Objective We aimed to describe the trends and main reasons for study retraction in rheumatology literature. Methods We reviewed the Retraction Watch database to identify retracted articles in rheumatology. We recorded the main study characteristics, authors’ countries, reasons for retraction, time from publication to retraction, and trends over time. Reasons for retraction were classified as scientific misconduct, data/figure errors, or other reasons. Main paper features and cause of retractions in rheumatology were compared with a sample of papers from other medical specialties. Results A total of 381 (79.5% original articles) rheumatology articles were retracted between 1989 and 2024. Most originated from Asia (68.5%), particularly China (50.7%). Scientific misconduct accounted for 75.3% of retractions, followed by data errors (14.9%) and other reasons (7.6%). Common misconduct types included data fabrication, fake peer review, duplication, and authorship issues. The median time from publication to retraction was 18 months (IQR 9 ‐ 46), with one‐third of papers requiring more than 36 months to be retracted. Time to retraction did not improve over time. The number of retractions steadily increased over time from 18 in 2000 ‐ 2009, 117 in 2010 ‐ 2019, and 207 in 2020 ‐ 2023 (P < 0.001). Compared with other medical specialties, rheumatology exhibited similar retraction patterns, differing mainly in geographic distribution. Conclusions Retractions in rheumatology have risen substantially, largely due to misconduct. This trend may reflect both an increase in questionable research practices or improved detection. Strengthening early‐career education, institutional oversight, and ethical research culture is essential to enhance transparency and integrity in the field. image
Vettori et al. (2026) studied this question.