TY - JOUR
KW - animal studies
KW - Brain damage
KW - Hemorrhage
KW - Medical journals
KW - Scientific misconduct
KW - Scientific publishing
KW - Systematic reviews
KW - Traumatic injury risk factors
AU - René Aquarius
AU - Merel van de Voort
AU - Hieronymus D. Boogaarts
AU - P. Manon Reesink
AU - Kimberley E. Wever
AB - Scientific progress relies on science’s capacity for self-correction. If erroneous articles remain unchallenged in the publication record, they can mislead future research and undermine evidence-based decision-making. All articles included in a systematic review of animal studies on early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage were analyzed for image-related issues. We included 608 articles, of which 243 articles were identified as problematic (40.0%). Of the 243 problematic articles, 55 (22.6%) have been corrected, 7 (2.9%) have received an expression of concern, 5 (2.1%) were marked with the Taylor & Francis under investigation pop-up, and 19 (7.8%) were retracted. In 9 of the 55 corrected articles (16.4%), new problems were found after correction or not all issues were resolved in the correction. Most (n = 213, 87.7%) problematic articles had a corresponding author affiliated to an institute from China. Our results show that the self-correcting mechanisms in science have stalled in this field of research. Our findings provide insight in the prevalence of image-related issues and can help publishers to take appropriate action. We can only uphold science’s capacity for self-correction when problematic articles are actively identified by peers, and when publishers take swift and adequate action to repair the scientific record.
BT - PLOS Biology
DA - Oct 30, 2025
DO - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003438
IS - 10
LA - en
N2 - Scientific progress relies on science’s capacity for self-correction. If erroneous articles remain unchallenged in the publication record, they can mislead future research and undermine evidence-based decision-making. All articles included in a systematic review of animal studies on early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage were analyzed for image-related issues. We included 608 articles, of which 243 articles were identified as problematic (40.0%). Of the 243 problematic articles, 55 (22.6%) have been corrected, 7 (2.9%) have received an expression of concern, 5 (2.1%) were marked with the Taylor & Francis under investigation pop-up, and 19 (7.8%) were retracted. In 9 of the 55 corrected articles (16.4%), new problems were found after correction or not all issues were resolved in the correction. Most (n = 213, 87.7%) problematic articles had a corresponding author affiliated to an institute from China. Our results show that the self-correcting mechanisms in science have stalled in this field of research. Our findings provide insight in the prevalence of image-related issues and can help publishers to take appropriate action. We can only uphold science’s capacity for self-correction when problematic articles are actively identified by peers, and when publishers take swift and adequate action to repair the scientific record.
PY - 0
EP - e3003438
T2 - PLOS Biology
TI - High prevalence of articles with image-related problems in animal studies of subarachnoid hemorrhage and low rates of correction by publishers
UR - https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003438
VL - 23
Y2 - 2025-11-03
SN - 1545-7885
ER -