Corrections, Retractions and Post-Publication Updates Policy

Purpose and Core Principles

Geliotekhnika is committed to maintaining an accurate, reliable, transparent, and permanent scholarly record.

Where a significant error, ethical concern, legal issue, or evidence affecting the reliability of findings is identified after publication, the journal may issue a correction, an Expression of Concern, a retraction, a content-removal notice, or another appropriate post-publication update.

The journal does not make silent changes that alter the meaning, interpretation, authorship, findings, or citation information of a published article. Every material change will be documented in a traceable form that is clear to readers.

Scope and Definitions

This policy applies to research articles, reviews, short communications, editorial content, supplementary files, and post-publication notices published by the journal.

For the purposes of this policy:

  • a correction remedies a significant error that does not invalidate the article’s principal conclusions;

  • an Expression of Concern alerts readers to a serious issue where an investigation is incomplete or the evidence is insufficient for a final decision;

  • a retraction formally marks in the scholarly record that an article’s findings or conclusions should no longer be considered reliable;

  • withdrawal before publication ends the publication process for an accepted manuscript that has not yet been made public;

  • content removal restricts public access to the full text in exceptional circumstances.

Minor Changes

Minor spelling, punctuation, typographical, formatting, or technical errors that do not affect meaning, scientific findings, interpretation, authorship, or citation information may be corrected without a separate notice.

A minor change must not be used to conceal a substantively important correction. Where a change has scientific or bibliographic significance, the journal will publish a separate correction notice.

Corrections

A correction will be published where an error materially affects the accuracy, clarity, attribution, or presentation of an article but does not make its principal findings and conclusions unreliable.

A correction may be required for:

  • an error in an author’s name, author order, or affiliation;

  • an incorrect numerical value, unit, label, equation, or formula;

  • a significant error in a table, figure, diagram, caption, or heading;

  • omitted funding, acknowledgment, conflict-of-interest, author-contribution, or other declaration;

  • a factual or textual error affecting meaning;

  • a limited methodological, computational, or analytical error that does not invalidate the main conclusions;

  • significant incorrect information concerning data availability or supplementary material.

Depending on the origin of the error, a notice may be identified as an Author Correction, Publisher Correction, Corrigendum, or Erratum.

Form of a Correction Notice

A correction notice will normally:

  • describe the error and its correction clearly;

  • identify the title, authors, and DOI of the affected article;

  • explain the effect of the change on the findings and conclusions;

  • be linked electronically in both directions with the original article;

  • carry a separate publication date;

  • receive a separate DOI where appropriate;

  • be made openly accessible.

Where the original article file is replaced with an updated file, the article will clearly state that it has been corrected, provide the correction date, and link to the separate notice. The previous state of the scholarly record will not be concealed.

Grounds for Retraction

An article may be retracted where a problem is so serious that its findings or conclusions can no longer be relied upon. Grounds may include:

  • fabrication, falsification, or serious misrepresentation of data, images, findings, or calculations;

  • fictitious, unavailable, or materially inconsistent data;

  • a major computational, methodological, or analytical error that makes the principal findings and conclusions unreliable;

  • serious plagiarism;

  • unauthorized or unjustified duplicate publication;

  • use of data, images, text, or other material without the required authorization;

  • manipulation of authorship, identity, or the peer-review process;

  • an undisclosed conflict of interest that materially affected interpretation;

  • research or publication without required ethics approval, consent, or legal authorization;

  • serious copyright, privacy, defamation, or other legal infringement;

  • another breach that substantially undermines confidence in the article.

The primary purpose of retraction is to correct the literature and alert readers to unreliable material, not to punish authors. Statements about an author’s intent will be made only where supported by relevant evidence.

Limited Errors and Partial Retraction

Where only a limited part of an article is flawed and the remaining findings continue to be reliable, the issue will normally be addressed through a precise correction.

The journal will not normally use a “partial retraction,” because it may create uncertainty about which parts of the article can be relied upon. Where the error cannot be remedied by correction and confidence in the principal findings is lost, the article will be retracted in full.

