Retraction activities of EdTech journals
Due to my current side-project of getting a plagiarised, AI-generated book retracted, I was curious to see how selected top-ranked journals in Educational Technology have been actively retracting articles. I have been using the GoogleScholar ranking and have focused on journals I would include in this list. Here is a table of my findings.
| Journal | Number of retractions | Reasons |
|---|---|---|
| Computers and Education | 4 | Double publication, plagiarism |
| Education and Information Technologies | 13 | Plagiarism, Lack of ethics approval documents, authorship sale |
| British Journal of Educational Technology | 3 | Plagiarism |
| International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education | 0 | - |
| Educational Technology Research and Development | 0 | - |
| Interactive Learning Environments | 0 | - |
| Journal of Computer Assisted Learning | 1 | Plagiarism |
| Journal of Educational Computing Research | 0 | - |
| The Internet and Higher Education | 1 | (Self-)plagiarism/double publication |
| Australasian Journal of Educational Technology | 0 | - |
| International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning | 0 | - |
| Educational Technology & Society | 1 | Data manipulation |
| Learning, Media and Technology | 0 | - |
| TechTrends | 0 | - |
| Distance Education | 0 | - |
| Language Learning and Technology | 0 | - |
What do these numbers tell us? Assuming a well-design process of peer-reviews, quality-assurance and editorial decision-making (which usually needs to be the basis for being incluced in this list) the amount of retractions is quite low if we take in to account the many years of existence and number of papers published in these journals. Of course, there is probably a percentage of papers which have not been idenfified and potentially, these number will be growing due the availability of AI-based writing support.
A surprising finding is the amount of retracted papers of the journal Education and Information Technologies, but there the lack of ethical approval documents seems to lead automatically to retraction. Furthermore, I was surprised to see that besides plagiarism, some papers have been for sale on marketplaces for academic papers.
I am a researcher in educational technology whose work explores how digital technologies reshape learning, teaching, and educational institutions. My research combines educational technology, learning sciences, feedback research, and critical perspectives on digital transformation.Current areas of interest include peer feedback and feedback literacy, open and networked learning, AI and misinformation in education, digital learning ecologies, and the societal implications of data-driven and platform-based education. Methodologically, my work spans empirical learning research, psychometric scale development, design-oriented research, and conceptual analyses of digital transformation in education.
I am working as a full professor of educational technology and Chief Information/Chief Digital Officer (CIO/CDO) at the Heidelberg University of Education. I serve as associate editor of the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education and editorial board member of the Journal of Computing in Higher Education. I am a senior-fellow of the Interuniversity Center for Educational Sciences (ICO) and the Dutch research school on information and knowledge systems (SIKS). I work as director of the study program E-Learning and Media Education and director of the Heidelberg Centre for Digital Transformation in Education. Over the years I could secure approx. 4 Mio EUR of research funding for my institutions from competitive projects with a total budget of 36 Mio EUR. I have been an invited keynote speaker on more than 60 conferences and events. Besides European projects I am regularly involved in educational innovation and consulting projects with partners inside and outside of my institutions including clients like the International Labour Organisation, United Nations Environment Program, the European Commission, UNESCO, OECD or other international and national organizations.