Retraction Practices and Effects: A Characterization and Quantification Study of Retraction Notice

This study investigates the ontological features of retraction notices. Through text mining and analysis of 12,940 retraction notices from web of science and original websites, we found that most of the retraction notices contain basic elements such as who requested the retraction and reasons for retraction, but there is less mention of process information such as retraction policy, who conducted the investigation, and whether the author was contacted and responded to. The author of retraction notices reflect the current opacity in identifying the authorship of retraction notices. Sentiment analysis results demonstrate that the retraction notice satisfies the language requirements of objectivity and neutrality. This study attempts to show the overall status of the current practice of the retraction system, to inform readers about the learnable aspects and limitations of the message that retraction notices convey, and provide some ideas for regulating the retraction system and maintaining research integrity.