“Zombie papers” keep on getting cited, with huge ripple effects
What do studies on omega-3 fatty acids, hydroxyethyl starch, and COVID-19 have in common? The resulting scientific papers were all retracted.
Research outputs can be retracted for a number of reasons, including fabrication of data, conflicts of interest, or fraud. Consequently Zombie Papers (where a paper has been retracted, but continues to be cited and impact upon practice) are a huge concern. This Massive Science article reflects on the phenomena, its impact and why things need to change. We have included links to three related items.
A study in Science analyzed the post-retraction citations of two COVID-19 papers originally published in The Lancet and in The New England Journal of Medicine. As both studies were linked to the same dubious database as the source of their raw data, their retractions were followed by a widespread media scandal.