Retraction data · updated 2026-08-23
Retracted papers published in 2021
Papers published in 2021that have since been formally withdrawn from the scientific record, computed from the CiteDash catalog. Retraction is slow: investigations take years, so this count keeps rising and today’s number is a floor, not a final verdict on 2021.
919
retracted papers from 2021 so far
19
per 10,000 papers published in 2021
483,103
2021 papers in the catalog
Most-cited retracted papers of 2021
Ranked by citation count: the retracted papers from 2021 that other research leaned on most, which is exactly why each retraction matters. Anything citing them inherits the problem.
- RETRACTEDSecurity and Communication Networks
Overlapping Community Detection Based on Node Importance and Adjacency Information
- RETRACTEDIOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering
RETRACTED: Failure Analysis of Drive Axle Shaft failed under Torsional Stress
- RETRACTEDNanoscale Advances
Metal-ion batteries for electric vehicles: current state of the technology, issues and future perspectives
- RETRACTEDChemical Communications
Nucleophilic iodonium interactions (NIIs) in 2-coordinate iodine(<scp>i</scp>) and silver(<scp>i</scp>) complexes
- RETRACTEDMathematical Problems in Engineering
Design of an Intelligent Virtual Classroom Platform for Ideological and Political Education Based on the Mobile Terminal APP Mode of the Internet of Things
- RETRACTEDRSC Advances
Introduction of a trinuclear manganese( <scp>iii</scp> ) catalyst on the surface of magnetic cellulose as an eco-benign, efficient and reusable novel heterogeneous catalyst for the multi-component synthesis of new derivatives of xanthene
- RETRACTEDMobile Information Systems
Prediction of College Students’ Psychological Crisis Based on Data Mining
- RETRACTEDRSC Advances
The anchoring of a Cu(<scp>ii</scp>)–salophen complex on magnetic mesoporous cellulose nanofibers: green synthesis and an investigation of its catalytic role in tetrazole reactions through a facile one-pot route
Method and scope
Figures are aggregates over the CiteDash catalog; retraction status comes from the open scholarly catalogs (OpenAlex, drawing on Crossref and Retraction Watch data). They describe this catalog, not the whole scholarly record, and the rate per 10,000 is the safer number to quote. Aggregates recompute twice a day. Cite as: CiteDash Retraction Data, citedash.ai/retractions/2021, updated 2026-08-23. CC BY 4.0.
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Retractions of 2021: FAQ
What does it mean when a paper is retracted?
The journal has formally withdrawn it from the scientific record, usually after finding fabricated data, plagiarism, unreliable results, or compromised peer review. A retracted paper should not be cited as evidence, and examiners and journals actively check reference lists for them.
Where do these numbers come from?
They are computed from the research papers indexed in the CiteDash catalog, with retraction status drawn from the open scholarly catalogs (OpenAlex, which incorporates Crossref and Retraction Watch data). They describe this catalog, not the entire scholarly record, so absolute counts will differ from databases with different coverage.
Why do recent years show fewer retractions?
Retraction is slow: investigations, institutional reviews, and journal processes routinely take years. A paper published recently has had little time to be caught, so recent years' counts keep rising for a decade or more. A small number for last year says nothing about how many of its papers will eventually be retracted.
Does a journal appearing on this page mean it is a bad journal?
No, and the reverse is also false. Large journals publish more of everything, including papers later retracted, and a high count can reflect a journal that actively investigates and cleans up its record. Equally, a journal missing from this page is not certified clean: it may simply have too few papers in our catalog to report on responsibly.
How do I check my own references for retractions?
Paste any DOI into the free retraction checker, or paste a whole reference list into the bibliography checker to screen every entry at once. Inside CiteDash, every paper is screened automatically and continuously before it can enter a bibliography.