citation of retracted research: a case-controlled, ten-year follow-up scientometric analysis of Scott S. Reuben’s malpractice," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2611-2620, May.
    13. Frederique Bordignon, 2020. "Self-correction of science: a comparative study of negative citations and post-publication peer review," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(2), pages 1225-1239, August.
    14. Salim Moussa, 2022. "The propagation of error: retracted articles in marketing and their citations," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2022(1), pages 11-36, March.
    15. Bor Luen Tang, 2023. "Some Insights into the Factors Influencing Continuous Citation of Retracted Scientific Papers," Publications, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-14, October.
    16. Behzad Gholampour & Sajad Gholampour & Alireza Noruzi & Clément Arsenault & Thomas Haertlé & Ali Akbar Saboury, 2022. "Retracted articles in oncology in the last three decades: frequency, reasons, and themes," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(4), pages 1841-1865, April.

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