In general, Retraction happens as a result of Research Misconduct.
Office of Research Integrity (ORI) at the Department of Health and Human Services defines Research misconduct as "fabrication, falsification or plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research results....Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion" (42 C.F.R. Part 93) ( Office of Research Integrity. (2021). Frequently Asked Questions: what is research misconduct? https://ori.hhs.gov/frequently-asked-questions#5 )
Misconduct may include fraud or suspected fraud, duplicate publication, plagiarism, non-reproducibility or of results etc. Examples:
- Inappropriate manipulation of figures
- Use of unreliable previously reported findings
- Misrepresentation of scientific data
Error is another important cause of Retraction. Common errors causing Retraction include:
- Mismatched data
- Incomplete or partial references
- Grammar issues and mis-spelled words throughout the text