Corrections and Retractions

Journal’s policies on corrections and retractions are based on the Public Knowledge Project (PKP)’s documentation and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)’s retraction guidelines.

While errors in the publication record should be avoided if possible, prior to publishing, the journal will be proactive to address potential corrections or retractions. Necessity for corrections and retractions can arise from a number of sources, including:

  • Error within the publication process
  • Author request
  • Report by reader or external party

Corrections and retractions in the journal can be categorized into three major categories:

  • Minor Corrections: small errors that do not substantially change the content of the published work. For example: typos, metadata errors.
  • Substantive Corrections: meaningful errors that impact the content. For example: addition or removal of meaningful sentences / paragraphs, changes to figures or data.
  • Retractions: take-down of entire works (partial retractions should be avoided, and treated as a substantive correction).

Editor in Chief will should consider retracting a publication if:

  • There is a clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of major error (eg, miscalculation or experimental error), or as a result of fabrication (eg, of data) or falsification (eg, image manipulation)
  • It constitutes plagiarism
  • The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper attribution to previous sources or disclosure to the editor, permission to republish, or justification (ie, cases of redundant publication)
  • It contains material or data without authorisation for use
  • Copyright has been infringed or there is some other serious legal issue (eg, libel, privacy)
  • It reports unethical research
  • It has been published solely on the basis of a compromised or manipulated peer review process
  • The author(s) failed to disclose a major competing interest (a.k.a. conflict of interest) that, in the view of the editor, would have unduly affected interpretations of the work or recommendations by editors and peer reviewers.

Notices of retraction will be made in the presence of a retraction:

  • Be linked to the retracted article wherever possible (ie, in all online versions)
  • Clearly identify the retracted article (eg, by including the title and authors in the retraction heading or citing the retracted article)
  • Be clearly identified as a retraction (ie, distinct from other types of correction or comment)
  • Be published promptly to minimise harmful effects
  • Be freely available to all readers (ie, not behind access barriers or available only to subscribers)
  • State who is retracting the article
  • State the reason(s) for retraction
  • Be objective, factual and avoid inflammatory language

Retractions are not usually appropriate if:

  • The authorship is disputed but there is no reason to doubt the validity of the findings
  • The main findings of the work are still reliable and correction could sufficiently address errors or concerns
  • The Editor in Chief has inconclusive evidence to support retraction, or is awaiting additional information such as from an institutional investigation
  • Author conflicts of interest have been reported to the journal after publication, but in the editor’s view these are not likely to have influenced interpretations or recommendations or the conclusions of the article.