Analysis of the Researchers’ Citation of Retracted Articles in the Field of Orthopedics

Background: Retracted articles have increased significantly in number.Orthopedic researchers should not use the results of retracted articles in their papers.The purpose of this research is to identify the reasons for citing retracted orthopedic articles by researchers.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted with a descriptive-survey approach.Retraction Watch was used to extract the articles.For each of the articles, Google Scholar was used to identify the citing authors.Web of Science and Scopus databases were used to collect and review the scientometric indicators of the journals.Databases and journal websites were utilized to check the open-access status of the articles.A standard questionnaire was sent to the authors by email.Statistical analysis was used to investigate the relationship between the articles' citation and open access to them.Results: A total of 796 articles were retrieved, showing an increase in recent years.These articles are mostly published in top quartile journals.A large number of the researchers were not aware of the retraction status of their cited articles and also did not have a strategy to check the sources of their articles.