Some retractions reduce citations of earlier papers, says study.
Journal-initiated retractions can reduce the number of citations of the author's earlier publications, a study finds (S. F. Lu et al. Sci. Rep. 3, 3146; 2013). The authors analysed the effects of 667 retractions — mostly in the sciences and dating mainly from 2000 onwards — on citations of the author's earlier work. When a journal initiated the retraction, the number of annual citations of earlier papers fell by 6.9% on average. But author-initiated retractions had no such effect. The scientific community rewards honesty, says study co-author Ben Jones, an economist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Self-reporting indicates that “you really care about getting it right”, he says.
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Retraction ripple effect. Nature 503, 429 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7476-429b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7476-429b