<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<sec>
<h3>Purpose</h3>
<p>The notable increase in retraction papers has attracted considerable attention from diverse stakeholders. Various sources are now offering information related to research integrity, including concerns voiced on social media, disclosed lists of paper mills, and retraction notices accessible through journal websites. However, despite the availability of such resources, there remains a lack of a unified platform to consolidate this information, thereby hindering efficient searching and cross-referencing. Thus, it is imperative to develop a comprehensive platform for retracted papers and related concerns. This article aims to introduce “Amend,” a platform designed to integrate information on research integrity from diverse sources.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>
<p>The Amend platform consolidates concerns and lists of problematic articles sourced from social media platforms (e.g., PubPeer, For Better Science), retraction notices from journal websites, and citation databases (e.g., Web of Science, CrossRef). Moreover, Amend includes investigation and punishment announcements released by administrative agencies (e.g., NSFC, MOE, MOST, CAS). Each related paper is marked and can be traced back to its information source via a provided link. Furthermore, the Amend database incorporates various attributes of retracted articles, including citation topics, funding details, open access status, and more. The reasons for retraction are identified and classified as either academic misconduct or honest errors, with detailed subcategories provided for further clarity.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Findings</h3>
<p>Within the Amend platform, a total of 32,515 retracted papers indexed in SCI, SSCI, and ESCI between 1980 and 2023 were identified. Of these, 26,620 (81.87%) were associated with academic misconduct. The retraction rate stands at 6.64 per 10,000 articles. Notably, the retraction rate for non-gold open access articles significantly differs from that for gold open access articles, with this disparity progressively widening over the years. Furthermore, the reasons for retractions have shifted from traditional individual behaviors like falsification, fabrication, plagiarism, and duplication to more organized large-scale fraudulent practices, including Paper Mills, Fake Peer-review, and Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC).</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Research limitations</h3>
<p>The Amend platform may not fully capture all retracted and concerning papers, thereby impacting its comprehensiveness. Additionally, inaccuracies in retraction notices may lead to errors in tagged reasons.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Practical implications</h3>
<p>Amend provides an integrated platform for stakeholders to enhance monitoring, analysis, and research on academic misconduct issues. Ultimately, the Amend database can contribute to upholding scientific integrity.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Originality/value</h3>
<p>This study introduces a globally integrated platform for retracted and concerning papers, along with a preliminary analysis of the evolutionary trends in retracted papers.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

Purpose
The notable increase in retraction papers has attracted considerable attention from diverse stakeholders. Various sources are now offering information related to research integrity, including concerns voiced on social media, disclosed lists of paper mills, and retraction notices accessible through journal websites. However, despite the availability of such resources, there remains a lack of a unified platform to consolidate this information, thereby hindering efficient searching and cross-referencing. Thus, it is imperative to develop a comprehensive platform for retracted papers and related concerns. This article aims to introduce “Amend,” a platform designed to integrate information on research integrity from diverse sources.


Design/methodology/approach
The Amend platform consolidates concerns and lists of problematic articles sourced from social media platforms (e.g., PubPeer, For Better Science), retraction notices from journal websites, and citation databases (e.g., Web of Science, CrossRef). Moreover, Amend includes investigation and punishment announcements released by administrative agencies (e.g., NSFC, MOE, MOST, CAS). Each related paper is marked and can be traced back to its information source via a provided link. Furthermore, the Amend database incorporates various attributes of retracted articles, including citation topics, funding details, open access status, and more. The reasons for retraction are identified and classified as either academic misconduct or honest errors, with detailed subcategories provided for further clarity.


Findings
Within the Amend platform, a total of 32,515 retracted papers indexed in SCI, SSCI, and ESCI between 1980 and 2023 were identified. Of these, 26,620 (81.87%) were associated with academic misconduct. The retraction rate stands at 6.64 per 10,000 articles. Notably, the retraction rate for non-gold open access articles significantly differs from that for gold open access articles, with this disparity progressively widening over the years. Furthermore, the reasons for retractions have shifted from traditional individual behaviors like falsification, fabrication, plagiarism, and duplication to more organized large-scale fraudulent practices, including Paper Mills, Fake Peer-review, and Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC).


