Retracted Publications in Indian Science: Reasons and Institutions

Abstract

The study analyzes repeated offenders of scientific misconduct among authors affiliated with Indian institutions. To do so, we searched the SCOPUS database for retraction notices of articles written or cowritten by such authors. Broad categories of reasons for retractions, institutions, and the types of retracted publications were discussed. Most retractions (12.5% out of 239 retractions analysed) were from authors affiliated with S.V. University. The main reasons behind retractions were ethical misconduct (139, 58.2%) and scientific distortion (43, 18%). About one in ten authors who have at least one article retracted had more than one retracted publication.