Reality of Misconduct in Iranian Orthopedic Publications

Document Type : LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Authors

1 Clinical Research Development Unit of Imam Khomeini Hospital, Department of orthopedics, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran

2 Department of Orthopedics, Shariati Hospital. Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Fake and misconducted scientific articles are misleading the researchers; it can also impose a huge cost on the academic centers and health system. Finally invalidated published research may give rise to incorrect treatment guidelines that may harm the patients. Based on our search in retraction watch database, 10 retracted orthopedic articles were from Iran. All the reported retracted article from Iran in this website was 569 items and total orthopedic articles retracted in others country sum up to 54. If we measure the ratio, then published orthopedic articles from Iran included 18.5% of the total orthopedic articles in the world and 1.7% of the total retracted articles from Iran. It seems that use of the ethical code issued by the Ethics Committee of the universities can be helpful in publishing honest research. It is also important to use the academic e-mail address which shows the authors organizational affiliation. The policy of introduction reviewer must be changed by journals. Regarding to the historical background of orthopedics in Iran, It is our duty to protect our dignity.

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