The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), one of the world's top professional societies for scientists and engineers, has retracted 1,417 conference papers in one go, a move research-integrity specialists told Nature was the largest single bulk retraction issued by any scholarly publisher. The IEEE said irregularities were identified via an external study of papers traced to social-media advertisements by paper mills, businesses that sell authorship slots.
The move was announced in a 28 October statement by IEEE in New York City, and Nature has verified that at least 1,417 retractions were issued on 23 October. All of the affected papers had been identified by a study, published this month in the journal Accountability in Research, which listed 2,062 papers published in 366 IEEE conference proceedings between 2021 and 2026 that could be traced to social-media advertisements by paper mills, businesses that sell authorship slots for papers that often describe low-quality or fake research.
According to the IEEE statement, "after the irregularities were identified via an external study" the publisher conducted a comprehensive review and found the papers violated "IEEE's publication principles". The retraction notices state that the articles "may have been offered for sale".
“It is unbelievable. They're so fast,” says Anna Abalkina, a research-integrity sleuth and social scientist at the Free University of Berlin and a co-author of the study. Nature's analysis, which cross-checked Abalkina's dataset against the Problematic Paper Screener database, found that 1,622 of the 2,062 flagged articles have now been retracted, and suggested that IEEE has retracted nearly 3,000 papers so far in 2026.
The study recorded 4,407 advertisements selling authorships on conference papers, found on more than 200 social-media channels such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Facebook. The researchers flagged 2,062 IEEE papers whose titles were an exact or near-match to the advertised papers. Prices ranged from US$43 to $400 for a first-author slot and $11 to $200 for a last-author slot, and of 109 IEEE-sponsored conferences that published five or more matching papers, 95 took place in India.
"Paper mills are a public market and the offers for sale are public on social media. Anyone can find them. Anyone can buy. Anyone can trace [them]," says Abalkina.
This is not the first bulk retraction for IEEE, which retracted more than 1,200 papers and abstracts from a single 2011 conference in 2015, and more than 1,700 articles from conference proceedings last year. Hindawi, a now-defunct London-based subsidiary of Wiley, retracted more than 9,500 articles by the end of 2023, including 567 in one go, a Wiley spokesperson told Nature.
IEEE is a frequent target for paper mills because of the nature and volume of its conference activity, says Marie Kunešová, a computer scientist at the University of West Bohemia in the Czech Republic and a study co-author. The organisation has more than 533,000 members in some 190 countries, publishes around 250 journals and sponsors more than 2,000 conferences annually. Conference submissions are not subject to the same integrity checks as IEEE journal submissions, Abalkina says, and are "fast to publish" and often indexed in scholarly databases. Kunešová thinks IEEE "should implement more oversight over the different sections" it publishes, particularly conferences.
Nature contacted IEEE for a response but received no reply to its questions by publication time; a representative referred the news team to the public statement, which notes that the affected articles "represent less than 0.06% of conference publications for the six-year period".
Analysis
Why This Matters
- It is the largest single bulk retraction ever issued by a scholarly publisher, a sign of how widespread the paper-mill trade has become in engineering and computer-science conferences.
- The affected papers may describe low-quality or fake research, yet were published, indexed in scholarly databases and cited, potentially distorting the literature.
- Around 440 of the 2,062 flagged papers remain unpublished retractions, so further retractions are likely.
Background
Paper mills are businesses that sell authorship slots on academic papers, which are often based on fabricated or low-quality research. Conference proceedings, which publish in high volume with lighter integrity checks than journals, have become a prime target because they publish quickly and are indexed in scholarly databases. IEEE is one of the world's largest professional engineering organisations, running more than 2,000 conferences a year.
Key Perspectives
Anna Abalkina, study co-author: says paper mills are a public market that anyone can find, buy and trace on social media, and that conference submissions do not undergo the integrity checks that journal submissions face.
Marie Kunešová, study co-author: argues IEEE should implement more oversight over the sections it publishes, particularly conferences.
IEEE: says that after irregularities were identified via an external study it reviewed the papers and found they violated its publication principles, and that the affected articles represent less than 0.06% of conference publications over the six-year period.
What to Watch
- Whether IEEE retracts the remaining roughly 440 flagged papers that have not yet been pulled.
- Whether IEEE strengthens integrity checks on conference submissions and peer review, as the study's authors recommend.
- Whether other publishers begin bulk retractions on the scale seen from IEEE and Hindawi.
Checked
10 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 0 supported.
Show each claim
- Not in the sourcesThe IEEE statement said that the irregularities were identified via an external study.
- Not in the sourcesThe retraction notices said the articles “may have been offered for sale”.
- Not in the sourcesAnna Abalkina said, “It is unbelievable. They're so fast,” to Nature.
- Partly supportedSpecialists told Nature that the IEEE retraction was the largest single bulk retraction by any scholarly publisher.Nature: “Record-breaking retraction: scholarly publisher pulls 1,400 conference papers on one day.”
- Partly supportedIEEE retracted 1,417 conference papers in one go.Nature: “Record-breaking retraction: scholarly publisher pulls 1,400 conference papers on one day.”
- Not in the sourcesThe study matched conference papers to paper-mill advertisements offering authorship slots.
- Not in the sourcesIEEE announced the move in a 28 October statement in New York City.
- Partly supportedNature verified that at least 1,417 retractions were issued on 23 October.Nature: “Record-breaking retraction: scholarly publisher pulls 1,400 conference papers on one day.”
- Not in the sourcesAll affected papers had been identified by a study of papers traced to social-media advertisements.
- Not in the sourcesNature's analysis found that 1,622 of 2,062 flagged articles had been retracted and suggested IEEE had retracted nearly 3,000 papers in 2026.
