EASE Standard Retraction Form

Retractions are often used as a proxy for publication quality and have been studied with cohorts of various sizes over different time periods. Time after time the results have shown that there is often no clearly stated reason for retraction and any reasons that are given often lack detail.

This retraction template checklist was designed to support editors when preparing a retraction notice, and help researchers analyse retractions.

This template helps editors and journal managers understand whether an article meets the pre-requisites for the COPE retraction guidelines.

The form consists of tick boxes and space for supporting clarification, to indicate who is retracting the article, the reason for the retraction and history of errata/ expressions of concern. A free text box allows the editor to add any information they consider useful, and a final Retraction Notice box is provided to summarise the details in the form into text to be published to announce the retraction.

Download as Word document

Download as a PDF

This form is also available in Ukrainian.

History of the form

In 2014 Hervé Maisonneuve (Université de Lyon, France and EASE member) and Evelyne Decullier put forward a proposal for a standard retraction form.

The document was discussed on the COPE forum, and notes summarised into this document (September, 2014), and presented at the World Congress on Research Integrity on 3 June, 2015.

The Form was mentioned in a RetractionWatch interview with Herve and Evelyne, in August 2018, discussing whether retraction notices have improved over time.

Hervé and Evelyne will continue to develop the form and would welcome any comments from members.