Corrections and Retractions
The article Peer Academics publishes is the version of record. It is never edited quietly, replaced with an improved file, or taken down because someone would prefer it gone. When something in it turns out to be wrong, the journal publishes a separate notice, links notice and article to each other permanently, and leaves the original in place, so that any reader who meets a citation to it also meets the correction.
The notices the journal publishes
| Notice | Used when | Who may initiate it | Effect on the original article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Correction | A material error affects the record but the findings still stand. | The authors, a reader, a reviewer, or an editor. | Stays published and unchanged, with a permanent link to the correction. |
| Retraction | The findings are unreliable, or the article should not have been published as it stands. | The authors, an editor, or an institution reporting a finding. | Stays online, free to read, marked RETRACTED on the file and on the article's web page. |
| Expression of concern | A serious question is open and cannot yet be settled. | An editor only. | Stays published and flagged until replaced by a correction or a retraction. |
| Removal | The law requires the article to be withdrawn from public view. | An editor, acting on legal advice. | The file is withdrawn; the citation, the metadata, and a notice of the grounds remain. |
The journal titles every corrective notice Correction rather than distinguishing corrigendum from erratum, and the notice states where the error arose — with the authors, or with the journal in editing, typesetting, or production.
What a correction is for, and what it is not for
A correction is published where an error would mislead a reader or misstate the record: a wrong number in a result or table, a mislabeled or transposed figure, an error in a method that affects reproducibility, a missing or incorrect declaration, a reference that misattributes work, or an authorship error established under Authorship and Contributorship.
A correction is not a chance to revise the article: it is not used to add data collected after publication, extend an argument, answer a critic, improve wording, or add citations, and typographical slips that could mislead no one are not corrected. If new evidence changes what you would now conclude, write a new article; the published one stands as what was known then.
How to request a correction or report a problem
Write to [email protected] with the article's title and authors, the exact location of the problem, what is wrong, what it should say, and the evidence. If you are an author, say whether all co-authors agree. You may report a problem in someone else's article, but you must point to something specific; the journal does not act on an assertion that an article is "wrong" with nothing attached.
Correspondence is acknowledged normally within five working days; the handling editor puts the matter to the authors, who have normally four weeks to reply; and the Editor-in-Chief decides what, if anything, is published, normally within eight weeks of the request. An allegation about conduct rather than error is handled under Misconduct Investigations instead. As an author you must tell the journal promptly of a significant error in your own published work; doing so is expected, not held against you.
Retraction
An article is retracted where there is clear evidence that its findings are unreliable, or where the work was plagiarized, had already been published, reports research done without the required ethics approval or consent, breaches a legal right, or reached publication through manipulated peer review. Retraction is not confined to misconduct: an honest error large enough to invalidate the findings leads to retraction, and the notice says so.
A retraction notice is itself a citable document, free to read, and states which article is retracted, who is retracting it — the authors, the editors, or both — the reason, whether the conclusions fall in whole or in part, and whether any author disagrees. Unanimity among authors is not required in order to retract, and the journal does not retract at an author's request where the reason given does not meet the grounds above. It publishes no partial retractions: where part of an article is unsound and the rest stands, it publishes a correction stating exactly what is withdrawn; where the unsound part carries the conclusions, it retracts the whole. "Retracted at the author's request" is not used to avoid stating the reason.
Expressions of concern
An editor publishes an expression of concern where a concern is well founded but cannot yet be resolved: an institutional inquiry is under way, the authors will not or cannot supply the underlying data, or the journal cannot obtain what it needs to decide. It is temporary — the matter is pursued, and the notice is replaced by a correction or a retraction once the question is settled rather than standing in for a decision.
The permanence of the record
- A published article is never deleted and its web address keeps working. Removal happens only where the law requires it, and a notice of the grounds stays in its place.
- A notice, once published, is never removed. If a retraction is later shown to have been wrong, a further notice reverses it and explains why.
- Published files are not replaced, and no file is re-uploaded with silent changes.
- Peer Academics does not yet register DOIs and is not a Crossref member, so a notice cannot be propagated to other services through Crossref metadata. The article page and the notice on this website are the authoritative link between them.
- The journal is not yet enrolled in an external preservation service such as CLOCKSS, LOCKSS, the PKP Preservation Network, or Portico. Until it is, continuity of the record rests on the journal's own hosting and backups.
If the authors do not cooperate
The journal asks the authors to agree the wording of a notice but does not require their agreement to publish one. Where the authors do not respond, refuse a correction the evidence supports, or cannot be reached, the Editor-in-Chief publishes the notice over the editors' names and records in it that the authors did not respond, did not agree, or could not be contacted.
These decisions are taken by the Editor-in-Chief and are not subject to the Publisher's approval; see Editorial Independence. While the Editorial Board is being assembled, the decisions described on this page as the Editor-in-Chief's are taken by the acting editorial management appointed by the Publisher, under the same rules; see Editorial Board. If you believe one was wrong or wrongly handled, use Complaints and Appeals. The underlying standards are in Publication Ethics.