Retraction Watch is a

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that reports on retractions of

scientific papers Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the Natural science, natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research an ...

and on related topics. The blog was launched in August 2010 and is produced by science writers Ivan Oransky (Former Vice President, Editorial ''

Medscape Medscape is a website providing access to medical information for clinicians and medical scientists; the organization also provides continuing education for physicians and other health professionals. It references medical journal articles, Con ...

'') and Adam Marcus (editor of ''Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News''). Its parent organization is the Center for Scientific Integrity, a US

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nonprofit organization.

Motivation and scope

In 2011, Oransky and Marcus pointed out in ''

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'' that the

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process for scholarly publications continues long after the publication date. They were motivated to launch ''Retraction Watch'' to encourage this continuation and to increase the transparency of the retraction process. They observed that retractions of papers generally are not announced, that the reasons for retractions are not publicized, and that other researchers or the public who are unaware of the retraction may make decisions based on invalid results. Oransky described an example of a paper published in ''

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Scie ...

'' that reported a potential role for a drug against some types of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

s. Although the paper was later retracted, its retraction was not reported in media outlets that had earlier reported its positive conclusions, with a company having been established on the basis of the ultimately retracted conclusions.Kelly Oakes
Helping journalists track retractions: one year of Retraction Watch
, Association of British Science Writers, August 20, 2011. Oransky and Marcus claim that retractions also provide a window into the self-correcting nature of science, can provide insight into cases of scientific fraud, and can "be the source of great stories that say a lot about how science is conducted". In January 2021, more than 50 studies have cited Retraction Watch as the scientific publishing community is exploring the impact of retracted papers. During the

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, Retraction Watch maintained a separate list of retracted articles that added to

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about the pandemic, with additional research undertaken to analyse the subsequent pollution of further research as retracted papers are cited and used within scholarly research. In 2023, in the wake of the resignation of

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president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Oransky and Marcus co-authored op-eds in ''

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'' and ''

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''. They estimated that scientific misconduct was more common than is reported. They also assessed that, despite recent scandals involving research misconduct, the academic community was not interested in exposing wrongdoing and scientific errors. However, all members of the academic community are responsible for the delays and lack of action.

Impact

Retraction Watch has demonstrated that retractions are more common than was previously thought. When Retraction Watch was launched, Marcus "wondered if we'd have enough material". It had been estimated that about 80 papers were retracted annually. However, in its first year, the blog reported on approximately 200 retractions. In October 2019 the Retraction Watch Database reached a milestone 20,000 entries As of January 2024, it contains over 50,000 entries.

Hijacked journal tracker

In 2022, Retraction Watch added a feature that tracks journal hijacking. Political scientist Anna Abalkina had developed a method for identifying hijacked journal domains based on an analysis of the archives of clone journals. This method is based on the argument that fraudulent publishers recycle identical papers to create a fictitious archive for a hijacked journal. Methods used to locate or confirm hijacked statuses of journals include duplicated journal archives, identical website templates, growth in indexing, anomalous citations, and scholars’ comments. Abalkina created the Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker in partnership with Retraction Watch.

Funding

Retraction Watch has been funded by a variety of sources, including donations and grants. They received grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Helmsley Charitable Trust, and the

Laura and John Arnold Foundation Arnold Ventures LLC (formerly known as the Laura and John Arnold Foundation) is a limited liability company that is the philanthropic vehicle of billionaires John D. Arnold and Laura Arnold. As of 2023, the organization had $4.31 billion in asse ...

. The database of retractions was funded by a $400,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 2015. They have partnered with the

Center for Open Science The Center for Open Science is a non-profit technology organization based in Charlottesville, Virginia with a mission to "increase the openness, integrity, and reproducibility of scientific research." Brian Nosek and Jeffrey Spies founded the o ...

, which is also funded by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, to create a retraction database on the

Open Science Framework The Center for Open Science is a non-profit technology organization based in Charlottesville, Virginia with a mission to "increase the openness, integrity, and reproducibility of scientific research." Brian Nosek and Jeffrey Spies founded the or ...

References

External links