Retractions, corrections, and expressions of concerns

The Editorial Committee of the Scientific Journal of Technology for Life will consider retractions, corrections or manifestations of concerns about its publications in accordance with the guidelines of theCommittee on Publication Ethics(COPE). In these cases, the regime of standards and control mechanisms for scientific communication will depend on the type, seriousness and consequences of the inaccuracy detected or violation of the policies. These can be in the form of an errata or correction notice, a retraction which can lead to the deletion or publication of the article. The process is denunciation – knowledge – resolution.

a) Errata

An errata notice will be published when it is necessary to correct an error or omission made by the journal after publication that may affect the record of the publication or the reputation of the authors or the journal, but where the academic integrity of the article remains intact. All involuntary cases will be accompanied by a separate notice. The notice must provide clear details of the error and the changes that have been made to the document to correct the observations. In these circumstances:

    1. The article will be corrected.
    2. A note will be added to the end of the article with the reference to the errata notice (page-paragraph-line number).
    3. A separate errata or correction notice linked to the corrected version will be posted and should be available.
    4. The errata or correction document will be paginated and with DOI.

b) Corrections

In the Scientific Journal of Technology for Life, a notice of correction will be published when it is necessary to correct an error or omission made by the authors that affect the registration of the publication or the reputation of the authors or the journal, but where the academic integrity of the article remains intact. All errors will be accompanied by a separate notice. The notice must provide clear details of the error and the changes that have been made to the document. In these circumstances:

  1. The article will be corrected.
  2. A note will be added to the end of the article with the reference to the correction notice.
  3. A separate errata or correction notice will be posted linked to the corrected version.
  4. The errata or correction document will be paginated and with DOI.

c) Retractions

A retraction notice will be published when a material error invalidates the conclusions of the article, or when there has been malpractice in the investigation or misconduct in the publication. Authors can request the retraction of their articles if their reasons meet the criteria for retraction.

The retraction will be considered:

  • If there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g., data fabrication or image manipulation) or error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error).
  • If the findings have previously been published elsewhere without the appropriate cross-references, permission, or justification (e.g., cases of redundant publication or duplicate publication).
  • If the research constitutes plagiarism.
  • If there is evidence of fraudulent authorship.
  • If there is evidence of compromised peer review.
  • If there are indications of unethical research and breaches of professional ethical codes.

When a decision has been made to retract an item:

  1. A 'retracted article' watermark will be added to the published version of the article record.
  2. In front of the title of the article, it will be written Retracted article: [title of the article]
  3. A separate statement of retraction, entitled 'Retraction: [title of article]', will be published and linked to the retracted article. This note will be signed by the editors of the journal.
  4. The declaration of retraction will be paginated and a DOI will be assigned.

d) Disposal of articles

The removal of an article will be carried out in exceptional circumstances where the problems are of a very serious nature and cannot be addressed by a notice of correction or retraction. That is, the instances are exhausted.

This will only happen:

  • When the article is clearly defamatory, or infringes other legal rights.
  • When an item is subject to a court order.
  • When the item, if not acted upon, could pose a serious health risk.
  • When for different reasons the editorial policies have not been observed

In the event that an article is deleted, the metadata (authorship and title) will be retained and the text will be replaced with a document indicating that the article has been removed for legal reasons.