ScienceGuardians™ Ethical Guidelines for Independent Review and Citation of Retracted Studies

1. Rationale

Retraction is often presented as the final word on the reliability of a study. However, in reality, retractions arise from heterogeneous causes  ranging from genuine scientific misconduct or fatal error, to publisher pressure, political dynamics, reputational risk management, legal threats, institutional conflicts, or disputes unrelated to data integrity.

Because of this, a retraction does not automatically invalidate knowledge.

The mission of ScienceGuardians™ is to defend:

– scientific rigor,
– the right to independent scholarly judgment, and
– transparency in the scientific record.

2. Core Principles

Principle 1. Retraction is not erasure: Retracted work remains part of the scientific archive. It should neither be deleted nor memory-holed, but preserved, examined, andwhere appropriatedebated.

Principle 2. Academic freedom includes re-evaluation: Researchers must retain the freedom and, at times, the responsibility to inspect retracted studies and independently determine whether:

– the retraction was justified, and
– the underlying science remains valid or informative.

Principle 3. Radical transparency, never concealment: Retracted works may be cited but never silently. Their status must be explicit, visible, and impossible to overlook.

Principle 4. Evidence stands or falls on its merits: A study’s validity depends on data, analysis, and methodology not the administrative label attached to it.

3. Summary

ScienceGuardians™ Position:

– Retractions correct the record but do not define truth.
– Scholars must be free to think independently.
– Retracted literature remains citable, investigable, and usable with full transparency.
– The word RETRACTED in the reference list is mandatory.
– Justification must be explicit when retracted research is used as evidence.

🔱 ScienceGuardians™ defends the scientist’s right to evaluate science not merely obey labels.

The following ScienceGuardians™ decision-flow provides a clear, step-by-step application of the Ethical Guidelines for Independent Review and Citation of Retracted Studies.

Download PDF file

SG_IRCRS_26_01_01_Independent_Review_Citation_Retracted_Studies.pdf

 

ScienceGuardians™ DOI Retraction Checker

To support independent review, you can quickly verify whether a paper has been retracted using the ScienceGuardians™ DOI Retraction Checker.

🔗 https://scienceguardians.com/docs/main/doi-retraction-checker-tool/