This study aimed at establishing prevalence of retraction articles in various scientific fields and exploring reasons why researchers are interested in the phenomenon. To do this, a non-systematic literature review was carried out. Results show that 70% of retraction articles pertain to the natural and medical sciences and that the reasons leading researchers to take an interest in retractions are shared in all science fields. However, specificities of research fields are raised to explain the reduced number of retraction studies in the human and social sciences domain, and specifically in education.