Post-publication discussions and corrections policies
Post-publication discussions
We greatly appreciate any feedback on the published content, including layout, format, text, figures, and tables, as well as the subject and content of manuscript sections, especially the results and discussion, conclusions, and any other relevant sections. Your input is valuable to us, and we encourage you to share your thoughts with authors, co-authors, reviewers, and our esteemed readers. If necessary, the section editor of the published article will address your feedback with the related author and peer reviewers after reviewing it. The editor-in-chief will discuss the final findings of these investigations and determine the appropriate course of action, which could take the form of a private response to you, a journal note or brief statement about the piece, editing portions of the article with or without notifying the public, or, in extremely rare cases, removing the article from our Journal. The reviewing authors and the corresponding author will receive an email outlining all factors and standards for the ultimate judgment. The matter will be published in our Journal for public notice, if necessary.
Post-publication corrections
Changes that have an impact on the interpretation or conclusion of an article but do not completely invalidate it will be corrected through the publication of a Correction that is indexed and connected to the original article. A Retraction will be issued if there is a major error in the methods or analysis that affects the conclusions, or if research or publication misconduct has occurred, such as the use of unapproved ethical research, fabricated data, manipulated images, plagiarism, or duplicate publication.
An erratum refers to correcting errors in a published paper by the publisher, while a corrigendum is the correction of errors in a published paper by the authors. Authors are advised to contact the journal's editor, who will determine the feasibility and importance of the changes and decide on the appropriate course of action. An addendum is a notification that includes additional information added to an article. Addenda are not meant to contradict the original publication or correct errors (which would require a separate correction notice) but rather serve as a means for authors to update or include important information. In some cases, the editor-in-chief may retract the published paper due to the high volume of corrections after publication. we encourages authors to make the necessary corrections before final acceptance, and some revisions can be conducted at the proof stage. After publishing, no further corrections can be made except for the necessary cases in accordance with the COPE guidelines.
Please note that correction requests may be subject to full review, and if queries are raised, you may be required to provide additional information before the correction is approved.
The COPE guidance can be found here.
Corrections to Published Work
Authors are expected to inform the journal's Production Editor of any factual errors in their published articles. The journal reserves the right to publish a correction at its discretion. The correction procedure depends on the article's publication stage. In all cases, a correction notice is published promptly. If the article was published online first, the online version is considered the final version, and any corrections will be noted in a correction notice at the end of the article. The correction notice will be retained in the print version for record.
Online First publication
When a correction is necessary, the procedure is determined by the specific publication stage of the article. For Online First publication, the Online First (or 'published ahead of print') version is deemed the version of the record, and there is not an opportunity to make adjustments prior to print publication. In such cases, the journal will consider replacing this version with an updated version that corrects the errors and notes the changes made and the date(s) on which they were made (in a correction notice at the end of the article). Previous electronic versions will prominently indicate that there are more recent versions of the article. The correction notice will be retained in the print version for record-keeping purposes.
Retractions
- The decision to retract an article will be made according to both Journal policies and COPE guidelines, following a thorough investigation by our journal editorial staff and the journal's editorial team. Authors and institutions may request a retraction if they believe their reasons meet the criteria for retraction.
- Editors should consider retracting a publication if any of the ethical codes (in accordance with the COPE guideline) are not followed in the published article.
- we will consider retracting an article if it meets COPE's Retraction Guidelines, including:
- The results are obviously inaccurate because of glaring mistakes (such as data fabrication, image manipulation, and experimental or mathematical errors);
- Plagiarism;
- Prior release of the results without obtaining consent for replication, citing earlier references, or providing an explanation (e.g., redundant publication);
- Reporting unethical research;
- The author(s) did not disclose their conflict of interest;
- Self-citation (more than 15%).
The COPE guidance can be found here.
Publication in an issue
- If the article has already appeared in an issue, a correction notice will be printed in the next available print issue. The online version of the article will link to the correction notice and vice versa.
- Publication in an issue or a continuous publication journal
- A revised version of the article containing only the metadata will be posted, with a retraction note replacing the original text. The PDF will be updated with a "Retracted" watermark, but the original content will remain accessible. A retraction notice will also be included in the subsequent print issue.
- If necessary, we may remove the original content for legal reasons. In such instances, the metadata (title and authors) will be left intact, while the text will be replaced with a note stating that the article has been removed for legal reasons. A retraction notice will also be published online and/or in print.
- Retraction notices are indexed and linked to the original records in Medline and Web of Science.