Correction and Retraction

Correction and Retraction Policy

Language, Technology, and Social Media (LTSM) is committed to maintaining the accuracy, reliability, transparency, and permanence of the scholarly record. When a published Version of Record requires correction or another post-publication action, LTSM will take appropriate and proportionate measures while preserving a transparent record of the original publication and subsequent updates.

Published scholarly content should not be silently altered when a change could materially affect the interpretation, attribution, reliability, or citation of the work. Significant post-publication changes are documented through an appropriate public notice and linked to the original article.

1. Purpose of This Policy

This policy explains how LTSM manages errors, corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, and exceptional removal of published material.

The appropriate action depends on the nature and seriousness of the problem and, in particular, whether the reliability or integrity of the published article remains substantially intact.

2. Version of Record

Articles published by LTSM within a regular issue constitute the Version of Record (VoR). Once published, the Version of Record forms part of the permanent scholarly record.

Minor typographical or formatting errors that do not affect meaning, interpretation, attribution, bibliographic information, data, results, or conclusions may be corrected directly at the publisher's discretion.

Changes that are editorially significant will normally be documented through a separately identifiable correction or other post-publication notice rather than silently replacing the scholarly record.

3. Corrections

A correction may be issued when an error or omission is identified in a published article but the article remains substantially reliable and its principal findings or conclusions remain valid.

Examples may include:

• an error in a table, figure, equation, or numerical value that does not invalidate the principal findings;
• incorrect or incomplete author information;
• an error in affiliation, funding, acknowledgement, or contributor information;
• a factual or methodological clarification necessary for accurate interpretation;
• an omission affecting transparency but not the overall reliability of the article; or
• a production or metadata error requiring formal correction.

Depending on the origin and nature of the error, the journal may identify the notice as a Correction, Erratum, or Corrigendum.

4. Expression of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be published when serious questions have been raised about an article but sufficient evidence is not yet available to determine whether a correction, retraction, or no further action is appropriate.

An Expression of Concern may be considered when:

• an institutional or research-integrity investigation is ongoing;
• available evidence concerning potentially unreliable findings remains inconclusive;
• there are serious concerns about research ethics, authorship, data, images, or peer-review integrity that cannot yet be resolved;
• an investigation is likely to require substantial time; or
• the journal considers it necessary to alert readers while additional evidence is being obtained.

An Expression of Concern does not constitute a final finding of misconduct. It is an interim mechanism for informing readers that the reliability or integrity of an article is under substantive review.

5. Retraction

Retraction may be necessary when there is sufficient evidence that a published article should no longer be relied upon as part of the dependable scholarly record.

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

• clear evidence that findings are unreliable because of major error, fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation;
• serious plagiarism;
• substantial redundant or duplicate publication without appropriate disclosure or justification;
• research conducted or reported in serious violation of applicable ethical requirements;
• manipulated or compromised peer review;
• fraudulent authorship, identity, affiliation, ethical approval, or other essential documentation;
• serious undisclosed competing interests that materially compromise the interpretation or editorial assessment of the work; or
• other circumstances in which the integrity or reliability of the publication has been fundamentally compromised.

Retraction may result from deliberate misconduct or from an honest error of such significance that the published findings can no longer be considered reliable. The principal purpose of retraction is to correct the scholarly record, not to punish authors.

6. Retraction Notice and Treatment of the Retracted Article

When an article is retracted, LTSM will normally preserve the original article as part of the scholarly record rather than deleting it.

The retraction notice will normally:

• be freely accessible;
• clearly identify the retracted article;
• be linked to the original article and vice versa where technically possible;
• state clearly that the article has been retracted;
• identify the reason or reasons for the retraction;
• state who initiated or issued the retraction where appropriate;
• distinguish misconduct from honest error where this has been reliably established; and
• use objective and factual language.

The landing page and article file may be clearly marked RETRACTED or otherwise labelled so that readers cannot reasonably mistake the article for a current reliable publication.

