Scientific Retractions Explained is an online course that focuses on scientific retractions as a key form of unreliable scientific information. Aimed at the scholarly community—particularly PhD students and other early-career researchers—the course explains what retractions are, why they occur, how retracted research continues to circulate, and what impact it can have on scientific practice and society. It provides participants with the knowledge and tools needed to recognise, interpret, and critically engage with retracted research.
This course is coordinated by the University of Turku and is part of the research project Societal Impact of Unreliable Scientific Information, which investigates how unreliable scientific information—particularly retracted research—spreads, persists, and influences public perceptions, decision-making, and trust in science.
The course also builds on materials developed within the project Unreliable Science: Unravelling the Impact of Mainstream Media Misrepresentation, funded by the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF). The materials have been prepared in close cooperation with the UnSci project consortium partners and draw on the expertise and contributions of researchers from the University of Turku (Finland), the University of Sheffield (UK), and the team of science communication experts at Oikoplus (Austria).
- Teacher
Guna Spurava