2023 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 4
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Quality control of research data during the pandemic: A case study of retracted COVID-19 papers
AUTHOR
Ke Dong, Jiachun Wu
ABSTRACT
The utilization of research papers has been crucial in facilitating pandemic decision-making and management. Despite the unprecedented surge of scientific publications in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the retraction of papers related to data has been increasingly frequent, indicating shortcomings in the quality control of current research data. In this study, we aim to examine the root causes and characteristics of data-related retractions amidst the deluge of pandemic research papers, with a particular focus on articles that contain flaws stemming from issues related to research data quality. Our findings suggest that retractions related to data quality deficiencies indicate a dearth of actors and mechanisms within the research quality management landscape. The monitoring and control of data quality cannot be left solely to the self-regulation of the academic community. Hence, our study proposes recommendations for ensuring research data quality in pandemic publications from three perspectives: the management of scientific research quality, data sharing and evaluation mechanisms; publication and dissemination scrutiny mechanisms; and academic early warning and tolerance mechanisms.
KEYWORDS
COVID-19; Pandemic; Research quality management; Retracted publication; Data retractions