Corrections and Errata Policy

Multidisciplinary Journals (MJ)  |  e-ISSN 3047-8499

1. Purpose, Scope, and Policy Boundary

This policy applies after an article or other journal item has been formally published as a Version of Record. It governs factual, analytical, textual, visual, bibliographic, attribution, funding, disclosure, ethics-reporting, licensing, and metadata errors that can be corrected without invalidating the publication as a whole.

This page does not govern pre-publication proofreading, ordinary revisions during peer review, manuscript withdrawal before publication, unresolved integrity allegations, substantial invalidity requiring retraction, exceptional content removal, authorship criteria, or appeals procedure. Those matters are governed by the policies listed in Section 14.

2. Terminology Used by MJ

MJ uses Correction as the primary public label for a notice that amends a reliable publication. When identifying responsibility is useful, the following terms may appear in the notice or metadata:

The label does not determine blame or misconduct. An honest error may arise from authors, editors, reviewers, production staff, software, data transfer, or several causes. The notice will describe responsibility only when it is established, relevant, and fair.

3. When a Formal Correction Is Required

A formal correction is normally required when an error affects how the article is found, credited, understood, evaluated, reproduced, or used, while the article's central findings remain valid. Examples include:

• an error in data values, calculations, statistical output, units, labels, sample description, methods, code, or interpretation that does not invalidate the principal conclusions;
• an incorrect, incomplete, duplicated, omitted, or misplaced table, figure, equation, appendix, supplementary file, legend, or citation;
• a material wording error that changes meaning, creates ambiguity, or could lead readers to apply the findings incorrectly;
• an error in an author's name, order, affiliation, ORCID, contributor role, correspondence information, or acknowledgement, subject to the Authorship and Contributorship Policy;
• an omitted or inaccurate funding statement, conflict-of-interest disclosure, ethics approval, consent statement, trial registration, permit, data-availability statement, licence, or copyright information;
• incorrect bibliographic or DOI metadata that affects citation, indexing, attribution, linking, or discoverability; or
• a production error introduced by the journal that materially differs from the approved proof.

4. Changes That Do Not Normally Require a Formal Correction

A separate notice is not normally needed for a purely cosmetic issue that does not affect meaning, attribution, retrieval, evidence, interpretation, or use—for example, an isolated spacing problem or harmless display inconsistency. Before publication, such matters are resolved through proofreading and production control.

A disagreement with an interpretation, a new theory, an updated literature review, an additional experiment, changed professional guidance, or an advance in the field is not an error in the original article. These matters should normally be addressed through correspondence, commentary, replication, or a new peer-reviewed publication.

5. When Correction Is Not Sufficient

6. Reporting an Error

Authors, readers, reviewers, editors, institutions, funders, indexers, and other stakeholders may report a suspected error through the journal's official contact page or the OJS discussion associated with the article. A request should include:

• the article title, authors, publication year, volume, issue, page or article number, and DOI;
• the exact location of the error, including page, section, paragraph, table, figure, equation, reference, or metadata field;
• the published text or information and the proposed corrected version;
• supporting data, calculations, documents, source files, permissions, or evidence;
• an explanation of how the error affects the results, conclusions, attribution, ethics, reproducibility, citation, or reader understanding; and
• confirmation of whether all authors agree, or a description of any unresolved disagreement.

Authors must notify MJ promptly after discovering a material error. Delay, embarrassment, reputational concern, or disagreement about responsibility is not a reason to leave an inaccurate record uncorrected. A correction may be published without unanimous author agreement when the evidence demonstrates that it is necessary.

7. Assessment and Decision Process

MJ aims to communicate an outcome within 30 working days after sufficient information has been received. Complex analyses, authorship disputes, institutional investigations, or legal and ethical matters may take longer. A necessary correction will not be postponed merely to wait for a related commentary or for all parties to agree.

