The Zombie Stack Exchanges That Just Won't Die
How do research libraries deal with retracted articles?
Are they actually considered to be unpublished, would they disappear from the catalog?
Is there a clear indication on the catalogs about its retracted status?
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The articles should remain accessible because they are often cited by other articles. They need to be clearly marked as retracted. According to the International Federation of Library Association and Institutions (IFLA):
In order to preserve the historical record:
Libraries may continue to store articles retracted or removed from the published database and provide appropriate access in accordance with best practice. At a minimum, publishers shall retain within the appropriate database the bibliographical citation of retracted or removed articles, the abstract, and the date of and reason for retraction or removal, with a link to the full text in the archive or (at least) to information about how to obtain the full article from the archive. Publishers should make available upon request copies of the retracted or removed material to libraries that wish to keep a record for archival purposes. In all cases the official archive of the publisher should retain all article versions, including retracted or removed articles.
Approved by the IFLA/IPA Steering Committee at its meeting in Montreal, April 26, 2006.
- Retracted articles: remain electronically accessible, but are clearly labeled as retracted or withdrawn and are linked to a retraction statement. Removed articles are removed from the publicly accessible database and are not electronically accessible, but the citation to the removed article does remain accessible.
There is an interesting related post here by researcher Phil Davis about The Secret Life of Retracted Articles.