Retraction Watch

Retraction Watch is a blog that focuses on the retraction of scientific studies and other related issues. It was established in August 2010 by science journalists Ivan Oransky, who is the Vice President of Editorial at Medscape, and Adam Marcus, the editor for Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News. The blog is managed by the Center for Scientific Integrity.

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Paper on “wokeness” and mental health retracted for political reasons, authors say

1 week ago | retractionwatch.com | Ellie Kincaid

The authors of an article linking scores on a “wokeness” scale and mental health issues are blaming political bias for the retraction of their paper in March following post-publication peer review. The article, “Do Conservatives Really Have an Advantage in Mental Health? An Examination of Measurement Invariance,” appeared in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology last August. It has been cited twice, according to Clarivate’s Web of Science, one being the retraction notice.
IQ study retracted in fallout from decades-old misconduct report

1 week ago | retractionwatch.com | Kate Travis

The authors of a paper on how motivation influences intelligence test scores have retracted their paper following the retraction of a 50-year-old study included in their analysis. Part meta-analysis and part longitudinal study, “Role of test motivation in intelligence testing” appeared in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2011.
‘More of the same’: Journals, trade website refuse to correct critiques of book on Alzheimer’s fraud

1 week ago | retractionwatch.com | Ellie Kincaid

Investigative journalist Charles Piller’s latest book, Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s, came out in February. It details the work of Matthew Schrag, a neurologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and other sleuths who uncovered evidence of problems in hundreds of research papers about the neurologic condition. Most reviews and coverage have been positive, Piller said.
Genentech authors flip PNAS study from corrected to retracted following Retraction Watch coverage

2 weeks ago | retractionwatch.com | Kate Travis

The authors of a 2006 paper have retracted their article following an extensive correction in January – and a Retraction Watch story noting the correction missed at least one additional issue with the work. “Death-receptor activation halts clathrin-dependent endocytosis,” published in July 2006 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has been cited 99 times, according to Clarivate’s Web of Science. Most of the authors were affiliated with the biotech company Genentech.
Elsevier removes journal from Scopus after Retraction Watch inquiry

3 weeks ago | retractionwatch.com | Kate Travis

Elsevier has removed a journal from its Scopus database after Retraction Watch inquired about its review process for the journal, whose editorial board lists fake names and digital fingerprint shows other red flags. Scientific sleuth Anna Abalkina uncovered several issues with Science of Law, which she details in a post published today.
Dozens of Elsevier papers retracted over fake companies and suspicious authorship changes

3 weeks ago | retractionwatch.com | Lori Youmshajekian

Since March of last year, Elsevier has pulled around 60 papers connected to companies in the Caucasus region that don’t seem to exist. The retraction notices attribute the decision to suspicious changes in authorship and the authors being unable to verify the existence of their employers. Online sleuths have also flagged potentially manipulated citations among the articles. Each of the retracted papers appears to follow an identical pattern, based on the details given in the retraction notices.
How do retractions impact researchers’ career paths and collaborations?

3 weeks ago | retractionwatch.com | Kate Travis

Several studies have tackled the issue of what effect a retracted paper has on a scientist’s reputation and publication record. The answer is, by and large, it depends: The contribution the researcher made on the paper, their career stage, the field of study and the reason for the retraction all play a role. Three researchers from New York University’s campus in Abu Dhabi wanted to better understand how a retraction affects a scientist’s career trajectory and future collaborations.
Web of Science delists bioengineering journal in wake of paper mill cleanup

4 weeks ago | retractionwatch.com | Holly Else

Bioengineered has lost its spot in Clarivate’s Web of Science index, as of its April update. The journal has been working to overcome a flood of paper mill activity, but sleuths have questioned why hundreds of papers with potentially manipulated images have still not been retracted. A spokesperson for Taylor & Francis, which publishes the journal, said it has taken action against the paper mill; the journal has retracted 86 papers since January 2022.
Journal collected $400,000 from papers it later retracted

1 month ago | retractionwatch.com | Kate Travis

A Sage journal that holds the distinction of highest number of retracted articles in the Retraction Watch Database likely made in excess of $400,000 in revenue from those papers, by our calculations. We reported in April that the Journal of Intelligent and Fuzzy Systems (JIFS) had retracted 1,561 articles as part of a cleanup operation on likely paper mill activity.
‘Now is not the time to fade’: Retraction Watch awarded Council of Science Editors’ highest honor

1 month ago | retractionwatch.com | Adam Marcus |Ivan Oransky

Retraction Watch has been honored with the Council of Science Editors’ highest honor: The 2025 Award for Meritorious Achievement. CSE gives the award each year to an organization or individual who has made “significant contributions” toward the goal of CSE, “namely, the improvement of scientific communication through the pursuit of high standards in all activities connected with editing.” We were honored to be at the CSE Annual Meeting in Minneapolis today to accept the award.