February 2026 witnessed a significant number of scholarly retractions.
According to data from CrossRef and retraction databases, 41 research articles were officially withdrawn in February 2026. These retractions span diverse fields, including biochemistry, environmental sciences, medicine, nanotechnology, computer science, and social sciences.
Papers are retracted from Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, MDPI, and other publishers. Authors are from countries including India, Germany, the United States, Italy, Saudi Arabia, China, Pakistan, Vietnam, and several European nations.
31 Scholarly Papers were Retracted in January, and 4,544 Research Papers were retracted in 2025 across multiple countries.
| Update | February Update |
| Total Papers Retracted | 41 |
Common Reasons for Retraction
The primary retraction causes include:
- Data Concerns
- Authorship or Affiliation Issues
- Peer Review Irregularities
- Ethical Oversights
- Plagiarism & Misconduct
Must read: Top Retraction Reasons in Scholarly Publishing: Editors, Authors, and Readers Should Know
List of papers retracted in February 2026
- Targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome to reduce diet-induced metabolic abnormalities in mice – Molecular Medicine
- Assessing database accuracy for article retractions: A preliminary study comparing Retraction Watch Database, PubMed, and Web of Science – Accountability in Research
- Effects of high-fat diet on insulin receptor function in rat hippocampus and the level of neuronal corticosterone – Life Sciences
- Opposing roles for calcineurin and ATF3 in squamous skin cancer – Nature
- Angiogenesis Impairment in Diabetes: Role of Methylglyoxal-Induced RAGE, Autophagy and VEGFR2 – PLoS One
- Assessing the potential of exogenous caffeic acid application in boosting wheat productivity under salt stress – PLoS One
- Neuroprotective effect of sodium alginate against chromium-induced brain damage in rats – PLoS One –
- Identification of Nitric Oxide as an Endogenous Inhibitor of 26S Proteasomes in Vascular Endothelial Cells – PLoS One
- Culture and Identification of a “Deltamicron” SARS-CoV-2 in a Three Cases Cluster in Southern France – Journal of Medical Virology
- A deep facial recognition system using computational intelligent algorithms – PLoS One
- Digital financial inclusion, population structure, and consumption upgrades: Evidence from China – PLoS One
- Molecular mechanism of inhibitory effects of melatonin on prostate cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion – PLoS One
- Targeting NLRP3 and AIM2 signaling pathways by Viscosol alleviates metabolic dysregulations… – PLoS One
- A 12,800-year-old layer with cometary dust, microspherules, and platinum anomaly recorded in multiple cores from Baffin Bay – PLoS One
- A new non-invasive approach based on polyhexamethylene biguanide increases the regression rate of HPV infection – BMC Clinical Pathology
- Physico-chemical and biological remediation techniques for the elimination of endocrine-disrupting hazardous chemicals – Environmental Research
- Shocked quartz at the Younger Dryas onset (12.8 ka)… – PLoS One
- Designing ecological networks to foster regional economic sustainability… – Ecological Modelling
- Elucidating the promising role of traditional Chinese medicine in neuroprotection… – Environmental Science and Pollution Research
- Influencer-Driven Gambling Content and its Impact on Children and Young People – Current Addiction Reports
- N-Beats architecture for explainable forecasting of multi-dimensional poultry data – PLoS One – Retraction
- RPL22L1 Promotes Ovarian Cancer Metastasis… – PLoS One
- Boosting happiness in left-behind children… – PLoS One
- Enhanced E-commerce decision-making through sentiment analysis using ML and IoT – PLoS One
- Skin cancer segmentation and classification by hybrid FrCN-(U-NeT) technique – PLoS One
- Unpacking the optimistic mindset of business students towards entrepreneurship – PLoS One
- Interpretable machine learning framework for predicting urban air quality – PLoS One
- Association of NT-proBNP and cardiac troponin T with in-hospital cardiac events… – European Journal of Anaesthesiology
- Bispectral index and electroencephalographic entropy in patients undergoing CABG – European Journal of Anaesthesiology
- Cryptocurrencies as a financial asset: A systematic analysis – International Review of Financial Analysis
- Effects of the position of fibroids on fertility – Gynecological Endocrinology
- Extreme spillovers across Asian-Pacific currencies: A quantile-based analysis – International Review of Financial Analysis
- Financing Irish high-tech SMEs: The analysis of capital structure – International Review of Financial Analysis
- Fluid management of patients undergoing abdominal surgery – more questions than answers – European Journal of Anaesthesiology
- Hepatocellular integrity after parenteral nutrition… – European Journal of Anaesthesiology
- Identifying the multiscale financial contagion in precious metal markets – International Review of Financial Analysis
- Is Bitcoin a better safe-haven investment than gold and commodities? – International Review of Financial Analysis
- Levosimendan in patients with acute myocardial ischaemia undergoing emergency surgical revascularization – European Journal of Anaesthesiology
- Low-dose fentanyl analgesia modified by calcium channel blockers in cardiac surgery – European Journal of Anaesthesiology
- Renal impact of fluid management with colloids – European Journal of Anaesthesiology
- Safety of nonblood plasma substitutes: less frequently discussed issues – European Journal of Anaesthesiology