Retracting academic papers is a fundamental tool of quality control when the validity of papers or the integrity of authors is questioned post-publication. While retractions do not completely eliminate papers from the record, they have far-reaching consequences for retracted authors and their careers, serving as a visible and permanent signal of potential transgressions. Previous studies have highlighted the adverse effects of retractions on citation counts and co-authors' citations; however, the underlying mechanisms driving these effects and the broader impacts beyond these traditional metrics have not been fully explored. We address this gap leveraging Retraction Watch, the most extensive data set on retractions and link it to Microsoft Academic Graph, a comprehensive data set of scientific publications and their citation networks, and Altmetric that monitors online attention to scientific output. Our investigation focuses on: 1) the likelihood of authors exiting scientific publishing following retraction, and 2) the evolution of collaboration networks among authors who continue publishing after retraction. Our empirical analysis reveals that retracted authors, particularly those with less experience, tend to leave scientific publishing in the aftermath of retraction, particularly if their retractions attract widespread attention. Furthermore, we uncover a pattern whereby retracted authors who remain active in publishing tend to maintain and establish more collaborations compared to their similar non-retracted counterparts. Taken together, notwithstanding the indispensable role of retractions in upholding the integrity of the academic community, our findings shed light on the disproportionate impact that retractions impose on early-career researchers as opposed to those with more established careers.

翻译：撤稿是学术论文在发表后其有效性或作者诚信受到质疑时，进行质量控制的基本工具。尽管撤稿并未完全从记录中消除论文，但它对被撤稿作者及其职业生涯产生了深远影响，成为潜在违规行为的明显且永久性信号。先前研究已强调撤稿对引用次数和合著者引用的不利影响；然而，驱动这些效应的潜在机制以及超越这些传统指标的更广泛影响尚未得到充分探索。我们通过利用关于撤稿最全面的数据集“Retraction Watch”，并将其与涵盖科学出版物及其引文网络的综合数据集“Microsoft Academic Graph”以及监测科学产出网络关注度的“Altmetric”相关联，来弥补这一空白。我们的研究聚焦于：1）撤稿后作者退出科学出版的可能性，以及2）撤稿后继续发表论文的作者合作网络的演变。实证分析表明，被撤稿作者，尤其是经验较少的作者，倾向于在撤稿事件后退出科学出版，特别是当其撤稿引起广泛关注时。此外，我们发现一个模式：相较于未撤稿的类似作者，撤稿后仍活跃于出版界的作者倾向于维持并建立更多的合作关系。综上所述，尽管撤稿在维护学术界诚信方面发挥着不可或缺的作用，我们的研究结果揭示了撤稿对早期职业生涯研究人员相较于已建立稳定职业生涯的研究人员所产生的不成比例的影响。