Analysis of scientific paper retractions due to data problems: Revealing challenges and countermeasures in data management.

IF 4 1区哲学 Q1 MEDICAL ETHICS

Accountability in Research-Policies and Quality Assurance Pub Date : 2025-07-20 DOI:10.1080/08989621.2025.2531987

Wanfei Hu, Guiliang Yan, Jingyu Zhang, Zhenli Chen, Qing Qian, Sizhu Wu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Scientific data, the cornerstone of scientific endeavors, face management challenges amid technological advances. While retractions are analyzed, a rigorous focus on data problems leading to them is missing.

Methods: This study collected 49,979 retraction records up to 17 December 2023. After screening 16,842 records were related to data problems and 19,656 were due to other reasons. Methods such as descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, and the BERTopic (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers Topic Modelling) were applied to conduct a topic analysis of article titles.

Result: The results show that since 2000, retractions due to data problems have increased significantly (p < 0.001), with the percentage in 2023 exceeding 75%. Among 16,842 data-related retractions, 59.0% were in Basic Life Sciences and 40.2% in Health Sciences. Data problems involve accuracy, reliability, validity, and integrity. There are significant differences (p < 0.001) in subjects, journal quartiles, retraction intervals, and other characteristics between data-related and other retractions. Data-related retractions are more concentrated in high-impact journals (Q1 37.6% and Q2 43.0%).

Conclusions: Institutions, publishers, and journals should adopt image-screening tools, enforce data deposition, standardize retraction notices, provide ethics training, and strengthen peer review to address these data problems, guiding better data management and healthier scientific development.

查看原文本刊更多论文

科技论文因数据问题而撤稿分析：揭示数据管理的挑战与对策。

背景：科学数据作为科学研究的基石，在技术进步的背景下面临管理挑战。虽然对撤稿进行了分析，但缺乏对导致撤稿的数据问题的严格关注。方法：截至2023年12月17日，本研究收集了49979例撤稿记录。经过筛选，16,842条记录与数据问题有关，19,656条记录与其他原因有关。采用描述性统计、假设检验和BERTopic（双向编码器表示从变形金刚主题建模）等方法对文章标题进行主题分析。结果：2000年以来，因数据问题导致的撤稿数量显著增加（p p）结论：研究机构、出版单位和期刊应采用图像筛选工具，加强数据归档，规范撤稿通知，开展伦理培训，加强同行评议，以解决这些数据问题，指导更好的数据管理，促进科学健康发展。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Accountability in Research-Policies and Quality Assurance MEDICAL ETHICS-

CiteScore

4.90

自引率

14.70%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Accountability in Research: Policies and Quality Assurance is devoted to the examination and critical analysis of systems for maximizing integrity in the conduct of research. It provides an interdisciplinary, international forum for the development of ethics, procedures, standards policies, and concepts to encourage the ethical conduct of research and to enhance the validity of research results. The journal welcomes views on advancing the integrity of research in the fields of general and multidisciplinary sciences, medicine, law, economics, statistics, management studies, public policy, politics, sociology, history, psychology, philosophy, ethics, and information science. All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent, anonymous expert referees.