What research retractions reveal about our universities’ weaknesses

A recent Prothom Alo report on at least 325 retracted papers affiliated with researchers at Bangladeshi universities has attracted significant public attention, with indignation expressed at the state of Bangladesh’s scholarly enterprise. One commented, “Although this is shocking, the problem has been widespread for some time.” Another called it “shameful and corrosive,” while a third opined that the phenomenon reflected “a broader moral crisis that extends far beyond academia.” A high-ranking university official blamed the international journals for the retractions, stating that submitted papers are usually screened with Turnitin, a plagiarism-detection software, or similar tools, so the retractions make little sense.

Historically, retractions were rare events. Over the last two decades, however, retractions have increased substantially across disciplines and countries. A study highlighted an array of reasons for retractions, ranging from data and analytical errors to ethical breaches such as plagiarism and fraud. Another study questioned the peer review process and editorial oversight, suggesting that the prevalence of research misconduct may be on the rise globally. This suggests that Bangladesh is not an exceptional case in the latest retractions.

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The retracted papers associated with Bangladeshi institutions closely resemble those documented internationally and include plagiarism, peer-review manipulation, unreliable data, and suspected paper mill activity. Paper mills refer to fraudulent organisations that make money by producing fake manuscripts and selling authorship to academic customers. The matter should, therefore, be understood from a global perspective characterised by increasing publication pressures, evolving forms of publication misconduct, the role of artificial intelligence (AI), and forms of problematic research trends such as commercial production.

Retractions are often interpreted primarily as indicators of individual misconduct, but such an interpretation is often incomplete. The critical question is not whether Bangladesh’s retractions are egregious; they are, and cannot be excused; but even top-notch institutions of global repute experience instances of such breaches. My concern here is over the institutional conditions under which such problems emerge and the capacity and willingness of the institutions to respond effectively. Retractions can reveal situations in which publication expectations exceed available resources, incentive systems prioritise quantity over quality, governance mechanisms fail to detect problems early, and research capacity is unable to keep pace with institutional ambitions. These factors suggest that integrity failures frequently emerge within environments characterised by structural pressures and capacity limitations. I, therefore, want to emphasise that research integrity challenges in Bangladesh are closely linked to a variety of structural constraints within the national research ecosystem. Let us examine some of these constraints.

Teaching overload and time constraints: Faculty members in many Bangladeshi universities face substantial teaching and administrative responsibilities. Large student populations, extensive examination duties, committee service, and administrative obligations often limit the time available for research activities. In comparison, faculty members at research-intensive universities frequently benefit from lower teaching loads, research assistants, and institutional support structures that facilitate sustained scholarly engagement.

Limited research funding: High-quality research requires sustained investment in infrastructure, laboratories, equipment, databases, software, fieldwork, and collaborative activities. Yet historically, research funding in Bangladesh has been grossly inadequate. The country’s gross research and development expenditure as a share of GDP was 0.35 percent, 0.31 percent, and 0.30 percent in FY 2018-19, FY 2019-2020, and FY 2020-21, respectively. A significant portion of this budget then goes to salaries and non-developmental expenses. Academics who place themselves on the altar of knowledge extension often dig into their own pockets or are forced to become “creative” to meet institutional demands. This affects the quality, reproducibility, and competitiveness of research.

Talent shortages: Although Bangladesh has expanded access to higher education considerably, the number of highly trained researchers remains limited in many fields. As I recently argued in an article published by The Daily Star, talent represents one of the most serious constraints of our universities. This places significant demands on a relatively small group of active scholars who must simultaneously conduct research, supervise students, secure funding, publish papers, and perform numerous administrative functions.

Brain drain: Bangladesh’s most talented graduates pursue advanced education and research careers abroad, and many of them remain abroad because of the significantly greater opportunities and support they receive to explore knowledge horizons. While international mobility can generate important benefits, sustained outward migration weakens domestic research capacity, reduces mentorship opportunities, and limits institutional development.

Weak governance: Research integrity depends on effective institutional governance. Many Bangladeshi universities continue to face challenges related to the absence of policies on research misconduct, lack of ethics oversight, misconduct in investigation procedures, lack of data management policies, absence of ethics training, and poor research integrity in institutions.

In the absence of effective governance systems, problematic practices may persist unchecked until they are exposed through external investigations or publisher-led retractions. For years, I have advocated requiring all faculty research to be posted online. This would allow scholars to scrutinise one another’s work, making knowledge generation measurable, replicable, falsifiable, and publicly verifiable, while also creating social pressure for greater rigour and care.

This situation also places a spotlight on the University Grants Commission (UGC), whose regulatory mandate extends beyond compliance to the cultivation of a healthy research ecosystem. Regrettably, over the years, the UGC has neither demonstrated the capacity nor the resolve to nurture research at the level required for sustained academic advancement. Sustainable improvements in research integrity demand institutional reform rather than sole reliance on punitive approaches. Several policy priorities emerge from this analysis that are not elaborated on due to space constraints. For instance, establishing dedicated research-integrity offices within universities, increasing national investment in research infrastructure and funding, strengthening ethics education and responsible-conduct-of-research training, improving mechanisms for investigating allegations of misconduct, and developing national frameworks for monitoring research integrity and publication practices.

Bangladesh’s recent experience is a wake-up call for institutional action. Importantly, the retractions ought to be seen as symptoms of deeper structural tensions between growing research ambitions and limited institutional capacity. Ultimately, the future of Bangladesh’s research and the pursuit of science will depend on meaningful investment in people, institutions, governance, and integrity. Retractions may signal where science may have gone astray, but they also point to something deeper: the need for a far stronger infrastructure of support, both human and material, to ensure that science can thrive with rigour, credibility, and trust.

Dr Syed Saad Andaleeb is distinguished professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University in the US and former vice-chancellor at Brac University.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own. 

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