Analysis and prevention of ethical issues related to biomedical research in retracted journal articles / 中华医学科研管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the specific reasons for journal articles being retracted due to biomedical research-related ethical issues after publication and propose corresponding preventive measures.Methods:Journal articles that were retracted between January 1, 2021, and January 1, 2023, were retrieved from PubMed, a literature database in the biomedical field. The retraction statements of those articles that were retracted due to ethical-related issues were analyzed with a summarization of detailed reasons and types.Results:A total of 77 and 128 articles were retracted due to ethical issues in 2021 and 2022 respectively, accounting for 3.9% and 5.4% of all retracted articles in the same period. The major ethical issue was the lack of valid ethical approval. Among articles retracted for ethical issues related to human trials, the proportion of articles retracted due to lack of valid ethical approval increased from 45.9% in 2021 to 57.0% in 2022, which also increased from 50.0% in 2021 to 67.3% in 2022 among retracted articles related to animal experiments. Other ethical issues included problems in the informed consent process, delay in obtaining ethical approval, inconsistency between ethical approvals and the content of the article, and violation of the principles of laboratory animal welfare.Conclusions:The ethical review of medical research involving humans and laboratory animal welfare needs to be strengthened. By promoting the construction of an institutional ethical review system, encouraging researchers to study ethics-related knowledge, standardizing ethical applications and approvals, improving the informed consent process, and attaching importance to the welfare of laboratory animals, the retraction due to ethical issues can be prevented.