The collaboration paradox: Why Saudi Arabia’s internationally co-authored research faces high retraction rates

The collaboration paradox: Why Saudi Arabia’s internationally co-authored research faces high retraction rates | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The collaboration paradox: Why Saudi Arabia’s internationally co-authored research faces high retraction rates Ridha Mhamdi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6765157/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Scientometrics → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study examines the retraction patterns in Saudi Arabian research from 2014 to 2023. A bibliometric analysis of 343,588 Scopus-indexed publications reveals a sharp rise in retractions starting in 2020, reaching a peak of 7.5 retractions per thousand publications (7.5‰) in 2022. This rate is 2 to 3 times greater than the contemporaneous rates observed in China (3.9‰) and India (2.3‰). Notably, 78% of retractions involved internationally co-authored works, with these collaborations exhibiting retraction rates up to 13 times higher than the baseline rates of the partner countries. Notably, 66% of retracted publications had a corresponding author with a foreign affiliation, and 64% had a foreign-affiliated first author. Pakistan, India, Egypt, and China were the most frequent co-authoring countries in retracted papers. Compromised peer review, paper mills, and computer-generated content were identified as the primary causes. Strikingly, in 2022, 100% of Saudi retractions due to compromised peer review and 95% of those linked to paper mills originated from Hindawi journals. The temporal alignment between Saudi Arabia's incentive-driven research policies and the surge in retractions suggests underlying systemic integrity issues. To address this, we propose a five-point reform agenda focusing on incentive structures, collaborative safeguards, institutional oversight, publisher accountability, and global coordination against paper mills. Publishing/Media Research integrity Retraction Paper mills Scientific collaboration Publication incentives Research misconduct Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Scientometrics → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6765157","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":462904849,"identity":"b855edde-2aff-493d-9ac5-09d26c5b40ff","order_by":0,"name":"Ridha Mhamdi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZgYzEJUAxAYHPjAcSCBNy8EZcC0JDBJ4NCG0MPMQo8W8nXnbgx8M2/L4px3eeNim5k4efwPvs8eVPxjqzHFokTnMVm7Yw3C7WOJ2WsHhnGPPiiUOsJsbngHaYtmAXYsEM4+ZBA/D7cSG2zkGh3MbDiduYGBjk2wAajE4gFuL5B+glvkgLZbEapEG2bIBpIWROC1sZdIyBrcTNwL9crAH5JfDIC1pEpIbcGnhP7xN8k3F7cR5t5M3f/gBCrH2NqAWGxt+XLZAgAEyhxliFj71o2AUjIJRMAoIAADh7llzNEo0BgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Centre of Biotechnology of Borj-Cédria","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ridha","middleName":"","lastName":"Mhamdi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-28 07:08:57","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6765157/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6765157/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-026-05549-6","type":"published","date":"2026-01-22T00:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102519621,"identity":"bae41bdf-db62-41fd-a484-5790f5f3bf02","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-12 14:25:23","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":609712,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptResearchSquare.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6765157/v1_covered_3479bb7e-0c71-40fb-b02e-e619f8213f6d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe collaboration paradox: Why Saudi Arabia’s internationally co-authored research faces high retraction rates\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Research integrity, Retraction, Paper mills, Scientific collaboration, Publication incentives, Research misconduct","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6765157/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6765157/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study examines the retraction patterns in Saudi Arabian research from 2014 to 2023. 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Strikingly, in 2022, 100% of Saudi retractions due to compromised peer review and 95% of those linked to paper mills originated from Hindawi journals. The temporal alignment between Saudi Arabia's incentive-driven research policies and the surge in retractions suggests underlying systemic integrity issues. 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