Where one or more authors disagree with a retraction, the notice may state that the retraction was issued without unanimous author agreement. Author agreement is not required when the journal has sufficient grounds to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

7. Article Removal

Complete removal of a published article is an exceptional action and is not used as an alternative to correction or retraction.

Removal may be considered only in exceptional circumstances, for example when:

• continued publication would violate a binding legal requirement or court order;
• the article contains material whose continued availability creates a serious and immediate risk to privacy, safety, or personal welfare;
• the content infringes rights in a manner that cannot reasonably be addressed through correction or redaction; or
• another exceptional legal or ethical circumstance makes continued access inappropriate.

Where an article must be removed, bibliographic information and an explanatory notice will normally remain available whenever legally and technically permissible so that the scholarly record does not disappear without explanation.

8. Editorial Assessment and Decision

Decisions concerning corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or removal are made following appropriate editorial assessment of the available evidence.

Depending on the circumstances, LTSM may:

1. review the published article and relevant editorial records;
2. request an explanation from the authors;
3. request underlying data, original figures, analysis files, ethics documentation, or other supporting materials;
4. seek advice from independent subject, methodological, statistical, ethics, or research-integrity experts;
5. consult the author's institution, ethics committee, funding agency, or another competent body where appropriate; and
6. determine the post-publication action necessary to maintain an accurate and reliable scholarly record.

Where a person responsible for making the decision has a competing interest, responsibility will be transferred to another appropriately independent editor or representative.

9. DOI, Crossmark, and Update Metadata

LTSM uses persistent identifiers and post-publication metadata to help readers identify the current status of published content.

For editorially significant post-publication changes, LTSM may publish a separate correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other update notice and register the relationship between that notice and the original article in relevant DOI and Crossmark metadata.

Where a separate update notice is issued, it may receive its own DOI and will identify the DOI of the article being corrected, retracted, or otherwise updated.

Readers may use the Crossmark Policy and Crossmark status information, where available, to determine whether a publication has received a registered post-publication update.

10. Minor Non-Substantive Changes

Minor corrections that do not materially affect the scholarly meaning, interpretation, attribution, reliability, or citation of an article may be corrected without a separate formal correction notice.

Examples may include:

• minor spelling or punctuation errors;
• minor typesetting problems;
• formatting inconsistencies;
• non-substantive hyperlink repairs; or
• other technical changes that do not affect the scholarly content.

11. Requests from Authors

Authors who identify a material error in their published article should contact the editorial office promptly and provide:

• the article title;
• DOI;
• a clear description of the error;
• the proposed correction where appropriate; and
• an explanation of whether and how the error affects the results, interpretation, or conclusions.

Submission of a correction request does not automatically determine the form of the final notice. The journal will determine the appropriate action according to the scholarly significance of the error.

12. Concerns Raised by Readers or Third Parties

Readers, reviewers, researchers, institutions, or other parties may report substantive concerns regarding a published article.

Reports should identify the article concerned and provide sufficient information or supporting evidence to permit an appropriate editorial assessment.

Concerns involving suspected research or publication misconduct will be handled in conjunction with the journal's Allegations of Research Misconduct Policy .

13. Permanence and Transparency of the Scholarly Record

LTSM seeks to ensure that post-publication changes remain discoverable and understandable to readers.

Formal correction, expression-of-concern, and retraction notices will normally remain permanently accessible, clearly associated with the affected article, and incorporated into relevant journal and DOI metadata where technically applicable.

14. Standards Informing This Policy

This policy is informed by recognised good practices for maintaining and correcting the scholarly record, including guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and technical guidance on post-publication updates and Crossmark from Crossref .

Reference to external guidance identifies standards that inform LTSM's policy and does not, by itself, constitute a claim of membership in the organisations concerned.

Supporting Editorial Policies

15. Report an Error or Concern

Authors and readers who identify a substantive error or post-publication integrity concern are encouraged to contact the LTSM Editorial Office.

LTSM applies post-publication actions according to the nature and significance of the identified issue. Corrections are used when the scholarly record remains substantially reliable, while expressions of concern, retractions, and exceptional removal are used when stronger measures are necessary to protect readers and preserve the integrity of the published record.