Retraction of global biomedical publications from 2014 to 2023 based on the Retraction Watch Database: a bibliometric study

Purpose: Retractions occur predominantly in the biomedical field worldwide, posing direct and severe harm to humanity. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of retracted biomedical publications from 2014 to 2023 based on the Retraction Watch Database.Methods: We retrieved records of global retracted publications in the fields of biology and medicine from 2014 to 2023. We analyzed the type, title/keywords, annual number, authors’ countries, journals, causes of retraction, and time to retraction for these papers.Results: Our data show that the number of retracted papers in biology and medicine continued to increase from 2014 to 2023. The predominant type of retracted paper was the research article (69.0%), with “cancer” as the most frequent word in titles and keywords. The largest number of retracted papers originated from China (49.4%), followed by the United States (6.7%) and India (6.3%). Most journals with retracted papers were affiliated with Hindawi Publishing. The major causes of retraction included concerns related to study results, data, peer review, reference citation, ethical approval, and figures/images. There was a significant difference in time to retraction across the years from 2014 to 2023 (F=154.78, P<0.01). Additionally, the mean time to retraction decreased by 89.2 days per year from 2014 to 2023, and overall, the mean time to retraction showed a declining trend over these years (R2=0.947, P<0.05).Conclusion: Biomedical societies should improve preventive mechanisms to address academic misconduct.