  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.
