The Retracted Research Epidemic
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Earlier this month, Nature retracted the second-most-cited paper on climate change in 2024. The paper has already racked up 439 citations. It will probably collect even more, given that, according to a study on covid papers, 80% of papers citing retracted research were published after the retraction date. [1] This is a huge modern problem. Many news articles and scientific papers cite retracted research without knowing it's retracted. Even more readers read news articles and scientific papers without knowing they have been retracted. I have long thought this is inadmissible in 2025. We have the tech to perform automatic checks for retractions; we just lack the will. So, I took some of that will and took some time off for a little coding project, and I made a free Chrome Extension that automatically shows when a news article or paper cites retracted research. With one click, it even pre-drafts an email to the editorial team or the corresponding author! It only works on laptops or desktop computers, and only on Chrome browsers or related browsers (such as Brave). It only takes one click to install and doesn't collect any data. Simply, whenever it detects you're visiting a news website (such as CNN or the WSJ) or a scientific website (such as Nature or PubMed), it automatically scans the page for citations of scientific research, checks these citations against retraction databases, and alerts you if any flagged research is found (retractions or expressions of concern). It currently supports about 100 sites. It's not perfect, but it's much better than the alternative – no check whatsoever. If it finds retracted research, it even shows you a button that, with one click, pre-drafts an email to the editorial team or corresponding author, with which you can let them know about the issue. This is probably the most important feature of the Chrome Extension, for it finally produces a system with which we can fight the spread of retracted research. You can download the free Chrome extension here or find the source code here. Of course, it has many margins of improvement, so feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions. References:[1] “The Citation of Retracted COVID-19 Papers is Common and Rarely Critical,” G. Meyerowitz-Katz et al., 2022. Antifragile OrganizationsJust a reminder that registration for my 2026 Antifragile Organizations course is now open. Tweets & Quotes |
Luca Dellanna
Everyone deserves better managers
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