Objectives To describe retracted papers originating from paper mills, including their characteristics, visibility, and impact over time, and the journals in which they were published.
Design Cross sectional study.
Conclusions Papers retracted originating from paper mills are increasing in frequency, posing a problem for the research community. Retracted paper mill papers most commonly originated from China and were published in a small number of journals. Nevertheless, detected paper mill papers might be substantially different from those that are not detected. New mechanisms are needed to identify and avoid this relatively new type of misconduct.
Candal-Pedreira, C., Ross, J. S., Ruano-Ravina, A., Egilman, D. S., Fernández, E., & Pérez-Ríos, M. (2022). Retracted papers originating from paper mills: Cross sectional study. BMJ, 379, e071517. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-071517