Correction, Retraction, Expression of Concern

Correction, Retraction, Expression of Concern

 

Editor should consider publishing correction if minor errors that do not effect the results, interpretations and conclusions of the published paper are detected. Editor should consider retraction if major errors and/or misconduction that invalidate results and conclusions are detected.

Editor should consider issuing an expression of concern if there is evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors; there is evidence that the findings are not reliable and institutions of the authors do not investigate the case or the possible investigation seems to be unfair or nonconclusive.

The guidelines of COPE are taken into consideration regarding correction, retractions or expression of concern.

 

Retraction

Journal follows COPE’s Retraction Guidelines in case of retraction.

The editor has the right to retract an article if:

  • There is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable; either as a result of a major error (e.g. miscalculation or experimental error), or as a result of fabrication (e.g. of data) or falsification (e.g. image manipulation).
  • It contains plagiarised content.
  • It has been published elsewhere without proper attribution.
  • It contains material or data without authorisation for use.
  • There is copyright infringement or there is some other serious legal issue.
  • It reports unethical research.
  • There is evidence that the peer-review process is compromised or manipulated.
  • The author(s) failed to disclose a significant competing interest (also known as a conflict of interest) that, in the opinion of the editor, would have unduly influenced the interpretation of the work or the recommendations of the editors and peer reviewers.

In case of retraction the following steps are followed:

  • Retraction notice including article title is published in a subsequent issue of the journal. The retraction notice is paginated and listed in the table of contents.
  • A link is provided between the retraction notice and the original article in the electronic version.
  • The online article is preceded by a page containing the retraction notice; the reader can then proceed to the article itself.
  • The original article remains unchanged, except for a watermark on the .pdf on each page stating that it has been "retracted”.

 

Article Removal for Legal Reasons

In the following circumstances, except the metadata (title and authors), the text of the article is removed and a page informing that the article has been removed for legal reasons replaces the article.

  • The article is found to be defamatory or to infringe the legal rights of others, and retraction is not deemed to be an adequate solution.
  • The article has been, or is reasonably likely to be the subject of a court order.
  • There is a significant risk to public health.