Neale, AV; Dailey, RK; Abrams, J. 2010. Analysis of Citations to Biomedical Articles Affected by Scientific Misconduct. SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ETHICS 16 (2): 251-261

[Eugene Garfield]

Neale, AV; Dailey, RK; Abrams, J. 2010. Analysis of Citations to Biomedical 
Articles Affected by Scientific Misconduct. SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ETHICS 
16 (2): 251-261.

Author Full Name(s): Neale, Anne Victoria; Dailey, Rhonda K.; Abrams, Judith
Language: English
Document Type: Article

Author Keywords: Bibliometric analysis; Journalology; Journal citations; 
Quantitative content analysis; Retraction; Scientific misconduct
KeyWords Plus: RETRACTION; MISTAKES; MEDICINE; IMPACT

Abstract: We describe the ongoing citations to biomedical articles affected by 
scientific misconduct, and characterize the papers that cite these affected 
articles. The citations to 102 articles named in official findings of scientific 
misconduct during the period of 1993 and 2001 were identified through the 
Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science database. Using a stratified 
random sampling strategy, we performed a content analysis of 603 of the 5,393 
citing papers to identify indications of awareness that the cited articles 
affected by scientific misconduct had validity issues, and to examine how the 
citing papers referred to the affected articles. Fewer than 5% of citing papers 
indicated any awareness that the cited article was retracted or named in a 
finding of misconduct. We also tested the hypothesis that affected articles 
would have fewer citations than a comparison sample; this was not supported. 
Most articles affected by misconduct were published in basic science journals, 
and we found little cause for concern that such articles may have affected 
clinical equipoise or clinical care.

Addresses: [Neale, Anne Victoria; Dailey, Rhonda K.] Wayne State Univ, Sch 
Med, Dept Family Med & Publ Hlth Sci, Detroit, MI 48201 USA; [Abrams, Judith] 
Wayne State Univ, Sch Med, Integrated Biostat Unit, Detroit, MI 48201 USA

Reprint Address: Neale, AV, Wayne State Univ, Sch Med, Dept Family Med & 
Publ Hlth Sci, 101 E Alexandrine,249, Detroit, MI 48201 USA.

E-mail Address: vneale at med.wayne.edu

ISSN: 1353-3452
DOI: 10.1007/s11948-009-9151-4
fulltext: http://www.springerlink.com/content/l8563242718084g7/