key: cord-0905022-a0j9epmh authors: Soltani, Parisa; Patini, Romeo title: Retracted COVID-19 articles: a side-effect of the hot race to publication date: 2020-08-05 journal: Scientometrics DOI: 10.1007/s11192-020-03661-9 sha: 0b73bf324b390e83dfc6448eb9198caf9b2a1128 doc_id: 905022 cord_uid: a0j9epmh nan article titled "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" mentioned in the special COVID-19 webpage in retraction watch. Finally, one preprint shown in the retraction watch search was resubmitted without explanation (Daneshkhah et al. 2020) . The characteristics of the remaining seventeen articles are discussed below (Pradhan et al. 2020; Yang et al. 2020; Wang et al. 2020a, b; Bae et al. 2020; Parves 2020; Chu et al. 2020; Mehra et al. 2020a, b; Karami et al. 2020; Davido et al. 2020; Nouvier et al. 2020; Gormley and Ngan 2020; Zhuang et al. 2020; Siyu et al. 2020; Zeng and Zhen 2020; Luo et al. 2020; Tofade and Daftary 2020) . Among the seventeen articles involved in this analysis, six were preprints (and thus article type was not assigned), five were research articles, two were letters, two were case reports, and two were sorts of commentaries. The countries with the highest numbers of retracted or withdrawn articles were China with seven articles, followed by the United States with six articles (Fig. 1 ). Reasons for retraction or withdrawal were searched both in the journal websites and in the retraction watch database. According to this search, the most common reasons for retraction were concerns, issues, and errors in results and/or conclusions, followed by concerns, issues, and errors in data ( Table 1) . Some of these retractions even drew the attention of news outlets and have been widely discussed among the public. The most prominent examples are the retraction of articles from The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine. The Lancet article reported that increased in-hospital mortality was associated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, while The New England Journal of Medicine article did not confirm the association of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers with in-hospital deaths in COVID-19 patients (Hopkins and Gold 2020; Davey 2020) . However, both articles were retracted after a further post-publication review. Another interesting case was a letter submitted to The Lancet Global Health describing the situation of nurses in Wuhan, China, allegedly in a first-person narrative. However, the authors later informed the journal that the experience described in the letter was not a first-hand account. In another incident, the authors of a case report on the first COVID-19-related mortality in pregnant women, withdrew the report when they were notified that another team in a different hospital had submitted and published the same report. In two separate instances, a journal made the mistake of duplicate publication of an article. In general, it seems the main reason underlying these retractions and withdrawals is the rush to quickly publish the COVID-19-related articles, whether by the authors or the journal editors and review teams. The publishing parties must keep in mind that swiftly published but erroneous data is not helpful for the medical community in their ongoing battle with COVID-19. What we actually need (possibly more than any time) is correct, meticulous, and unbiased information passed through rigorous critical appraisal methods of the scientific community. Effectiveness of surgical and cotton masks in blocking SARS-CoV-2: a controlled comparison in 4 patients Experimental treatment with favipiravir for COVID-19: an open-label control study From SARS-CoV to Wuhan 2019-nCoV outbreak: Similarity of early epidemic and prediction of future trends Computational analysis suggests putative intermediate animal hosts of the SARS-CoV-2 The role of vitamin D in suppressing cytokine storm in COVID-19 patients and associated mortality Covid-19 studies based on flawed Surgisphere data force medical journals to review processes. The Guardian Hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin: a potential interest in reducing in-hospital morbidity due to COVID-19 pneumonia Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial WITHDRAWN: COVID-19 emergency responders in FDA's center for drug evaluation and research The big-data mystery behind retracted Covid-19 studies of hydroxychloroquine, other drugs Mortality of a pregnant patient diagnosed with COVID-19: A case report with clinical, radiological, and histopathological findings An epidemiological investigation of 2019 novel coronavirus diseases through aerosol-borne transmission by public transport Retracted coronavirus (COVID-19) papers Cardiovascular disease, drug therapy, and mortality in COVID-19 Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis. The Lancet First viral replication of Covid-19 identified in the peritoneal dialysis fluid of a symptomatic patient Analysis of Ten Microsecond simulation data of SARS-CoV-2 dimeric main protease Uncanny similarity of unique inserts in the 2019-nCoV spike protein to HIV-1 gp120 and Gag Mental health status and coping strategy of medical workers in China during The COVID-19 outbreak Corrigendum to "COVID-19 in forensic medicine unit personnel: Observation from Thailand On the origin and continuing evolution of SARS-CoV-2 WITHDRAWN: Managing college operations during the coronavirus outbreak SARS-CoV-2 infects T lymphocytes through its spike protein-mediated membrane fusion. Cellular and Molecular Immunology Retracted: Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of 34 children with 2019 novel coronavirus infection in Shenzhen Epidemiological and clinical features of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in China COVID-19: Should sexual practices be discouraged during the pandemic RETRACTED: Chinese medical staff request international medical assistance in fighting against COVID-19. The Lancet Global health WITHDRAWN: Potential false-positive rate among the'asymptomatic infected individuals' in close contacts of COVID-19 patients We would like to thank Editage (www.edita ge.com) for English language editing. The authors jointly performed the search and data extraction procedures. PS prepared the original draft and RP critically revised it. Data availability Available from the authors upon request. Conflict of interest None.