Scientometrics

, Volume 110, Issue 3, pp 1653–1661 | Cite as

Highly cited retracted papers

Article
First Online:
Received:

Abstract

We examine the number of citations in 10 highly cited retracted papers, and compare their current pre- and post-citation values. We offer some possible explanations for the continued citation of these retracted papers, and point out some of the risks that may be involved for the communities that continue to cite them. In general, retracted papers should not be cited, but often there is fault with unclear publisher web-sites, the existence of pirate web-sites or sites that display copies of the unretracted version of the paper, or even the insistent citation of a retracted paper because the results remain valid, or because the authors (most likely) refuse to accept the retracted status of that paper, or continue to believe that the core findings of the study remain valid.

Keywords

Citations Fraud Misconduct PubMed Reference validation Retraction 
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Notes

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Copyright information

© Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva
    • 1
  • Judit Dobránszki
    • 2
  1. 1.Kagawa-KenJapan
  2. 2.Research Institute of Nyíregyháza, IAREFUniversity of DebrecenNyíregyházaHungary

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