A cross sectional study of retraction notices of scholarly journals of science

  • Manorama Tripathi Dr B R Ambedkar Central Library, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi - 110 067, India
  • Sharad Kumar Sonkar Department of Library and Information Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow - 226 025, India
  • Sunil Kumar Planning & Development Division, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi - 110 068, India
Keywords: Retraction, Misconduct, Scholarly journal

Abstract

Retraction is the withdrawal of published article after it is found that the authors did not ensure integrity in conducting and reporting their research activities. The bibliometric information of 4716 document categorised as retractions in Science Citation Index, Web of Science was downloaded and analysed to understand trend, pattern and reasons of retraction. The results showed that retractions had increased during the ten-year period, 2008-2017. The main reasons for retractions were plagiarism, falsified data, manipulation of images and figures. It was also found that just 40 out of 4716 retraction notices had explicitly stated reasons for retracting the published articles. The open access journals had more number of retractions as compared to subscription based journals. The study will guide library professionals and research scholars towards a better comprehension of the reasons behind retractions in science discipline in the ten-year period. They would be better equipped to steer clear of inauthentic publications in their citations and references.

Author Biographies

Manorama Tripathi, Dr B R Ambedkar Central Library, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi - 110 067, India

dr Manorama tripathi holds a doctorate in Library and Information Science from Banaras hindu university, Varanasi. At present, she is a Librarian at Jawaharlal Nehru university, New Delhi. She is a recipient of the best paper award from Raja Ram Mohun Library Foundation. She has published more than 55 research papers in journals and conference. her areas of research include : Information seeking behavior of researchers, innovative library services and scientometrics.

Sharad Kumar Sonkar, Department of Library and Information Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow - 226 025, India

Dr Sharad Kumar Sonkar is presently working as Senior Assistant professor in the Department of Library and Information Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar university Lucknow. He specialises in Information Technology application to library and Information services. He has guided four phD, Thirteen MPhil students till date and has contributed more than 100 papers in national and international journals, books and conference volumes.

Sunil Kumar, Planning & Development Division, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi - 110 068, India

Dr Sunil Kumar is a Senior Analyst at planning & Development Division, Indira Gandhi National Open university, New Delhi, India. He holds a phD in Web-mediated education. His research interest includes social media in education, elearning, course management system, planning and funding of distance education. He has authored more than 35 papers, three monographs, two books. His areas of research include : Web-tools, e-learning and e-books, social media and plagiarism.

Published
2019-03-11
How to Cite
Tripathi, M., Sonkar, S., & Kumar, S. (2019). A cross sectional study of retraction notices of scholarly journals of science. DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, 39(2), 74-81. https://doi.org/10.14429/djlit.39.2.14000
Section
Special Issue on Promoting and Maintaining Integrity in Higher Edu and Res