Sage has retracted batches of articles published in two journals it acquired from IOS Press in 2023. The first tranche of papers was retracted July 15, 2026 from Journal of Intelligent and Fuzzy Systems (JIFS) and constituted 43 papers, some of which had been presented at a conference in Türkiye. According to the retraction notice, after an internal investigation, Sage "became aware that the submissions contain indicators of third-party involvement and attempts to manipulate the peer-review process" in the special issue.

The second batch of retractions applied to 34 papers in the International Journal of Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Engineering Systems from 2017 to 2025. The August 5, 2026 notice cites suspicion of third party involvement, peer review issues, citation manipulation and non-standard language, including tortured phrases, as reasons for retracting the articles. Tortured phrases can indicate plagiarism.

Since acquiring IOS Press in November 2023, Sage set the record for most retractions for a single journal when it retracted over 1,500 papers from JIFS.
 

Source https://retractionwatch.com/2026/08/17/sage-issues-dozens-of-retractions-from-two-journals-it-acquired/

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