The Journal of Psycholinguistic Research has retracted 16 papers, published between 2021 and 2024, after a whistleblower flagged it for "irregularities" in peer review, among other concerns. The retraction notices, dated April 10, 2025, read in part: "An investigation by the Publisher has found a number of articles, including this one, which share similar concerns, involving but not limited to, irregularities with respect to authorship, ethics approval and peer review. The Editor-in-Chief therefore no longer has confidence in the results and conclusions presented in this article."
Many of the authors of the retracted papers are affiliated with institutions in Iran, China and Kazakhstan. At least two of the authors object to the retractions. The whistleblower, Anna Abalkina, a research fellow at Freie Universität Berlin in Germany and creator of the Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker, told that she uncovered problems when she examined fake peer reviewer profiles in Clarivate’s Web of Science. These profiles were created by a paper mill.
