RETRACTION, CORRECTION & WITHDRAWAL (R, C & W) Policy
We understand that the authors have worked carefully preparing manuscripts, and we have carried out peer-review processes. However, sometimes, there is the potential for published articles to be withdrawn or deleted for scientific reasons. It should not be done lightly and can only occur under extraordinary circumstances. Therefore, corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies, when needed, will be carried out with strict standards to maintain confidence in the authority of its electronic archives. Our commitment and policy are to maintain the integrity and completeness of critical scientific records for researcher's and librarians' archives.
Article Retraction
Journal of Pragmatics Research is committed to playing its part in maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record; therefore, on occasion, it is necessary to retract articles. Articles may be retracted if:
- There is a significant scientific error that would invalidate the article's conclusions, for example, where there is clear evidence that findings are unreliable, either due to misconduct (e.g., data fabrication) or honest error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error).
- The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission, or justification (i.e., cases of redundant publication).
- Ethical issues include plagiarism (appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit, including those obtained through confidential review of others' manuscripts) or inappropriate authorship.
To ensure that retractions are handled according to publication best practice and following COPE retraction guidelines, Journal of Pragmatics Research adopts the following retraction process:
- An article requiring potential retraction is brought to the journal editor's attention.
- The journal editor should follow the step-by-step guidelines according to the COPE flowcharts (including evaluating a response from the article's author in question).
- Before any action is taken, the editor's findings should be sent to the Ethics Advisory Board. The purpose of this step is to ensure a consistent approach in accordance with industry best practices.
- The final decision as to whether to retract is then communicated to the author and, if necessary, any other relevant bodies, such as the author's institution, on occasion.
- The retraction statement is then posted online and published in the next available issue of the journal (see below for more details of this step).
Note that if authors retain the copyright for an article, this does not mean they automatically have the right to retract it after publication. The integrity of the published scientific record is paramount, and COPE’s Retraction Guidelines still apply in such cases.
Article Correction
Journal of Pragmatics Research should consider issuing a correction if:
- A small part of an otherwise reliable publication reports flawed data or proves to be misleading, especially if this is the result of honest error.
- The Author or Contributor list is incorrect (e.g., a deserving author has been omitted, or someone who does not meet authorship criteria has been included).
Corrections to peer-reviewed content fall into one of three categories:
- Publisher correction (erratum): to notify readers of a critical error made by publishing/journal staff (usually a production error) that has a negative impact on the publication record or the scientific integrity of the article, or on the reputation of the Authors or the journal.
- Author correction (corrigendum): to notify readers of a critical error made by the Authors, that negatively impacts the publication record or the scientific integrity of the article, or the reputation of the Authors or the journal.
- Addendum: an addition to the article by its Authors to explain inconsistencies, expand the existing work, or otherwise explain or update the information in the main work.
The decision of whether a correction should be issued is made by the Editor(s) of a journal, sometimes with advice from Reviewers or Editorial Board members. Handling Editors will contact the Authors of the paper concerned with a request for clarification, but the final decision about whether a correction is required and which type rests with the Editors.
Article Removal
In an extremely limited number of cases, removing a published article from our online platform may be necessary. This will only happen if an article is clearly defamatory or infringes others’ legal rights, or where the article is, or we have good reason to expect that it will be, the subject of a court order, or where the article if acted upon, may pose a severe health risk. In such circumstances, while the article's metadata (i.e., title and author information) will be retained, the text will be replaced with a screen indicating that the article has been removed for legal reasons.
Article Replacement
In cases where an article, if acted upon, may pose a serious health risk, the original paper's authors may wish to retract the flawed original and replace it with a corrected version. Under such circumstances, the above procedures for retraction will be followed with the difference that the article retraction notice will contain a link to the updated re-published article and a history of the document.
Article Withdrawal
The author is not allowed to withdraw submitted or published manuscripts (unless there are compelling reasons), because the withdrawal is a waste of valuable resources that editors and reviewers spent a great deal of time processing submitted manuscripts and works invested by the publisher.
This circumstance can occur if the initial version of the article contains an error, or may have been accidentally sent twice to Journal of Pragmatics Research or a different publisher. In addition, it can also occur due to an element of Infringements of the scientific code of ethics, such as double submissions, false claims of authorship, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fraudulent use of data or the like. Articles that meet the element of Infringements of the code of ethics upon the author's awareness can withdraw the article accompanied by a letter of statement withdrawal addressed to the editorial board of Journal of Pragmatics Research .