We’re thrilled to announce a collaboration with Zotero, the free and open-source research platform, that will allow its users to be alerted to retractions of any papers in their personal libraries.
As Retraction Watch readers know, making that kind of functionality possible has been our goal since we announced plans to create a comprehensive database of retractions. Once that database officially launched last October, in conjunction with an analysis of its contents by reporters at Science, we began discussions in earnest with potential partners who could make that happen.
We’re pleased that the first such collaboration is with Zotero, “a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share research” that “is open source and developed by an independent, nonprofit organization that has no financial interest in your private information.” Here’s a posting from lead Zotero developer Dan Stillman:
In the latest beta, Zotero will automatically check your database for retracted papers and notify you if it finds any matches. We’re providing this service in partnership with Retraction Watch, and we’re proud to help sustain their important work.
Retracted papers are flagged in the items list, and if you click on one you’ll see a warning at the top of the item pane with details on the retraction and links to additional information. If you try to cite a retracted paper using the word processor plugin, Zotero will warn you and confirm that you still want to cite the paper.
The Retraction Watch database now contains entries for more than 19,000 retractions, far more than are available elsewhere. Each is categorized by author, journal, subject, and, perhaps most importantly, by reason for retraction using a taxonomy we have developed over nine years of writing about retractions. Our work has been supported by the generosity of The Laura and John Arnold Foundation, The Helmsley Trust, and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and well as by individual donors.
This and other collaborations will help us sustain our efforts. For more information, contact us.
Like Retraction Watch? You can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, add us to your RSS reader, sign up for an email every time there’s a new post (look for the “follow” button at the lower right part of your screen), or subscribe to our daily digest. If you find a retraction that’s not in our database, you can let us know here. For comments or feedback, email us at team@retractionwatch.com.
super service! Thanks!
Zotero is the best.
How did you do this technically? Does the Retractions Database now have an API, which also other services could use? Would be interested in doing this for the journal independent review system I am working on.
Like!
Please excuse me while I go to download Zotero and tell everyone else to do the same.
I wonder why no one had thought of that before!
That’s an incredible “killer” feature, which will really improve science!
Where can one find more information about the implementation and privacy aspects of this? Does this feature imply that Retraction Watch receives the full list of articles (or their DOIs, say) in my Zotero collection?
No. We receive no user data from Zotero. We provide a download of the Retraction Watch Database and Zotero integrates it into their systems.