Bibliometric Mapping of Retracted Orthopaedics Publications (1986-2025): Evidence from the Retraction Watch Database

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of retracted publications in Orthopaedics using data from the Retraction Watch database. A total of 1,536 records published between 1986-2025 were retrieved, cleaned, with help of Microsoft Excel and examined to assess temporal trends, retraction delays, corrective actions, leading journals and publishers, document types, subject co-associations, quarterly patterns, and geographical distribution. Retractions increased substantially over time, with 58.98% occurring during 2021-2025 and a peak in 2023 (30.66%). Retraction delay analysis showed that 59.64% of publications were withdrawn within two years and 78.65% within five years, indicating more effective post-publication scrutiny. Full retractions accounted for 93.42% of corrective actions. Retractions were concentrated in a limited number of journals and publishers, particularly the Journal of Healthcare Engineering (6.12%), Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine (5.66%), Hindawi (28.39%), and Wiley (14.00%). Research articles constituted the largest document type (57.81%), while surgery, rehabilitation, and cellular biology were the leading subject associations. China (44.89%), Japan (9.99%), and the United States (8.74%) emerged as the major contributing countries. The findings suggest that the recent rise in retractions reflects strengthened research integrity practices and increasing transparency in scholarly publishing, highlighting the importance of maintaining the reliability of evidence underpinning orthopaedic research and clinical practice.