Trends in Retraction of Vascular and Interventional Radiology Research

Retractions play an important role in maintaining the integrity of vascular and interventional radiology (VIR) literature, yet their causes and trends remain uncharacterized. A search of PubMed, Embase, and the Retraction Watch Database in April 2026 identified 142 retracted VIR articles published since 2000. The leading reasons for retraction were peer-review manipulation (21.1%), intrinsic study errors (14.8%), and submission duplication (11.3%), although 40% of notices did not specify a reason. Most articles originated from China (69%) and addressed interventional oncology (35.2%). Retractions rose sharply in recent years, with 64.7% occurring between 2023 and 2026. The median time from publication to retraction was 14.8 months, and most articles were retracted within two years. Journal impact factor ranged widely (0.60-78.50) and was not associated with time to retraction. These findings highlight peer-review manipulation as a prominent mechanism of misconduct and reaffirm the importance of rigorous peer review and editorial screening.