A Record Number of Scientific Papers Were Retracted in 2023 For Being Fraudulent or a Having Conflicts of Interest

HR NEWS
5 min readOct 3, 2024
Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash

In 2023, the scientific community witnessed an unprecedented surge in paper retractions, marking a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts to maintain research integrity. This year saw over 10,000 scientific papers retracted, setting a new record and highlighting the growing scrutiny of published research.

The Scale of Retractions

The number of retractions in 2023 represents a dramatic increase from previous years. In 2013, there were just over 1,000 retractions, which grew to more than 4,000 in 2022. The jump to over 10,000 in 2023 signifies a major shift in the landscape of scientific publishing

Reasons for Retractions

While retractions can occur for various reasons, the majority of the 2023 retractions were due to issues with methodology and data integrity. Some key factors contributing to this surge include:

Paper Mills: The rise of so-called “paper

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