Analysis demonstrates document misrepresentation of WHO using linguistic distortions, suggesting corrections may be needed.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is an authoritative global body that focuses on health-related issues globally. Given its prominence, and as a gesture of respect, it is important to accurately represent the organization’s name. Using the Problematic Paper Screener, an AI-driven software that identifies linguistic distortions, or ‘tortured phrases’, “World Wellbeing Association” was searched on 30 November 2024, identifying 59 documents. After exclusions, 19 documents were examined, almost all of which were open access, most mentioning this ‘tortured phrase’ once, to define WHO. One of those documents has been retracted. WHO is advised to reach out to the authors and journals to request a correction of their misrepresented organization in the scientific literature.
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Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva (2025) studied this question.
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