KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The retraction rate for biomedical science papers with corresponding authors based at European institutions quadrupled between 2000 and 2020.
• Unreliable data has emerged as a leading reason for retraction, while duplication remains a key factor.

Research misconduct remains a major concern, with increasing efforts dedicated to monitoring retraction rates – and the underlying reasons. An analysis recently published in Scientometrics and discussed in Nature news uncovered a quadrupling of retraction rates since 2000 among biomedical science articles with corresponding authors based at European institutions, from about 11 per 100,000 articles to almost 45 per 100,000 in 2020.

Why are articles retracted?

Fabián Freijedo-Farinas and colleagues reviewed over 2,000 retracted English-, Spanish-, and Portuguese-language articles collated by Retraction Watch to identify underlying reasons. Research misconduct was the most prevalent factor, accounting for 67% of cases, while 16% of retractions were due to honest errors (with no reason provided for the remainder). Research misconduct-related retractions were due to:

• unreliable data
• unreliable results
• falsification/fabrication
• duplication
• plagiarism
• authorship and/or affiliation issues
• ethical and legal issues.

Reasons have shifted over time, with authorship and affiliation issues falling from one of the top reasons to joint 5th of 7. Duplication has remained steady as a cause, while retractions due to unreliable data – including bias and lack of original data availability – have skyrocketed. The authors suggest paper mills have a major role to play.

However, it’s not the same story across Europe: of the 4 countries with the most retractions, the proportion of duplication-related retractions has fallen in the UK but substantially increased in Italy and Spain.

Why are retraction rates increasing?

Arturo Casadevall, who identified similar rates of research misconduct-related retractions in a 2012 analysis, commented that the overall hike in retraction rates could be due to authors, institutions, and journals increasingly viewing retraction as the best route to correct the scientific record.

The overall hike in retraction rates could be due to authors, institutions, and journals increasingly viewing retraction as the best route to correct the scientific record.

In addition, publications have increasingly drawn the attention of online sleuths, who may raise concerns with journals, according to research integrity specialist Sholto David. New digital technologies are also making it easier to screen publications for suspicious text or data. Retraction Watch co-founder Ivan Oranksy believes use of plagiarism-detection software could be partially responsible for the increase; looking to the future, tools like image manipulation detectors could mean retraction rates rise further.

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