8. Content of a Correction Notice

A formal notice is an independent, citable publication. It should contain enough information for a reader and indexer to understand exactly what changed and why. The notice normally includes:

• the title “Correction: [Original Article Title]”, with Erratum or Corrigendum identified where useful;
• the original article's authors, full citation, and DOI or other persistent identifier;
• the precise location and description of each error;
• the incorrect and corrected information, displayed clearly or described unambiguously;
• who introduced the error when this has been established and is relevant;
• whether and how the change affects data, analysis, interpretation, conclusions, attribution, disclosures, or other parts of the article;
• the date of publication of the correction and the date the Version of Record was updated;
• a statement that the article remains reliable, when appropriate; and
• a copyright and licence statement applicable to the notice.

9. Version of Record and Preservation

• The original article remains part of the scholarly record and is not deleted or replaced without explanation.
• The article landing page and available full-text formats will display a prominent notice that a correction exists and will link to it.
• The correction notice will link back to the original article, creating a bidirectional relationship.
• When the article text, PDF, HTML, supplementary file, or metadata is corrected, the updated version will identify the correction date and link to the notice.
• Earlier versions and source files will be preserved in the journal's archive or editorial records and made available when appropriate, subject to legal, privacy, security, and preservation constraints.
• The original article DOI remains active. The correction notice should receive its own DOI where technically available and be registered as an update related to the original DOI.

10. Indexing, Metadata, and Discoverability

A correction must be as discoverable as the article it corrects. MJ will, where technically supported:

• publish the notice in the journal's table of contents as a citable item;
• assign appropriate bibliographic metadata and a DOI to the notice;
• deposit the relationship between the correction and original article with Crossref;
• update article metadata, author identifiers, licences, funding, references, and supplementary-file links where required;
• use Crossmark or another status-notification mechanism if implemented consistently by the journal; and
• notify relevant indexing, abstracting, archiving, and preservation services when a material update requires notification.

MJ will not display a Crossmark logo or claim Crossmark participation unless the service has been implemented consistently and the related Crossref metadata is actively maintained.

11. Authorship, Funding, Ethics, and Disclosure Corrections

Changes to author names, order, addition or removal of authors, affiliations, corresponding authors, and contributor roles require assessment under the Authorship and Contributorship Policy. The journal may request written agreement, contribution statements, institutional information, identity verification, or an independent review. A correction records an approved authorship change but does not replace the authorship assessment procedure.

Omitted or inaccurate funding, competing-interest, ethics approval, consent, trial registration, data availability, licence, or permission information will be corrected when the article remains reliable. If the omission indicates possible concealment, unethical research, unlawful publication, or compromised results, MJ will first apply the relevant integrity policy and may issue an Expression of Concern or retraction instead of, or in addition to, a correction.

A correction cannot retroactively create an ethics approval, participant consent, trial registration, data right, permission, or licence that was required before the research or publication occurred.

12. Costs, Responsibility, and Editorial Independence

MJ does not charge an Article Processing Charge or administrative penalty merely to publish a correction required to maintain an accurate scholarly record. Correction decisions are independent of payment status, author reputation, institutional affiliation, advertising, sponsorship, or commercial interest.

The Editor-in-Chief or an uninvolved delegated editor has final responsibility for determining the appropriate notice. The journal may correct the record even when an author is unavailable, has died, does not respond, or disagrees, provided the notice states the available evidence fairly and distinguishes established facts from unresolved matters.

13. Appeals and Complaints

An author or affected party may appeal a decision by identifying a material factual error, procedural irregularity, unmanaged conflict of interest, disproportionate action, or relevant evidence that was overlooked. An appeal is not a mechanism to conceal an established error or delay a necessary correction.

Appeals and complaints are handled under the Appeals and Complaints Policy. A pending appeal does not automatically suspend a correction when delay could mislead readers, patients, practitioners, policymakers, or other users.

14. Relationship with Other MJ Policies

15. Reference Frameworks

• COPE Core Practice: Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections.
• COPE Position: Visibility of Corrections and Retractions.
• ICMJE Recommendations: Corrections and Version Control.
• Crossref Best Practices: Version Control, Corrections, and Retractions.
• Crossref Crossmark, where implemented by the journal.

16. How to Request a Correction

Submit a correction request through the journal's official contact page or the OJS discussion attached to the published submission. Use the subject line “Correction Request — [Article DOI or ID]” and include all information listed in Section 6.