Retractions in the Middle East from 1999 to 2018: a bibliometric analysis

This study investigated the retractions of academic research in the Middle East in the past two decades from a bibliometric perspective. A total of 563 retractions in the Middle East were identified in the examined span of time. Results showed that both the numbers of publications and retractions in the Middle East increased significantly in the past two decades. It was also found that 79.21% of the retractions were due to misconducts, of which plagiarism accounted for the largest proportion. In addition, the number of retractions by authors from a certain country accounted for almost half of all retractions. Last, most retractions were in medicine-related disciplines. Based on the results, we proposed suggestions to address the issue. Particularly, we suggest the use of technology in article submission systems as well as enhanced education on academic integrity to help address the issue of academic misconduct.