Now that I am mostly done with grading for the semester, it is time to turn my attention to a phenomenon that has bothered me for quite a long time, and will most likely continue to bother me. It is not uncommon for articles to get retracted for any of number of reasons. Sometimes, an error gets caught that invalidates the claim made by the authors, sometimes fraud is involved, and sometimes there is plagiarism involved. It happens. Life should go on. In an ideal world, once the article is retracted, that should be the end of its useful life. That article should receive no more citations. We don't live in an ideal world. I know. I am being Captain Obvious about that. The reality, as this article in Retraction Watch points out, is far more complicated, and concerning. Retracted articles may get cited less once the retraction is made public, but they still can rack up quite a number of citations.
I can think of a handful of reasons why an article might still be cited post-retraction:
1. In the months and year immediately after the retraction, papers by citing authors may have already been accepted for publication. It is quite likely that the citing authors would have no knowledge that a retraction was in the works. These are good-faith citations, and should be treated as such. The impact the retraction has on the papers by the citing authors may or may not have significant ramifications, depending on how much of their argument was anchored by the retracted article, or depending on if the effect size data from the retracted article was included in a meta-analysis. Usually the ramifications are fairly negligible, but we shouldn't always assume that to be the case.
2. The retracted article is cited as part of an argument for why the work of a lab, a principal investigator, and/or that PI's collaborators should be viewed with a very healthy dose of skepticism. Under such circumstances, we should expect that the citing authors will explicitly label the article or articles in question as retracted.
3. The retracted article is cited as part of a debate about whether or not a specific theoretical model is still viable in the face of one or more of a theorist's articles being retracted. Although I am not certain I would want to build much of a case that a theory is debunked because the theorist was either negligent or fraudulent in at least one instance, I can appreciate how such examples can provide some context. Under such circumstances we should expect that the citing authors will explicitly label the article or articles in question as retracted.
4. The retracted article is cited as a cautionary tale of what not to do. Retracted articles can be rich case studies in their own right, and guide scientists to steer clear of the sorts of mistakes or misdeeds that can lead to a retraction. No two retractions are exactly alike, although there are some overlapping patterns. My favorite retraction narratives are ones where the authors of a botched article actively work to get the offending article retracted. That said, when citing a retracted article as a cautionary tale, the article in question will be explicitly labeled as retracted.
Beyond those examples, I can't think of a defensible reason to continue citing an article that is for all intents and purposes removed from the public record (aside from the retraction notice specifying the reason for the retraction). I suppose it is possible that a citing author has cited the retracted article before it was retracted, and continues to cite it in their own future papers out of force of habit. That is not a good look. I see that sort of behavior as a sign that authors are not keeping current with the literature in their own areas of expertise. I can also imagine situations where the citing authors cite a retracted article in bad faith in order to further a theoretical or political agenda. That is also not a good look, and the societal ramifications are very, very concerning when citing authors simply hope that their readers don't bother to notice that they are basing their argument on findings that have been retracted for good reason.
There is a simple solution for those of us who want to avoid citing retracted articles. The Google Chrome browser has a PubPeer extension that is really good at flagging retracted articles. Those who install and use that extension can be alerted to retracted articles well ahead of time, and that will give them ample opportunity to learn why the retraction happened and opportunity to find another article to cite instead. Be smart and use some simple tools that are freely available. In the process, you will help make your particular science more trustworthy. That's a good thing.
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