Reasons and implications of retracted articles in Brazil

Evolution and characterization of health sciences paper retractions in Brazil and Portugal

The retraction of health sciences publications is a growing concern. To understand the patterns in a particular country-context and design specific measures to address the problem, it is important to describe and characterize retractions. We aimed to assess the evolution of health science retractions in Brazil and Portugal and to describe their features. We conducted a cross-sectional study including all health sciences retracted articles with at least one author affiliated to a Portuguese or Brazilian institution identified through Retraction Watch database. A total of 182 retracted articles were identified. The number of retractions increased over time, but the proportion related to the whole of publications remained stable. A total of 50.0% and 60.8% of the Portuguese and Brazilian retracted articles, respectively, were published in first and second quartile journals. Scientific misconduct accounted for 60.1% and 55.9% of retractions in Brazil and Portugal. In both countries, the most frequent cause of misconduct was plagiarism. The time from publication to retraction decreases as the journal quartile increases. The retraction of health sciences articles did not decrease over time in Brazil and Portugal. There is a need to develop strategies aimed at preventing, monitoring and managing scientific misconduct according to the country context.

Research integrity guidelines in the academic environment: The context of Brazilian institutions with retracted publications in health and life sciences

Although research misconduct is responsible for most retractions in health and life sciences from authors affiliated with Brazilian institutions, there are few studies evaluating retraction notices and research misconduct in the country. Understanding the form of research misconduct may share light on the weaknesses and strengths of individual, organizational, and structural factors toward the implementation of a research integrity culture. This review on policies and practices aims to access the available information from research integrity offices and the guidelines from Brazilian funding institutions and universities who were involved in retractions in health and life science publications based on a previously published systematic review. Additionally, we summarize the available guidelines and policies for research integrity in the country. Additionally, we searched publicly available guidelines and offices for research integrity. In total, 15 institutions were analyzed: five funding agencies and 10 universities. Approximately 40% of the funding agencies promoted local research, and 60% promoted national research. Considering national funding agencies, 66% had the commission on research integrity. Approximately 30% of the universities do not have the official office for research integrity or any publicly available guidelines. Most institutions involved in retractions due to some form of research misconduct. Brazilian institutions involved in publication retractions lack instruments to prevent, supervise, and sanction research misconduct. Institutions of the country have insufficiently developed a system to promote and sustain research integrity practices. Nevertheless, there is a positive movement of researchers who are engaged in the investigation of research integrity, policy creation and training. This study emphasizes increased influence of Brazilian scientific collaboration and production globally as well as the impact of retractions in medical sciences. In contrast, it addresses the need for clear research integrity policies to foster high-quality and trustworthy research.

Análise das políticas de plágio na publicação científica: o caso de um segmento de revistas da área de Ciências Humanas na América Latina

Resumo O plágio é prática inaceitável na ciência, pois desrespeita a propriedade intelectual de terceiros, bem como impede a realização de um conhecimento integro e de credibilidade, em particular em casos em que se materializa em publicações científicas, tendo em vista os inúmeros prejuízos e o potencial de risco que representa para a credibilidade dos resultados divulgados. Nesse sentido, a presente pesquisa analisou as políticas editoriais no que se refere as recomendações de plágio de 14 periódicos indexados na Scientific Electronic Library Online Brasil, voltados para as áreas de Antropologia, Linguística e Arqueologia, bem como a questão do autoplágio abordado pelas revistas. A pesquisa é de caráter quali-quantitativa, e utilizou a entrevista como técnica na coleta de dados. Das 14 revistas analisadas, observou-se que 10 adotam práticas e padrões internacionais, entre elas destacamos aqui o uso do “Guia de boas práticas para o fortalecimento da ética na publicação científica” de 2018, disponibilizado no site da Scientific Electronic Library Online, e as que aderem ao Committee on Publication Ethics, assim como as que seguem as “Recommendations for the conduct, reporting, editing, and publication of scholarly work in medical journals” de 2019. Apenas quatro adotam somente a Licença de Atribuição Creative Commons. As questões de caráter ético são de fundamental importância para a humanidade, e no ambiente científico isso não pode ser diferente. Com experiências que podem, quando se orienta de forma adequada o infrator involuntário, ser de grande valia e aprendizado na formação acadêmica, os padrões e as práticas nacionais e internacionais são imprescindíveis nas condutas editoriais científicas.