Quantifying the Dynamics of Harm Caused by Retracted Research

TL;DR

This paper introduces a citation-based framework to quantify and analyze how retracted research papers continue to cause harm, revealing mechanisms that enable their harm to persist and spread unnoticed.

Contribution

It uncovers the 'attention escape' mechanism, explaining how retracted papers evade intervention and cause ongoing harm through indirect citations and publication impact factors.

Findings

Retracted papers often cause harm outside the attention of authors and publishers.

Harm persists longer when retracted papers are cited indirectly.

Retracted papers in lower-impact journals tend to inflict more harm.

Abstract

Despite enormous efforts devoted to understand the characteristics and impacts of retracted papers, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the dynamics of their harm and the dynamics of its propagation. Here, we propose a citation-based framework to quantify the harm caused by retracted papers, aiming to uncover why their harm persists and spreads so widely. We uncover an ''attention escape'' mechanism, wherein retracted papers postpone significant harm, more prominently affect indirectly citing papers, and inflict greater harm on citations in journals with an impact factor less than 10. This mechanism allows retracted papers to inflict harm outside the attention of authors and publishers, thereby evading their intervention. This study deepens understanding of the harm caused by retracted papers, emphasizes the need to activate and enhance the attention of authors and publishers, and offers new insights and a foundation for strategies to mitigate their harm and prevent its spread.