Finding Articles: Retractions/Corrections

After an article has been published, it can be withdrawn from scholarly conversation. This is called a retraction. This can occur when problems with the article have been identified by the author(s) or the readers of the article, who alert the journal publisher that the article is problematic. 

This may result in corrections (often called errata) being posted to the next issue of that journal. If the problems are serious, the article may be retracted.

NOTE that this does not mean the article is removed from databases; often its record will still be retrieved in searches, and may or may not be flagged as a retraction.

Common reasons for retraction include: plagiarism; research is not reproducible; image manipulation; fake data; fake peer review; paper mills; author or publisher error; authorship issues; legal issues.

There is no one place to find all retractions.  Here are some strategies to help in your search: 

• Search the journal for whether an article has been retracted or a correction has been issued.  You can include terms such as "retracted," "erratum," "correction," "republished," "retracted article," or 'retraction notice." 
• Retraction Watch: Searchable database of retractions of articles.  They also have a Hijacked Journal Checker.
• Web of Science allows searching for articles by "document type" which includes "Correction," "Correction, Addition," Retracted Publication," and "Retracted."