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Retractions of COVID-19-related Research Publications During and After the Pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2025

Ellie Rose Mattoon ,
Arturo Casadevall  and
Ferric C. Fang Open the ORCID record for Ferric C. Fang [Opens in a new window]
Ellie Rose Mattoon
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Arturo Casadevall
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Ferric C. Fang*
Affiliation:
Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and Microbiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Ferric C. Fang; fcfang@uw.edu
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Abstract

Retracted research publications reached an all-time high in 2023, and COVID-19 publications may have higher retraction rates than other publications. To better understand the impact of COVID-19 on the research literature, we analyzed 244 retracted publications related to COVID-19 in the PubMed database and the reasons for their retraction. Peer-review manipulation (18.4%) and error (20.9%) were the most common reasons for retraction, with time to retraction occurring far more quickly than in the past (13.2 mos, compared with 32.9 mos in a 2012 study). Publications focused on controversial topics were retracted rapidly (mean time to retraction 10.8 mos) but continued to receive media attention, suggesting that retraction alone may be insufficient to prevent the spread of scientific misinformation. More than half of the retractions resulted from problems that could have been detected prior to publication, including compromise of the peer review process, plagiarism, authorship issues, lack of ethics approvals, or journal errors, suggesting that more robust screening and peer review by journals can help to mitigate the recent rise in retractions.

Keywords

retractionsmisconductpeer reviewCOVID-19research integrity
Type
Symposium
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , First View , pp. 1 - 7
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics

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