Reasons for Retraction of Biomedical Articles Written by Eastern Mediterranean and Turkish Authors; A Comprehensive Cross-Sectional Study During 2010-2019

Abstract

Background: Article retraction means removing a published article from the journal because of ethical issues or scientific errors in order to correct the literature. In this study, we aimed to determine the reasons for retracting biomedical articles written by authors from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included all retracted biomedical articles with first authors affiliated with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, or Turkey, retracted between September 1, 2010, and September 1, 2019. Data were extracted from Retraction Watch, MEDLINE, PubMed Central (PMC), Clarivate Analytics, and Scopus. Each article’s information was entered into a data collection form and analyzed using SPSS version 24. Results: Of 436 retracted articles, Iran had the highest number (223), followed by Turkey (80), Egypt (72), Saudi Arabia (35), and Pakistan (26). Common causes of retraction included plagiarism, duplication, authorship issues, and fake peer review. In Iran, fake peer review (42.6%) and authorship issues (41.3%) were most prevalent. Significant inter-country differences were found in retraction frequency and causes. The most affected fields were biology, biochemistry, oncology, cardiovascular, surgery, and pathology. Conclusion: The results showed that scientific misconducts (plagiarism, duplication, authorship issues, and fake peer review) were the main reasons for retracting the articles in the five studied countries. To reduce such misconducts, regional regulatory policies, improved editorial practices, and enhanced research ethics training are urgently needed.