Retractions in academic publishing

Academic publishing is when scientists share the results of their research with other scientists and people around the world. Sometimes, after a scientist's research has been published, they find new information that shows the results they shared aren't quite right. When this happens, they have to 'take back' the research they wrote about by sending a 'retraction' to the journal where it was published. A retraction is a formal statement that tells other scientists that the research isn't accurate and shouldn't be used as evidence. It's like saying "My bad, we're sorry for the mistake!"