{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,26]],"date-time":"2026-10-26T23:39:22Z","timestamp":1793057962979,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"BMJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,28]],"date-time":"2022-11-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1669593600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004587","name":"Instituto de Salud Carlos III","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004587","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To describe retracted papers originating from paper mills, including their characteristics, visibility, and impact over time, and the journals in which they were published.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Cross sectional study.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The Retraction Watch database was used for identification of retracted papers from paper mills, Web of Science was used for the total number of published papers, and data from Journal Citation Reports were collected to show characteristics of journals.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Participants<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>All paper mill papers retracted from 1 January 2004 to 26 June 2022 were included in the study. Papers bearing an expression of concern were excluded.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Main outcome measures<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Descriptive statistics were used to characterise the sample and analyse the trend of retracted paper mill papers over time, and to analyse their impact and visibility by reference to the number of citations received.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>1182 retracted paper mill papers were identified. The publication of the first paper mill paper was in 2004 and the first retraction was in 2016; by 2021, paper mill retractions accounted for 772 (21.8%) of the 3544 total retractions. Overall, retracted paper mill papers were mostly published in journals of the second highest Journal Citation Reports quartile for impact factor (n=529 (44.8%)) and listed four to six authors (n=602 (50.9%)). Of the 1182 papers, almost all listed authors of 1143 (96.8%) paper mill retractions came from Chinese institutions and 909 (76.9%) listed a hospital as a primary affiliation. 15 journals accounted for 812 (68.7%) of 1182 paper mill retractions, with one journal accounting for 166 (14.0%). Nearly all (n=1083, 93.8%) paper mill retractions had received at least one citation since publication, with a median of 11 (interquartile range 5-22) citations received.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>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.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj-2022-071517","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,28]],"date-time":"2022-11-28T06:31:08Z","timestamp":1669617068000},"page":"e071517","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":143,"title":["Retracted papers originating from paper mills: cross sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"379","author":[{"given":"Cristina","family":"Candal-Pedreira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain"},{"name":"Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela-IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph S","family":"Ross","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of General Internal Medicine and National Clinician Scholars Program, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA"},{"name":"Department of Health Policy and Management, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA"},{"name":"Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9927-7453","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alberto","family":"Ruano-Ravina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain"},{"name":"Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela-IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain"},{"name":"Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBER en Epidemiolog\u00eda y Salud P\u00fablica-CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David S","family":"Egilman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Family Medicine Department, Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Esteve","family":"Fern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tobacco Control Unit, WHO Collaborating Centre for Tobacco Control, Institut Catal\u00e0 d\u2019Oncologia-ICO, L\u2019Hospitalet de Llobregat, Catalonia, Spain"},{"name":"Consortium for Biomedical Research in Respitarory Diseases (CIBER en Enfermedades Respiratorias-CIBERES), Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"M\u00f3nica","family":"P\u00e9rez-R\u00edos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain"},{"name":"Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela-IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain"},{"name":"Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBER en Epidemiolog\u00eda y Salud P\u00fablica-CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gaceta.2018.01.009"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1212247109"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.3","unstructured":"International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Recommendations for the conduct, reporting, editing and publication of scholarly work in medical journals. 2018. www.equator-network.org."},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.4","unstructured":"COPE Forum. 4 September 2020: paper mills. COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics.. https:\/\/publicationethics.org\/resources\/forum-discussions\/publishing-manipulation-paper-mills"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3346\/jkms.2021.36.e165"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/1873-3468.14143"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.7","unstructured":"Zhang W, Pan Y. The gray industry chain of article writing business: starting at 2,000 and up to 150\u2009000 for an SCI-indexed article. China News 2015 Sep 17. https:\/\/www.chinanews.com.cn\/gn\/2015\/09-17\/7530105.shtml."},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.8","unstructured":"Abalkina A. Publication and collaboration anomalies in academic papers originating from a paper mill: evidence from Russia. 2021. https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2112.13322"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.9","unstructured":"Retraction Watch. The Retraction Watch Database. New York: The Center for Scientific Integrity; 2018. www.retractiondatabase.org"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.10","unstructured":"Retraction Watch. Revealed: The inner workings of a paper mill \u2013 retraction watch. https:\/\/retractionwatch.com\/2021\/12\/20\/revealed-the-inner-workings-of-a-paper-mill\/"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.11","unstructured":"Science Integrity Digest. The Tadpole Paper Mill. https:\/\/scienceintegritydigest.com\/2020\/02\/21\/the-tadpole-paper-mill\/"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-021-00733-5"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-018-07740-z"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/1873-3468.13747"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3138\/jsp.49.3.02"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/AJIM-01-2017-0014"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stone R. A shady market in scientific papers mars Iran\u2019s rise in science. Science. 2016.https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/shady-market-scientific-papers-mars-iran-s-rise-science","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aah7297"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.24318\/jtbG8IHL"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ijc.33604"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.20","unstructured":"Cabanac G, Labb\u00e9 C, Magazinov A. Tortured phrases: a dubious writing style emerging in science. Evidence of critical issues affecting established journals. 2021. https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2107.06751"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Candal-Pedreira C, Ruano-Ravina A, P\u00e9rez-R\u00edos M. Should the European Union have an office of research integrity?. Eur J Intern Med; 2021. https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/34362610\/","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejim.2021.07.009"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0127556"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-018-05417-1"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.24","unstructured":"Ministry of Science and Technology of the People\u2019s Republic of China. Notice from the Ministry of Science and Technology on the recent investigation and handling of thesis falsification. https:\/\/www.most.gov.cn\/zxgz\/kycxjs\/kycxgzdt\/202112\/t20211201_178285.html"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.25","unstructured":"Retraction Watch. Publisher retracts nearly 80 articles over three days. https:\/\/retractionwatch.com\/2021\/11\/14\/publisher-retracts-nearly-80-articles-over-three-days\/"},{"key":"2025110102023557000_379.nov28_4.e071517.26","unstructured":"Retraction Watch. Journal retracts 122 papers at once.https:\/\/retractionwatch.com\/2021\/12\/15\/journal-retracts-122-papers-at-once\/#more-123768"}],"container-title":["BMJ"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/data.bmj.org\/tdm\/10.1136\/bmj-2022-071517","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bmj-2022-071517","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,1]],"date-time":"2025-11-01T09:02:43Z","timestamp":1761987763000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bmj-2022-071517"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,28]]},"references-count":26,"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bmj-2022-071517"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmj-2022-071517","relation":{"has-review":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.3410\/f.742430578.793597570","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["1756-1833"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1756-1833","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,28]]}}}