Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while the world sought solutions, some scholars exploited the situation for personal gains through deceptive studies and manipulated data. This paper presents the extent of 400 retracted COVID-19 papers listed by the Retraction Watch database until February 2024. The primary purpose of the research was to analyze journal quality and retraction trends. For all stakeholders involved, such as editors, relevant researchers, and policymakers, evaluating the journal's quality is crucial information since it could help them effectively stop such incidents and their negative effects in the future. The present research results imply that one-fourth of publications were retracted within the first month of their publication, followed by an additional 6\% within six months of publication. One-third of the retractions originated from Q1 journals, with another significant portion coming from Q2 (29.8). A notable percentage of the retracted papers (23.2\%) lacked publishing impact, signifying their publication as conference papers or in journals not indexed by Scopus. An examination of the retraction reasons reveals that one-fourth of retractions were due to numerous causes, mostly in Q2 journals, and another quarter were due to data problems, with the majority happening in Q1 publications. Elsevier retracted 31 of the papers, with the majority published in Q1, followed by Springer (11.5), predominantly in Q2. Retracted papers were mainly associated with the USA, China, and India. In the USA, retractions were primarily from Q1 journals followed by no-impact publications; in China, it was Q1 followed by Q2, and in India, it was Q2 followed by no-impact publications. The study also examined author contributions, revealing that 69.3 were male contributors, with females (30.7) mainly holding middle author positions.

翻译：在COVID-19大流行期间，当世界寻求解决方案时，部分学者通过欺骗性研究和操纵数据谋取私利。本文呈现了截至2024年2月撤稿观察数据库收录的400篇COVID-19撤稿论文的详实情况。本研究主要目的是分析期刊质量与撤稿趋势。对于编辑、相关研究人员和政策制定者等利益相关方而言，评估期刊质量至关重要——这有助于有效遏制此类事件及其未来负面影响。研究结果表明：四分之一的出版物在发表后一个月内被撤稿，另有6%在发表后六个月内被撤稿。三分之一的撤稿源自Q1期刊，另有显著比例来自Q2期刊（29.8%）。值得注意的是，23.2%的撤稿论文缺乏出版影响力——这意味着它们仅作为会议论文发表，或发表于未被Scopus收录的期刊。对撤稿原因的分析显示：四分之一撤稿涉及多重原因（主要发生在Q2期刊），另四分之一源于数据问题（主要发生在Q1期刊）。爱思唯尔撤销了31篇论文，其中多数发表于Q1期刊；施普林格撤销11.5篇，主要源于Q2期刊。撤稿论文主要关联美国、中国和印度。美国撤稿主要来自Q1期刊，其次是无影响力出版物；中国撤稿以Q1为主、Q2次之；印度撤稿则以Q2为主、无影响力出版物次之。研究还分析了作者贡献：69.3%为男性贡献者，女性（30.7%）主要担任中间作者职位。