[1] independent researchers must feel themselves as socially accepted by other potential/actual colleagues; [2] independent researchers must be engaged in highly motivated communities that have an internal core group around which turnover is well managed; [3] they work better in those circumstances where they are more likely to change jobs as it is mentally rejuvenating to expose one’s mind to as many different stimuli as possible; [4] their expectations about life must be supported positively and not depressed by adverse events; [5] profit-seeking attitudes must be diverted to achieve win-win outcomes as more as possible.
This is a good list to work form @Enrico_Gabriele! Personally, I feel that [2] is generally lacking at the moment - IGDORE provides an institutional affiliation for many independent researchers (which helps with [1]) and many are individually motivated, but I don’t think we provide much community support for affiliates (Ronin might do better). It’s something I would love to improve, but we haven’t had the resources yet. Regarding [4], I think this ties into getting an income as an independent researcher, which is hard. We have previously discussed the idea of a UBI for researchers on the forum: Universal basic income: What would it mean for researchers? and A new paradigm for the scientific enterprise: nurturing the ecosystem - #9 by alex.lancaster. While it is exciting, it’s hard to make happen.
Regarding citation practice, I’m not convinced that citations to retracted papers is a major problem, although applying a correction factor to journal metrics for publishing retracted papers might make journals more cautious about publishing flawed work.