This policy is based on Elsevier’s guidelines on article corrections and retractions, as detailed in Elsevier’s official policy: Policies on article corrections and retractions.

 

Policy Overview

The Journal of Education, Management, and Development Studies (JEMDS) is dedicated to maintaining the integrity, transparency, and reliability of the scholarly record. In line with this commitment, JEMDS follows a well-defined and transparent policy for correcting, retracting, or removing articles after they have been published. These measures are employed to address errors, ethical issues, or concerns that may compromise the scientific record, while preserving trust in the journal’s quality and authority in the fields of education, management, and development studies.

Published articles are regarded as final and unalterable, except in specific circumstances. This policy is aligned with JEMDS's mission to provide an accurate, dependable archive of scholarly communication in a variety of disciplines, including education, agriculture, health sciences, social sciences, public management, and more.

Scope of the Policy

This policy applies exclusively to articles published in JEMDS and covers the correction, retraction, withdrawal, and removal of articles in cases where significant errors, ethical violations, or other concerns arise. JEMDS follows international best practices for scholarly publishing in implementing these policies.

Authors’ Responsibilities

Authors who identify errors or inaccuracies in their published articles must notify the journal promptly using the contact information available on the JEMDS website. The corresponding author should provide comprehensive details of the issue, along with supporting evidence to facilitate the editorial team’s review and resolution.

Article Correction

Corrigendum: When an error or omission does not affect the validity or findings of the article, a Corrigendum will be issued. Authors are responsible for preparing the Corrigendum, which must be approved by all co-authors before publication. The Corrigendum will be permanently linked to the original article.

Erratum: If the error arises from the publisher’s side, JEMDS will issue an Erratum. The Erratum will be linked to the original article for transparency.

Expressions of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be published when:

• Evidence of potential research or publication misconduct is inconclusive or pending investigation.
• Investigations are delayed or deemed inconclusive.
• There are significant ethical concerns that require informing the readership.

The Expression of Concern will remain linked to the article and may be updated or replaced based on the outcome of the investigation.

Article Retraction

Articles may be retracted in the following cases:

• Significant errors render the findings or conclusions invalid.
• Confirmed ethical violations, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, or unauthorized data use.
• Redundant publication or failure to disclose conflicts of interest.
• Breach of legal or ethical standards, particularly those involving human or animal subjects.

Retraction notices will:

• Be clearly titled “Retraction: [Article Title].”
• Provide a transparent explanation for the retraction.
• Include a link to the original article, which will remain online but marked as retracted with a watermark.

Article Withdrawal

Unpublished articles accepted for publication (Articles-in-Press) may be withdrawn if:

• Serious errors are identified before final publication.
• The article violates JEMDS's publishing policies (e.g., plagiarism, duplicate submission).

Withdrawn articles will be replaced with a notice explaining the reason for the withdrawal, ensuring transparency.

Article Removal

Article removal is rare and will only occur under exceptional circumstances such as:

• The article contains defamatory content or violates legal rights.
• Retaining the article poses serious public health or safety risks.
• A court order mandates removal.

In such cases, the article's text will be replaced with a notice stating the reason for its removal, while metadata such as the title and authors’ names will be retained.

Article Replacement

In cases where an article poses a significant health or safety risk, it may be retracted and replaced with a corrected version. The retraction notice will link to the new version and include a detailed history of the changes.

Official Archives

JEMDS’s official archives will retain all versions of articles, including those that have been retracted or removed, ensuring a complete and transparent record of scholarly work.

Implementation and Review

This policy is periodically reviewed to ensure alignment with evolving best practices and standards in scholarly publishing. JEMDS is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accountability in publishing research in education, management, and development studies.