Research limitations
The Amend platform may not fully capture all retracted and concerning papers, thereby impacting its comprehensiveness. Additionally, inaccuracies in retraction notices may lead to errors in tagged reasons.


Practical implications
Amend provides an integrated platform for stakeholders to enhance monitoring, analysis, and research on academic misconduct issues. Ultimately, the Amend database can contribute to upholding scientific integrity.


Originality/value
This study introduces a globally integrated platform for retracted and concerning papers, along with a preliminary analysis of the evolutionary trends in retracted papers.

Amend: an integrated platform of retracted papers and concerned papers

Journal of Data and Information Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Amend: an integrated platform of retracted papers and concerned papers"}

Purpose
The notable increase in retraction papers has attracted considerable attention from diverse stakeholders. Various sources are now offering information...

Reasons	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Falsification	81	91	85	118	101	101	82	90	141	148	128	83	30
Fabrication	68	81	78	81	55	48	61	69	59	54	58	49	27
Plagiarism	125	96	157	160	195	220	194	208	203	191	181	183	88
Fake Peer-review	10	28	51	119	194	162	86	125	221	196	724	2,774	7,592
Paper Mill	1	3	1	8	64	89	75	179	416	594	460	288	98
AIGC	4	1	3	1	7	7	8	21	55	46	289	521	194
Inappropriate Authorship	24	26	34	52	72	132	112	128	104	123	173	230	191
Duplication	231	314	319	354	367	425	396	452	547	614	535	315	138
Ethical Violations	23	19	18	31	29	22	30	45	54	63	74	161	369
Other Misconducts	56	61	88	103	100	100	111	119	135	179	283	567	2,466

	Retraction	Retraction Rate	Misconduct	Misconduct Rate	Ratio
Retraction	32,515	6.64	26,620	5.44	81.87%
Gold	14,519	16.38	13,487	15.21	92.89%
Non-Gold	17,996	4.49	13,133	3.28	72.98%

Reason	Frequency	Percent	Reason	Frequency	Percent
Falsification	1,712	4.83%	AIGC	1,176	3.82%
Fabrication	1,568	4.42%	Inappropriate Authorship	1,562	4.41%
Plagiarism	2,648	7.47%	Duplication	6,152	17.36%
Fake Peer-review	12,413	35.02%	Ethical Violations	1,130	3.12%
Paper Mill	2,283	6.44%	Other Misconduct	4,798	13.54%

Amend: an integrated platform of retracted papers and concerned papers

Article Category: Research Papers

Published Online: May 27, 2024

Page range: 41 - 55

Received: Feb 20, 2024

Accepted: Mar 14, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2024-0012

Keywords
Research Integrity, Retraction Rate, Academic Misconduct, Reasons for Retraction, Temporal Trends

© 2024 Menghui Li et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

The number of retractions attributed to each reason in the year of publication.

Characteristics of Amend dataset for retreated papers.

Frequency and proportion of reasons for academic misconduct retraction

Amend: an integrated platform of retracted papers and concerned papers

Article Category: Research Papers

Published Online: May 27, 2024

Page range: 41 - 55

Received: Feb 20, 2024

Accepted: Mar 14, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2024-0012

KeywordsResearch Integrity, Retraction Rate, Academic Misconduct, Reasons for Retraction, Temporal Trends

© 2024 Menghui Li et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

The number of retractions attributed to each reason in the year of publication.

Characteristics of Amend dataset for retreated papers.

Frequency and proportion of reasons for academic misconduct retraction

Keywords
Research Integrity, Retraction Rate, Academic Misconduct, Reasons for Retraction, Temporal Trends