Only 1.9% of citations to papers retracted for misconduct flag them as retracted or unreliable.
For papers retracted for error it is 6.5%. Both are still cited as support about 4 times in 10 (41.2% and 40.0%).
Flagged it as retracted or unreliable, by reason for the retraction
Misconduct and error are still cited as support about as often: 41.2% and 40.0%.
Source: SaneCite Phase 2 census: 51,626 citations from open-access papers citing retracted biomedical papers (PubMed-indexed, retracted 1990–2023); 4,044 more, to paperwork retractions, are reported apart. Dot = estimate; line = 95% CI. Provisional: read by three AI models; a human check comes next. Data as of 14 Oct 2026.
Source: SaneCite Phase 2 census, 51,626 citations, data as of 14 Oct 2026 · sanecite.com/charts
Show the numbers
| Group | Citations | Cited it as support (95% CI, %) | Flagged it (95% CI, %) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Misconduct, fabrication or duplication | 31,947 | 41.2% (40.0–42.3) | 1.9% (1.2–3.1) |
| Error or unreliable results | 15,715 | 40.0% (38.9–41.1) | 6.5% (5.1–8.1) |
| Other or no reason given | 3,964 | 40.2% (38.0–42.3) | 2.6% (2.0–3.5) |
| Paperwork retractions (no fault found in the science) | 4,044 | 38.0% (33.9–42.9) | 1.4% (1.0–1.9) |
Reason groups follow the Retraction Watch reason codes. Paperwork retractions (out of date, replaced, moved journal, publisher duplicate) find no fault in the science and are reported apart. 95% confidence intervals (the likely range) come from re-running the numbers 400 times, drawing whole retracted papers at random (a cluster bootstrap).
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- Provisional.Three AI models read every citing passage. On a blind sample of 150 citations they agreed with a separate AI reader on whether each cited the paper as support in 142 (94.7%); a check by two human labellers comes next, and the figures may move. The rates are not corrected for reader error: corrected using that one AI reader's checks, the 40.7% headline estimate would be about 38.1% (95% CI 33.5–41.8%).
- What a citation is here.One later paper citing one retracted paper, in a year after the retraction. Citations to paperwork retractions, which find no fault in the science, are reported apart.
- What it covers.Open-access papers in Europe PMC citing PubMed-indexed papers retracted from 1990 to 2023. About 43% of all later citations could be read.
- Check it yourself.This chart's data · every citation, searchable · method and limits · code.