Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

General Principle

European Scientific e-Journal is committed to preserving the accuracy, integrity and transparency of the scholarly record. If a significant error, omission, ethical concern or publication integrity issue is identified after publication, the Editorial Board may issue a correction, expression of concern, retraction or other editorial notice.

Post-publication editorial actions are considered on the basis of the nature, seriousness and impact of the identified problem. The purpose of such actions is not punitive, but corrective: to ensure that readers, authors, institutions, libraries, indexing services and other users of the journal archive receive accurate information about the status of the published material.

Post-publication Review

A post-publication review may be initiated when the Editorial Office receives information about a possible error, ethical violation, authorship problem, plagiarism, duplicate publication, unreliable data, incorrect metadata, citation problem or other issue affecting a published article or issue record.

Information may be submitted by authors, readers, reviewers, editors, academic institutions, indexing services or other concerned parties. The Editorial Office may request clarification, documentation or additional explanation from the corresponding author, co-authors, reviewers or relevant institutions.

The Editorial Board assesses whether the reported issue affects only a limited part of the publication or whether it compromises the reliability, originality, authorship, ethical status or scholarly validity of the work as a whole.

Corrections

A correction may be issued when a published article contains an error that should be clarified for readers but does not invalidate the article as a whole. Corrections may concern factual errors, author information, affiliation details, metadata, citation details, typographical errors affecting interpretation, missing information or other limited issues.

Corrections may be published as an editorial notice, correction note, updated article record or corrected metadata entry, depending on the nature of the error and the technical structure of the journal website.

Examples of cases where a correction may be appropriate include:

• incorrect author affiliation or institutional information;
• incorrect title, abstract, keywords or metadata;
• minor factual errors that do not change the main conclusions;
• errors in tables, figures or references that require clarification;
• missing acknowledgements or funding information, where applicable;
• technical publication errors introduced during layout or website publication.

Errata and Corrigenda

The journal may use correction notices to clarify whether an error originated from the author, editorial process, technical production or website publication. Where appropriate, corrections may be described as an erratum or corrigendum.

A corrigendum may be used when authors identify and correct an error in their published work. An erratum may be used when an error was introduced during the editorial, production or technical publication process.

Expressions of Concern

An expression of concern may be issued when the Editorial Board has received credible information about a serious problem with a published article, but the matter has not yet been fully resolved.

This editorial action may be used when additional investigation, author response, institutional clarification or technical verification is required before a final decision can be made.

An expression of concern may be appropriate in cases involving:

• unresolved questions about data reliability or source accuracy;
• suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication or substantial unattributed overlap;
• possible authorship disputes or undisclosed conflicts of interest;
• concerns about ethical approval, consent or research integrity where applicable;
• incomplete institutional or author responses to editorial queries;
• other serious issues requiring further assessment.

An expression of concern may later be replaced or supplemented by a correction, retraction or final editorial statement after the review is completed.

Retractions

A retraction may be issued when a published article contains serious problems that significantly compromise its reliability, originality, ethical status or scholarly validity. Retraction is used to correct the scholarly record and inform readers that the article should not be relied upon as part of the scientific literature in its original published form.

Retraction may be considered in cases involving:

• plagiarism or substantial unattributed use of another work;
• duplicate or redundant publication without disclosure;
• fabricated, falsified or unreliable data or sources;
• serious errors that invalidate the article’s findings or conclusions;
• unethical research practices where applicable;
• manipulation of peer review or editorial process;
• serious authorship, consent or conflict of interest issues;
• legal or ethical reasons requiring withdrawal of the publication from active use.

Retraction may be initiated by the authors, Editorial Board, publisher or other competent party. The final decision is made by the Editorial Board or responsible editorial authority after assessment of the available information.

Retraction Notices

If an article is retracted, the journal aims to make the retraction notice clear, accessible and connected with the original publication record. The notice should identify the retracted article and state the reason for retraction in a concise and transparent manner, where legally and ethically possible.

A retraction notice may include:

• article title and author information;
• journal issue and publication details;
• reason for retraction;
• date of retraction notice;
• information on whether the retraction was initiated by authors, editors or publisher;
• any relevant correction to metadata or archive records.

The journal does not normally remove the publication record entirely unless there are legal, ethical, privacy, safety or technical reasons requiring removal or restriction of access.

Article Record and Archive

Corrections, expressions of concern and retractions should be reflected in the journal archive and article metadata where technically possible. The purpose is to preserve a transparent publication history and prevent confusion about the status of published material.

If the website structure is updated or technically reorganised, the publisher aims to preserve access to essential publication records and notices connected with corrected or retracted materials.

Author Responsibilities

Authors are expected to notify the Editorial Office if they discover a significant error, omission, ethical concern or reliability issue in their published article. Authors must cooperate with the journal during post-publication review and provide clarification or documentation when requested.

The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the Editorial Office, but all co-authors may be contacted if the matter concerns authorship, data, originality, ethics or article integrity.

Editorial Responsibilities

The Editorial Board is responsible for assessing reported post-publication issues and determining the appropriate editorial action. Editors should consider the seriousness of the issue, available evidence, author responses, reviewer input, institutional information and the potential effect on readers and the scholarly record.

Editorial decisions concerning corrections, expressions of concern and retractions should be made in a fair, documented and transparent manner.

Reader and Third-party Notifications

Readers, reviewers, institutions and other third parties may contact the Editorial Office if they identify a potential error or publication integrity issue. Reports should include sufficient information to allow the Editorial Office to identify the article and assess the concern.

The journal may decline to process anonymous, abusive, unsupported or clearly malicious complaints, but credible concerns about the integrity of the scholarly record may be considered even when they are submitted by external parties.

Relationship with Other Policies

This policy is connected with the journal’s Publication Ethics, Peer Review Policy, Plagiarism and Originality Policy, Authorship and Contributorship Policy, Conflicts of Interest Policy, Complaints and Appeals Policy and Archiving and Repositories Policy.

When a post-publication issue involves several policy areas, the Editorial Board may apply the relevant policies together in order to reach a consistent editorial decision.