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The following is a summary of “Retracted vs non-retracted obstetrical randomized trials: Which quality criteria are most associated with retraction for untrustworthiness?,” published in the March 2025 issue of European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology by Lawson et al. 

The integrity of randomized control trials (RCTs) is crucial for reliable evidence, yet retractions due to misconduct have increased in recent years.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate quality criteria developed to enhance the trustworthiness of RCTs.  

They developed a quality criteria checklist with expert input and analyzed retracted and non-retracted studies to assess its effectiveness. Retracted obstetric studies from the Retraction Watch Database (1994–2024) were identified, while a control group included non-retracted RCTs (2018–2020) from a pre-existing database.  

The results showed that 173 studies were analyzed, including 136 non-retracted and 37 retracted studies. Among 17 quality criteria, 13 (76.5%) demonstrated statistically significant differences between retracted and non-retracted articles. A threshold of ≤11 total quality criteria achieved 94.9% sensitivity (95% CI, 89.7–97.9) and 78.4% specificity (95% CI, 61.8–90.2) in differentiating non-retracted from retracted studies.  

Investigators concluded that retracted studies showed lower adherence to quality criteria, emphasizing the need for journals to prioritize ethical research, data integrity, and bias assessment during RCT manuscript evaluation. 

Source: ejog.org/article/S0301-2115(25)00185-X/fulltext