Understanding retractions

Retraction, correction or expression of concern

Journals use three main notices to fix the published record. They differ in how much of a paper can still be trusted, not in how much blame they assign.

• COPE says the purpose of retraction is to correct the literature and ensure its integrity, not to punish the authors.¹
• COPE says a retraction notice should be published as soon as an editor is confident a publication is seriously flawed, and that unreliable content can come from honest error, naive mistakes, or research or publication misconduct.¹
• When an editor is uncertain, for example because information is missing or delayed, COPE says an expression of concern can be published. ICMJE says an editor may publish one pending the outcome of an institution's procedures.^1,2
• ICMJE treats corrections as the remedy for factual errors that do not change the direction or conclusions of a study, with a correction notice that cites the original article.³
• ICMJE says retracted articles stay in the public domain and must be clearly labelled as retracted in the abstract, full text and PDF, with links both ways between notice and article.²
• COPE issued version 3 of its retraction guidelines on 4 September 2025, adding sections on batch retractions and communicating with authors.¹

Sources

1. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Retraction guidelines (version 3) (4 September 2025)
2. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), Scientific misconduct, expressions of concern, and retraction
3. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), Corrections and version control