Analyzing retracted papers in the field of pathology on the Web of Science database

Within the medical sciences, pathology, like the trunk of a tree, holds an integral position between basic and clinical sciences. The treatment of many diseases can be subject to change based on current literature. Therefore, the accuracy and reliability of published pathology articles are crucial. Intervention is essential to prevent disinformation in the scientific literature and eliminate erroneous information. These interventions may require some corrections or the complete retraction of the article from the scientific record. In our study, document type filters were performed using "retraction, retracted publication, withdrawn publication" in the "Pathology" category in the Web of Science database. Within the total of 680,390 papers in the Pathology category, 546 papers matching the retracted publication filter were found. After removing duplicates, 367 papers were analyzed. When journal distribution was examined, the highest number of retractions was seen in Disease Markers (n = 114, 31.06%). A country-level analysis revealed that the majority of retracted articles originated from China (n = 255, 69.48%). Our study found that the highest number of retractions were due to data-related concerns and errors (218 articles). Even though a retracted publication is made inaccessible, articles citing the retracted publication remain online. We believe the length of time retracted articles remain online and the number of citations they receive are alarming. Developing a mechanism within the scientific community that can identify errors earlier could prevent the spread of erroneous information.