Examining retracted papers in the "Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, and Medical Imaging" category in the Web of Science...

We conducted a comprehensive analysis to address the limited knowledge regarding retracted articles in the field of radiology, nuclear medicine, and medical imaging within the Web of Science (WoS) database.

The category "Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, and Medical Imaging" was selected in the WoS search interface without specifying a time range and with document types limited to "retraction, retracted publication, withdrawn publication." A total of 113 retracted articles were retrieved and analytically categorized into subgroups for examination. Two independent researchers evaluated the reasons for retraction.

Of the 113 articles identified as retracted, 106 were included in the study. The median publication duration prior to retraction was 183 days (range: 1-16,406 days). The highest retraction rate by country was found in China (55.66%), and by journal category, in the Science Citation Index (SCI) and SCI-Expanded (86.79%). The primary reasons for retraction were concerns and errors related to the data (37 articles), plagiarism (33 articles), and ethical issues (13 articles). In terms of sources, 66 retractions were initiated by the publisher/editor, 25 by the author, and 13 jointly by the author and editor.

The findings of our study emphasize the need for increased transparency, ethical oversight, and data accuracy in academic publishing. Implementing such measures is essential to safeguarding the credibility and validity of scientific research and ensuring more reliable progress in the academic community moving forward.