The Committee on Publication Ethics recommends against partial retractions because they are not helpful

Written by ivanoransky September 22, 2011: Partial retractions are rare. We haven’t seen any since starting Retraction Watch in August 2010, although comments by a Duke official suggest a number are on the way in the Anil Potti case.

The closest we’ve come is a Nature Medicine paper that might have been partially retracted, based on the notice, except that the author told us that particular journal doesn’t do partial retractions.

 Partial retractions are rare at Science, too. Bradford tells Retraction Watch this is only the third since she joined the journal’s staff in 1989.

 The Committee on Publication Ethics recommends against partial retractions: Partial retractions are not helpful because they make it difficult for readers to determine the status of the article and which parts may be relied upon.