Correction, Retraction & Expressions of Concern

The European Archieves of Social Sciences believes that clarity in the publication record is a critical component of information dissemination, aiming to better serve our researchers, librarians, and the broader academic community. Considering a published article as the final "Record Version" creates an expectation that it can be relied upon as accurate, complete, and citable. The European Archieves of Social Sciences defines this Record Version as the initial article publication for open-access journals.

It is assumed that articles report on studies based on honest observations. However, sometimes information may contradict this assumption. In such cases, the European Archieves of Social Sciences Publishing journals adhere to the guidelines of the Publication Ethics Committee regarding corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern.

Corrections:

Errors in published articles may necessitate the publication of a correction or erratum. Since articles can be read and cited as soon as they are published, any subsequent changes may potentially affect those who have read the previous version and cited it. The European Archieves of Social Sciences provides authors with the opportunity to review article proofs before publication to ensure the accuracy of the content. Publishing a correction or erratum increases the likelihood of readers becoming aware of the change and also explains the nature of the modification.

Corrigenda and errata are published on a numbered page and include a citation of the original article. In cases where these corrections are insufficient to address an error, the matter will be addressed by the Chief Editor as appropriate. Shortcomings resulting from the normal course of new scientific research do not fall under this scope and will not necessitate any correction or retraction.

Expressions of Concern:

If serious doubts arise about the honesty or accuracy of a submitted or published article, ensuring that the issue is adequately addressed by the author's sponsoring institution is the responsibility of the Chief Editor. Conducting an investigation or making a decision is not normally within the Chief Editor's purview. The Chief Editor should be promptly informed of the sponsoring institution's decision, and if it is determined that a fraudulent article has been published, a retraction should be issued. Alternatively, the Chief Editor may choose to publish an expression of concern regarding the conduct or integrity of the study.

Article retraction

Articles can be retracted by the respective author before acceptance for publication. If accepted, retractions are only used for Articles in Press which represent early versions of articles, sometimes containing errors or mistakenly duplicated. Occasionally, but much more rarely, retractions may represent violations of professional ethical codes such as multiple submissions, claims of fraudulent authorship, plagiarism, fraudulent use of data, or similar. Articles in Press that contain errors, or are discovered to be duplicates of other published articles, are deemed by editors to represent infringements of professional ethical codes, such as multiple submission, claims of fraudulent authorship, plagiarism, fraudulent use of data, etc., will be retracted from the European Social Science Archives Journal. Articles that have been published under a volume issue are non-retractable.

Article Retraction

Violations of professional ethical codes such as multiple submissions, claims of fraudulent authorship, plagiarism, fraudulent use of data, or similar. Occasionally, retractions will be used to correct errors in submission or publication. The retraction of an article by its authors or by the journal's editors under the advice of members of the scholarly community has long been an occasional feature of the learned world. Standards for dealing with retractions have been developed by a number of library and scholarly bodies, and this best practice is adopted by the European Social Science Archives Journal for retracting articles:

  • A retraction notice titled "Retraction: [Article Title]", signed by the authors and/or editors, is published in a subsequent issue of the journal and listed in the table of contents.
  • A link to the original article is provided in the electronic version.
  • A screen appears in front of the online article containing the retraction notice. The link leads to this screen; the reader can then proceed to the article itself.
  • The original article is preserved unchanged except for a watermark on the .pdf indicating that it has been retracted on each page.
  • The HTML version of the document is removed.

Article Removal: Legal Restrictions

In extremely limited cases, it may be necessary to remove an article from an online database. This will occur only when there is a clear demonstration that the article is defamatory or infringes upon the legal rights of others, or when there is good reason to believe or await confirmation by a court of law that the article is the subject of a court order, or when the action is taken under legal advice. This can pose a serious health risk. In these cases, the article will be replaced with a screen indicating that the article has been removed for legal reasons while preserving the top data (Title and Authors).