The Nature Portfolio journals publish corrections, retractions, and other updates after publication, including editor’s notes and expressions of editorial concern regarding the published content.
Corrections and Retractions
The Nature Portfolio journals publish corrections, retractions, and other updates after publication, including editor’s notes and expressions of editorial concern regarding the published content. These corrections and updates include substantial errors in peer-reviewed primary research and review articles, as well as some types of non-peer-reviewed articles. Substantial errors in supplementary information and expanded data are corrected in the same manner used for amending the main article. Additionally, all categories mentioned below are interconnected with the original article and are indexed accordingly.
Author Correction:
An author correction can be published to correct an important error (or errors) made by the author(s) that affects the scientific integrity of the published article or the publication record or the reputation of the author or journal.
Publisher Correction:
A publisher correction can be published to correct an important error (or errors) made by the journal that affects the scientific integrity of the published article or the publication record or the reputation of the author or journal.
Addendum:
An addendum is generally published when important additional information is revealed that significantly affects the reader’s understanding of the article after publication.
Editor’s Note:
An editor’s note is a notification that alerts readers if the journal has started an investigation in response to concerns raised about a particular published article. It is an online-only update, made only to the original version of the published article. It is not indexed.
Editorial Expression of Concern:
An editorial expression of concern is a statement by the editors that alerts readers to serious concerns affecting the integrity of the published paper. EEoCs are published online and are linked back and forth to the published paper. They are assigned a DOI and indexed in major scientific databases like PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus.
Retraction:
An article may be retracted when the integrity of the published work is significantly undermined due to misconduct, analysis, or reporting errors in the study. A breach of publication or research ethics may also lead to the retraction of the study. The original article is marked as retracted but the PDF version remains available for readers, and the statement of retraction is linked back and forth to the original published paper. Retraction statements usually include a statement of agreement or dissent from the authors.
When making corrections to articles, in most cases the original article (PDF and HTML) is corrected, and links are made back and forth from and to the published notice of amendment, which details the original error. For the sake of transparency, when changes made to the original article affect the data in figures or tables or text (for example, when data points/error bars change or curves require redrawing), the notice of amendment will reproduce the original data. When it is not possible to correct the original article in both HTML and PDF versions (for example, for articles published many years ago before the error was raised), the article will remain unchanged, but it will contain links back and forth to and from the published notice of amendment.
Removal of Published Content
In exceptional circumstances, Springer Nature reserves the right to remove an article, chapter, book, or other content from Springer Nature online platforms. This action may be taken when (i) information is provided to Springer Nature that the content is offensive or infringes the intellectual property rights of a third party, or the right to privacy, or other legal rights, or is otherwise illegal; (ii) a court or governmental order has been issued, or is likely to be issued, requiring the removal of this content; (iii) the content, if acted upon, poses an immediate and serious risk to health. The removal process may be temporary or permanent. Bibliographic data (title and authors) will be retained, accompanied by a statement explaining the reason for the content’s removal.
Issues
The Exciting
Nature Portfolio journals acknowledge the importance of post-publication comments on published research as a necessity to enhance scientific dialogue. Formal post-publication comments on published papers can include challenges or clarifications, or in some cases, repetition of published work, and after peer review, they may be published online as issues that typically arise alongside a response from the authors of the original journal.
Addressing Post-Publication Issues
We are committed to maintaining the integrity of the scientific record and carefully investigate concerns raised by authors and readers directly. Authors are always given the opportunity to respond to the raised concerns. We may request raw original data and consult with experts in the context of the investigation. Depending on the severity of the issues, the following outcomes may result:
- If the manuscript is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.
- If the article has already been published online, a correction or addendum may be issued; an editor’s note or an expression of editorial concern may be issued; and this is usually followed by a second announcement once the investigation is concluded.
- The author’s institution may be informed if potentially serious issues are identified.
We aim to inform readers transparently; however, our primary goal is to ensure the integrity of the published record rather than to penalize individuals, and therefore, we will not use this data to hold specific individuals accountable by name. We may refer readers to institutional investigation reports if such reports are publicly available. While we are committed to addressing post-publication issues and correcting the record promptly, investigations often take some time to reach a resolution due to the complexity of discussions and the need to obtain original data and consult with experts. We will issue editor’s notes and/or expressions of editorial concern to alert our readers when we become aware of concerns regarding published materials.
Source: http://www.nature.com/nature-research/editorial-policies/correction-and-retraction-policy
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