# Automatic flagging of retracted or corrected evidence in guidelines and decision support

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-data-retraction-propagation/  
OnCo record `idea-data-retraction-propagation` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

When a study is retracted or corrected, every guideline and software tool that relied on it would be alerted automatically, so wrong evidence stops influencing care.

## Summary

Retracted papers continue to be cited for years; guidelines and decision tools rarely re-check their evidence base. With structured citations in computable guidelines and an evidence graph, retraction and correction notices (Retraction Watch database, Crossref) can be matched to every recommendation that depends on the affected study, triggering review. The proposal builds and funds that matching service.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Automatic propagation will reduce the time from retraction to guideline review from years to weeks and will identify recommendations resting on retracted evidence that are currently unnoticed.
- Rationale: Retraction Watch and Crossref make notices machine-readable; the gap is that guidelines do not maintain machine-readable citation lists, which computable guidelines would fix.
- Proposed test: Match the Retraction Watch database against citations in three major oncology guidelines; count affected recommendations; run the service prospectively for one year.
- Maturity: speculative
- Actor: engineering

## Sources

- Retraction Watch Database: https://retractionwatch.com/retraction-watch-database-user-guide/

## Connected records

- ideas: [Living guidelines published as versioned, computable rules](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-data-computable-living-guidelines/)
- fronts: [AI & Computation](https://onco.cc/fronts/ai-computation/)
- bottlenecks: [Knowledge reaches practice too slowly](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-knowledge-diffusion/), [Preclinical results do not reproduce](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-reproducibility/)

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