At Nature, features editor Richard Van Noorden reports on his journal’s investigation into which universities have had the most science papers retracted:

Two days before the end of 2021, administrators at Jining First People’s Hospital in Shandong, China, issued a highly unusual report. The hospital announced that it had disciplined some 35 researchers who had been linked to fraud in publications, such as fabricating data. These sanctions were part of a countrywide crackdown motivated by concerns about a flood of sham medical papers emanating from hospitals.

The problem was that some young physicians at hospitals had purchased fake manuscripts from paper mills: companies that churn out fraudulent scientific reports to order. These doctors were under pressure because they were required to publish papers to get jobs or earn promotions, says integrity sleuth Elisabeth Bik in California. Sleuths such as Bik soon began spotting signs of this problem, identifying duplicated images in large numbers of papers. They publicized the issue and a wave of retractions followed.

“Exclusive: These universities have the most retracted scientific articles,” February 19, 2025

Seven of the Top Ten retraction hotspots are in China but India, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia also make an appearance. Van Noorden points out that administrative errors and honest mistakes can result in retractions but available evidence suggests that misconduct is the main factor.

The investigators found that countries with retraction hotspots can also feature institutions with few retractions, suggesting that a specific institutional culture spikes the rate:

Nature’s analysis found that, for the majority of institutions with high retraction rates, retractions are spread across many authors. This hints at a problem with research-integrity culture rather than a few rogue researchers, says Dorothy Bishop, a retired neuropsychologist at the University of Oxford, UK, who investigates cases of research misconduct. This kind of analysis “could lead to some positive action” if institutions respond by examining what is leading to the patterns, she adds. “Most retracted scientific articles”

Tools for detecting research misconduct

One outcome of the problem is a spike in new research integrity tools (here’s an extensive list). Van Noorden’s article offers a wealth of information on the seamier side of research studies.

New AI tools like large language models (LLMs), also called chatbots, may make the problem harder to spot: