Abstract
Retractions play an important role in maintaining the integrity of vascular and interventional radiology (VIR) literature, yet their causes and trends remain uncharacterized. A search of PubMed, Embase, and the Retraction Watch Database in April 2026 identified 142 retracted VIR articles published since 2000. The leading reasons for retraction were peer-review manipulation (21.1%), intrinsic study errors (14.8%), and submission duplication (11.3%), although 40% of notices did not specify a reason. Most articles originated from China (69%) and addressed interventional oncology (35.2%). Retractions rose sharply in recent years, with 64.7% occurring between 2023 and 2026. The median time from publication to retraction was 14.8 months, and most articles were retracted within two years. Journal impact factor ranged widely (0.60-78.50) and was not associated with time to retraction. These findings highlight peer-review manipulation as a prominent mechanism of misconduct and reaffirm the importance of rigorous peer review and editorial screening.