From discovery to disrepute: a study of retractions in biological research

Purpose This study aims to investigate retractions in biological research to identify the key factors that lead to the withdrawal of scientific publications in this domain. It further examines the scholarly impact of retracted articles through citation patterns and related indicators. Design/methodology/approach The dataset comprises 252 retracted articles from the biology category of the Web of Science (WoS) database. Retraction reasons were verified using Retraction Watch. Citation counts and related metrics were recorded from WoS. Journal impact factors were noted using the Journal Citation Reports database. Findings Most retractions (98.02%; 247 articles) occurred after 2000. Research misconduct is a significant driver, with Fake Data (26.59%) identified as the leading cause of retraction, followed by error/mistake (25.79%) and plagiarism (6.75%). Author analysis suggests a low prevalence of repeat offenders, as 96.66% of authors were linked to only one retraction Author analysis suggests a low prevalence of repeat offenders, as 96.66% of authors were linked to only one retraction. Notably, despite their invalidation, retracted articles continue to exercise scholarly influence, with 32.06% of their total citations occurring post-retraction. Practical implications This study highlights crucial issues related to research integrity within biological sciences. Understanding retraction causes and post-retraction citation behaviors can guide improvements in editorial policies, author practices and institutional oversight. Originality/value This research provides a focused analysis of retractions within biological science literature. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior study has examined this specific area with comparable depth and categorization.