CORRECTION AND RETRACTION POLICY

1. General Principles

Any correction to a published article requires editorial authorization. The Editor or Editorial Board determines the appropriate form of correction after considering the nature, origin, and impact of the error. Minor typographical, formatting, or technical errors that do not materially affect the meaning, interpretation, findings, conclusions, or bibliographic record may be corrected directly in the online article. Substantive changes must be handled transparently through an appropriate notice linked to the original publication.

A published article should not be silently removed, overwritten, or materially changed. The original article will ordinarily remain accessible and traceable, including through its DOI and publication history, except in exceptional circumstances that require removal for legal, privacy, confidentiality, safety, or similar reasons.

2. Erratum

An Erratum may be issued when a significant error is introduced during the journal’s editorial, copyediting, typesetting, metadata, production, or publication process. The error must be of a kind that warrants formal correction but does not invalidate the article’s principal findings or conclusions.

The Erratum should briefly identify the error and state the correction. Any effect on the interpretation, findings, or conclusions should be explained. The notice will be made freely available where applicable and linked to the affected article. The corrected article will ordinarily remain available in the journal’s online archive.

3. Corrigendum

A Corrigendum may be published when an important error or omission originated primarily with the Author(s) or in the manuscript submitted for publication. A Corrigendum is appropriate when the error affects the publication record, scholarly attribution, the reliability of a specific part of the article, or the reputation of the Authors or journal, but does not invalidate the article’s principal findings or conclusions.

Corrigenda are subject to editorial review and approval. The notice should describe the error, specify the correction, and explain any effect on the article’s interpretation or conclusions. It will be linked to the original article so readers can identify the correction and understand the publication history.

4. Addendum

An Addendum may be considered when additional information is needed to clarify or complete a significant part of a published article and is important to readers’ understanding of the original contribution. An addendum should supplement rather than contradict the original article. It may be considered when material information that was available at the time of publication was inadvertently omitted.

Addenda are issued only when the Editor or Editorial Board considers the additional information necessary and appropriate. They may be subject to peer review or other expert assessment, depending on the nature of the material, and will be linked to the original article.

5. Retraction

A Retraction is a formal notice indicating that a published article should no longer be relied upon as part of the trustworthy scholarly literature. Retraction may be considered when there is clear evidence that an article’s findings are unreliable as a result of misconduct or an honest error, or when serious ethical or publication violations undermine the integrity of the work.

Grounds for retraction may include, but are not limited to:

  • findings or conclusions that are materially unreliable because of serious errors, fabrication, or falsification;
  • publication of substantially overlapping work elsewhere without proper citation, permission, or adequate justification;
  • plagiarism or serious misappropriation of others’ work;
  • research conducted or reported in violation of applicable ethical requirements;
  • serious manipulation of data, images, authorship, or the peer-review process; or
  • other substantial breaches of research or publication ethics that compromise the reliability or integrity of the article.

A Retraction Notice should identify the article and explain the reasons for retraction clearly and objectively. It should state who initiated or is responsible for the retraction decision and, where relevant, indicate whether all Authors agree. If the Authors do not unanimously agree, that fact should be recorded in the notice. Retraction may be initiated by the Authors when they discover substantial errors, or by the Editor, Editorial Board, or Publisher when the evidence supports retraction.

To preserve the integrity of the scholarly record, the retracted article will ordinarily remain available in the online journal, clearly marked as retracted, and linked to a freely available Retraction Notice. Removal of the full article may be considered only in exceptional circumstances, such as legal obligations or serious risks involving privacy, confidentiality, or safety. Where removal is necessary, bibliographic information should be retained whenever possible.