The analysis, published in BMJ Open, found more than 400 studies of organ transplants in China that didn’t report whether the sources gave their consent for donation, nor assurances the organs involved did not come from executed prisoners. As reported by The Guardian in 2019, the study exposed "a mass failure of English language medical journals to comply with international ethical standards in place to ensure organ donors provide consent for transplantation". Thirteen retractions this year directly cite the Rogers paper.

Although more than 40 papers were retracted or otherwise flagged shortly after the 2019 study was published, by count of Retraction Watch, only 44 of the 445 papers have been retracted to date. At least 17 of the articles marked with expressions of concern in 2019-2020 remain as such.

The latest retractions came October 10, 2025, when an Elsevier journal retracted eight studies of liver transplants. The journal, Clinics and Research in Hepatology and Gastroenterology (), was one of 173 journals named in the 2019 study. A representative from Elsevier confirmed the retractions in CRHG were the result of the organization contacting the journal in August 2023, which was when Elsevier first learned of the issue. The rest of the 2025 retractions appear in four journals published by Karger, all of which note none of the authors responded to the journals’ requests for additional information.

Source https://retractionwatch.com/2025/10/24/despite-new-retractions-suspect-organ-transplant-papers-remain-in-the-literature/

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