Monday, February 3, 2025

Trust the science? From Retraction Watch

Top 10 most highly cited retracted papers



Ever curious which retracted papers have been most cited by other scientists? Below, we present the list of the 10 most highly cited retractions as of December 18, 2024. Readers will see some familiar entries, such as the infamous Lancet paper by Andrew Wakefield that originally suggested a link between autism and childhood vaccines. You’ll note that some papers — including the #8 most cited paper — received more citations after they were retracted, which research has shown is an ongoing problem.

ArticleYear of retractionCiting Articles before retractionCiting Articles   after retractionTotal cites (journals indexed by Web of Science)
1. Pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adultNature. June 20, 2002. Y Jiang, BN Jahagirdar, RL Reinhardt, RE Schwartz, CD Keene, XR Ortiz-Gonzalez, M Reyes, T Lenvik, T Lund, M Blackstad, J Du, S Aldrich, A Lisberg, WC Low, DA Largaespada, CM Verfaillie 20244491104501
2. Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trialInternational Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. March 20, 2020. P Gautret, JC Lagier, P Parola, VT Hoang, L Meddeb, M Mailhe, B Doudier, J Courjon, V Giordanengo, VE Vieira, HT Dupont, S Honoré, P Colson, E Chabrière, B La Scola , JM Rolain, P Brouqui, D Raoult2024316203162
3. 6-month consequences of COVID-19 in patients discharged from hospital: a cohort studyLancet. January 8, 2021. C Huang, L Huang, Y Wang, X Li, L Ren, X Gu, L Kang, L Guo, M Liu, X Zhou, J Luo, Z Huang, S Tu, Y Zhao, L Chen, D Xu, Y Li, C Li, L Peng, Y Li, W Xie, D Cui, L Shang, G Fan, J Xu, G Wang, Y Wang, J Zhong, C Wang, J Wang, D Zhang, B Cao 202322626342896
4. Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean DietNew England Journal of Medicine.  April 4, 2013. R Estruch, E Ros, J Salas-Salvadó, M-I Covas, D Corella, F Arós, E Gómez-Gracia, V Ruiz-Gutiérrez, M Fiol, J Lapetra, RM Lamuela-Raventos, L Serra-Majem, X Pintó, J Basora, MA Muñoz, JV Sorlí, JA Martínez, MA Martínez-González,  for the PREDIMED Study Investigators201817349022636
5. A specific amyloid-β protein assembly in the brain impairs memory. Nature. March 16, 2008. S Lesné, MT Koh, L Kotilinek, R Kayed, CG Glabe, A Yang, M Gallagher, KH Ashe20242359132372
6. Predictive Validity of a Medication Adherence Measure in an Outpatient SettingThe Journal of Clinical Hypertension. May 2, 2008. DE Morisky, A Ang, M Krousel-Wood, HJ Ward202319301612091
7. MicroRNA signatures of tumor-derived exosomes as diagnostic biomarkers of ovarian cancerGynecologic Oncology. June 25, 2008. DD Taylor, C Gercel-Taylor 20231868661934
8. Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in childrenLancet. February 28, 1998. AJ Wakefield, SH Murch, A Anthony, J Linnell, DM Casson, M Malik, M Berelowitz, AP Dhillon, MA Thomson, P Harvey, A Valentine, SE Davies, JA Walker-Smith.201064310741717
9. Recent progress in processing and properties of ZnOProgress in Materials Science. May 28, 2004. SJ Pearton, DP Norton, K Ip, YW Heo, T Steiner 20201550791629
10. Visfatin: A protein secreted by visceral fat that mimics the effects of insulinScience. January 21, 2005. A Fukuhara, M Matsuda, M Nishizawa, K Segawa, M Tanaka, K Kishimoto, Y Matsuki, M Murakami, T Ichisaka, H Murakami, E Watanabe, T Takagi, M Akiyoshi, T Ohtsubo, S Kihara, S Yamashita, M Makishima, T Funahashi, S Yamanaka, R Hiramatsu, Y Matsuzawa, I Shimomura200723213191551

Note: To obtain the number of citations before and after a retraction was issued, we relied  on the “Citation index” portion of  Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science (WoS), which only adds up the number of citations from journals indexed by the WoS Core Collection. Therefore, the  citation count using just those two values can be lower than the total citation count for each article listed by WoS. Those eagle-eyed readers may notice that the column headings have been changed slightly; this was to better reflect the criteria causing the discrepancy in total counts.


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