Rethinking peer review

High-impact papers, rechecked.Here’s what Αlpha¹ Rigor Review found.

Reviewed papers

Showing all 14 reviewed journal papers.

113findings in 6 areas, across 14 of 14 papers

How the star rating worksShow

Every paper starts at 5★ and loses stars for the concrete problems the review finds — never a vague average, just a running total:

Reporting — 8 dimensionseach dimension that fails (−½★) or is partially met (−¼★)−½ / −¼
Statistics · Integrity · Claimseach serious problem (−1★) · each medium problem−½★
Citationseach retracted or unverifiable reference−½★
Copyeditonly when the manuscript needs a full edit−½★

The rating never drops below 1★, and a demonstrable critical failure (an impossible statistic, a proven ethics violation) caps it at 1★ on its own.

Papers are reviewed on their original full text — any retraction notice is removed before analysis — so the findings reflect the science, not the label.

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14 papers · 8 critical · 14 later retracted — caught in the original text

Paper					Full text	Report
RetractedSlug enhances invasion ability of pancreatic cancer cells through upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and actin cytoskeleton remodeling Zhang K, Chen D, Jiao X, Zhang S, Liu X, Cao J, Wu L, Wang D.	1 / 5	4critical·8high 7integrity	Lab Invest	Jan 31, 2011	PMC	Open
RetractedBurnout components, perceived stress and hair cortisol in healthcare professionals during the second wave of COVID 19 pandemic Fortuna F, Gonzalez D, Fritzler A, Ibar C, Nenda G, D'Isa E, Otero P, Jamardo J, Calvo M, Funez F, Minotti F, Filipuzzi L, Canellas N, Casciaro S, Jacobsen D, Azzara S, Iglesias S, Gutierrez G, Aranda C, Berg G, Fabre B.	1 / 5	1critical·0high 3integrity	Sci Rep	Nov 21, 2024	PMC	Open
RetractedAntioxidant Properties and Gastroprotective Effects of 2-(Ethylthio)Benzohydrazones on Ethanol-Induced Acute Gastric Mucosal Lesions in Rats Nazarbahjat N, Kadir FA, Ariffin A, Abdulla MA, Abdullah Z, Yehye WA.	1 / 5	0critical·8high 5integrity	PLoS One	Jun 7, 2016	PMC	Open
RetractedEvaluation of Natural Bioactive-Derived Punicalagin Niosomes in Skin-Aging Processes Accelerated by Oxidant and Ultraviolet Radiation Mohamad EA, Aly AA, Khalaf AA, Ahmed MI, Kamel RM, Abdelnaby SM, Abdelzaher YH, Sedrak MG, Mousa SA.	1 / 5	0critical·9high 5integrity	Drug Des Devel Ther	Jul 17, 2021	PMC	Open
RetractedImproving usability and pregnancy rates of a fertility monitor by an additional mobile application: results of a retrospective efficacy study of Daysy and DaysyView app Koch MC, Lermann J, van de Roemer N, Renner SK, Burghaus S, Hackl J, Dittrich R, Kehl S, Oppelt PG, Hildebrandt T, Hack CC, Pöhls UG, Renner SP, Thiel FC.	1 / 5	0critical·10high 7integrity	Reprod Health	Mar 2, 2018	PMC	Open
RetractedPrevention of acute myocardial infarction induced heart failure by intracoronary infusion of mesenchymal stem cells: phase 3 randomised clinical trial (PREVENT-TAHA8) Attar A, Mirhosseini SA, Mathur A, Dowlut S, Monabati A, Kasaei M, Abtahi F, Kiwan Y, Vosough M, Azarpira N.	1.25 / 5	0critical·8high 5integrity	BMJ	Oct 29, 2025	PMC	Open
RetractedSerum Fetuin-A Levels in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: A Meta-Analysis Sun ZL, Xie QY, Guo GL, Ma K, Huang YY.	1.5 / 5	0critical·8high 3integrity	Biomed Res Int	Oct 16, 2014	PMC	Open
RetractedSARS–CoV–2 Spike Impairs DNA Damage Repair and Inhibits V(D)J Recombination In Vitro Jiang H, Mei YF.	1.75 / 5	0critical·5high 2integrity	Viruses	Oct 13, 2021	PMC	Open
RetractedWhy are we vaccinating children against COVID-19? Kostoff RN, Calina D, Kanduc D, Briggs MB, Vlachoyiannopoulos P, Svistunov AA, Tsatsakis A.	2.25 / 5	0critical·5high 1integrity	Toxicol Rep	Sep 14, 2021	PMC	Open
RetractedCausal relationship between multiparameter brain MRI phenotypes and age: evidence from Mendelian randomization Wang X, Chen Q, Liu Y, Sun J, Li J, Zhao P, Cai L, Liu W, Yang Z, Wang Z, Lv H.	2.5 / 5	0critical·6high 2integrity	Brain Commun	Mar 1, 2024	PMC	Open
RetractedElectronic Cigarette Use and Myocardial Infarction Among Adults in the US Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Bhatta DN, Glantz SA.	3 / 5	0critical·9high	J Am Heart Assoc	Jun 5, 2019	PMC	Open
RetractedSign language recognition using the fusion of image and hand landmarks through multi-headed convolutional neural network Pathan RK, Biswas M, Yasmin S, Khandaker MU, Salman M, Youssef AAF.	3.25 / 5	0critical·5high 1integrity	Sci Rep	Oct 9, 2023	PMC	Open
RetractedEvaluate teaching quality of physical education using a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making framework Chen Z, Luo S.	3.25 / 5	0critical·6high 3integrity	PLoS One	Feb 16, 2023	PMC	Open
RetractedExposure to radiofrequency radiation increases the risk of breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis Shih YW, O'Brien AP, Hung CS, Chen KH, Hou WH, Tsai HT.	4.25 / 5	0critical·3high 1integrity	Exp Ther Med	Nov 9, 2020	PMC	Open

Curated collections

Already retracted

Papers that were later retracted, re-reviewed from their own text. The retraction notice is stripped before the engine sees a word, so what it reports is what the paper shows - not the fact of the retraction.

14papers·14 retracted

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