Trends in Retraction of Orthopaedic Research Articles

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Research
• Scientific Publishing
• Research Integrity

Background:

• Published manuscripts occasionally require retraction despite rigorous peer review.
• Understanding retraction reasons is crucial for maintaining scientific validity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the causes behind retracted orthopaedic research articles.
• To analyze the influence of journal impact factor and orthopaedic subspecialty on retractions.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive database search identified 207 retracted English-language orthopaedic research articles from 2023.
• Data collected included reasons for retraction, publication/retraction dates, subspecialty, journal impact factor, country of origin, and study design.

Main Results:

• Plagiarism (39), intrinsic errors (33), and duplication (30) were the most frequent reasons for retraction.
• Retracted articles spanned clinical and basic science, with journal impact factors ranging from 0.17 to 9.80.
• The average time from publication to retraction was 32.1 months.

Conclusions:

• The primary drivers for orthopaedic research retractions are plagiarism, study errors, and data duplication.
• Retractions are a global issue, affecting a wide spectrum of journals.
• Maintaining high standards of scientific integrity is essential in orthopaedic research.