Corrections and Retractions

Description 

JFU acts to correct the scholarly record when published content contains errors, omissions, unreliable findings, ethical problems, or misleading information. The selected action will be proportionate to the nature, extent, and effect of the problem. 

The purpose of a retraction is to protect and correct the literature, not to punish authors. Published notices will be factual, neutral, permanently accessible, and linked to the affected article. 

Policy 

  1. A minor error that does not affect interpretation, indexing, attribution, or the integrity of the record may be corrected in the online article with a dated change note. 
  2. A material but limited error will be addressed through a separately published correction linked bidirectionally to the original article. 
  3. An expression of concern may be published when there are serious doubts about an article but evidence is inconclusive, an investigation is incomplete, or an institution has not provided necessary findings within a reasonable period. 
  4. Retraction may be appropriate when findings are unreliable because of major error or misconduct; plagiarism or serious redundant publication is established; research is unethical; data or material were used without authorization; peer review was manipulated; or an undisclosed interest materially compromised evaluation or interpretation. 
  5. Review or withdrawal of an article cannot be used to erase the publication record after online publication. A retracted article remains accessible and is clearly marked in every available format. 
  6. Article removal is reserved for exceptional cases involving a binding legal requirement, serious privacy violation, defamation risk, or immediate and serious risk to health or security that cannot be managed by retraction. 
  7. Authorship, affiliation, funding, competing-interest, licensing, and data-availability errors will be corrected when they materially affect attribution, transparency, or use. 
  8. JFU will consider evidence-based post-publication comments regardless of the commenter’s identity, affiliation, or status. Abusive, defamatory, irrelevant, or unsupported submissions may be declined. 
  9. Notices will identify the affected article, state who is issuing the notice, explain the reason and basis, distinguish error from misconduct where known, and avoid inflammatory language. 

Technical Operational Steps 

  1. The Journal Office logs the concern, article DOI, date received, evidence, and requested action. 
  2. A non-conflicted editor conducts a preliminary assessment and determines whether an immediate reader alert is necessary. 
  3. Authors are informed of the concern and invited to respond. Relevant institutions, reviewers, repositories, or specialists may be contacted when appropriate. 
  4. The editor evaluates the reliability of the record and selects no action, a change note, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or exceptional removal. 
  5. The Editor-in-Chief, or an independent publisher-appointed officer when conflicted, approves the publication action. 
  6. Every formal notice receives a publication date and permanent identifier, cites and links to the affected article, and is freely accessible. 
  7. For a retraction, the article landing page, PDF, and HTML are clearly labelled “Retracted.” The original content remains available unless exceptional removal is required. 
  8. Article metadata, issue contents, indexing deposits, and preservation records are updated consistently. Relevant services are notified where technically possible. 
  9. Original files, notices, correspondence, and decisions are preserved. Silent replacement of the version of record is not permitted. 
  10. If material new evidence emerges, JFU may publish an updated or additional notice that preserves the history of the record.