Retraction Experience,Lessons Learned,and Recommendations for Clinician Researchers

Abstract

To further the science and practice of any discipline, avoidance of errors in collecting, analyzing, and reporting study data is paramount in supporting the evidence-base of our profession and poses a serious challenge to researchers and journal editors alike. And although retraction rates have risen in the research literature, there has been limited treatment of the process and procedures detailing how to prevent and ethically handle research errors. In response to their experience in the retraction of the “Inpatient Pediatric Psychology Consultation–Liaison Practice Survey” manuscript (Kullgren et al., 2015b), the authors make specific recommendations for the prevention, discovery, disclosure, and correction of errors in research and publication that are particularly applicable to busy clinician researchers. The authors focus on increasing awareness of risks for mistakes, ways to improve the research process, being mindful of research competencies, and creating a culture of integrity and honesty with colleagues and trainees, and provide suggestions for journal reviewers and editors.