Retraction Notice and the Original Article

A retraction notice will normally:

  • be freely and permanently accessible;

  • identify clearly the title, authors, and DOI of the retracted article;

  • explain the reason for retraction in evidence-based, non-defamatory language;

  • state who is retracting the article: the authors, the Editor-in-Chief, or the journal;

  • record relevant author agreement or disagreement where material;

  • be linked electronically in both directions with the original article;

  • carry a separate publication date and DOI where appropriate.

The original article will normally remain accessible but will be clearly marked “Retracted” throughout its HTML and PDF versions and linked to the retraction notice. The full text will be removed or restricted only in the exceptional circumstances identified in this policy.

Even where the authors do not agree, the Editor-in-Chief may decide to retract on sufficient evidence in order to protect the scholarly record.

Expressions of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be published where serious and well-founded questions exist but the evidence is not yet sufficient for a final decision, including where:

  • an investigation is ongoing;

  • the evidence is conflicting or insufficient for a final conclusion;

  • the authors’ institution does not investigate, delays its investigation, or does not respond to the journal;

  • necessary information or original material cannot be obtained;

  • an investigation will take a long time and readers need an interim warning.

The notice will state the nature of the concern, who is issuing the notice, and the status of any investigation, without presenting unverified allegations as established fact. It will be freely accessible and linked to the original article.

An Expression of Concern may later be followed by a correction, retraction, or notice that the concern has been resolved. Where sufficient final evidence cannot be obtained, it may remain the final warning in the scholarly record.

Withdrawal Before Final Publication

The publication process for an accepted manuscript that has not been made public and has not been issued as a Version of Record may be stopped where:

  • a serious error or breach is identified;

  • the publication process began through a technical mistake;

  • legal, ethical, copyright, or authorization requirements have not been met;

  • the manuscript cannot properly be published in a lawful and reliable manner.

An author’s change of mind after acceptance is not, by itself, an automatic ground for withdrawal.

An article made publicly available with a DOI as Online First, Early View, or in another public form is considered published. It will not disappear through a simple withdrawal; a correction, retraction, or content-removal process will be used as appropriate.

Removal of Published Content

Complete removal of published full text will be considered only in exceptional circumstances, including where:

  • removal is required by a court or competent public authority;

  • the content is unlawful or seriously defamatory;

  • publication creates an immediate and serious safety risk;

  • personal, confidential, or protected information was disclosed unlawfully;

  • a serious intellectual-property infringement cannot be addressed through correction or retraction.

Where possible, the article’s bibliographic landing page, DOI, and a public notice explaining the reason for removal will remain available. Where the law prevents disclosure of the reason, the notice will be as informative as legally permitted.

Content removal will not be used to conceal publication history or to resolve editorial inconvenience.

Post-Publication Scholarly Discussion

The journal welcomes evidence-based comments, critical analyses, replication findings, and author responses concerning published articles.

Post-publication comments must:

  • address the scientific content of the article directly;

  • use professional and respectful language;

  • be supported by evidence and sources;

  • disclose relevant conflicts of interest;

  • avoid personal attacks, threats, discrimination, or defamatory statements.

The original authors will normally be given an opportunity to respond. Comments and responses that make a meaningful scholarly contribution may undergo editorial or independent peer review and be published as separate citable materials.

Submission of a Concern and Initial Assessment

A concern about a published article should be submitted in writing and should, where possible, include:

  • the article title;

  • author names;

  • DOI or full publication details;

  • a description of the specific error or concern;

  • relevant evidence, sources, or documents;

  • any relevant conflict of interest of the person reporting the concern.

An anonymous report may also be considered where it contains specific, verifiable, and sufficient evidence. The Editorial Office will first assess whether the matter falls within the journal’s authority, whether the evidence is sufficient, and whether there is an immediate risk to readers.

Unsubstantiated, repetitive, abusive, or purely personal complaints may not be considered further.

Investigation and Decision-Making

Authors and other affected persons will normally be informed of the substance of the concern and given a reasonable opportunity to respond and provide evidence.

Where necessary, the journal may consult:

  • independent scientific or statistical experts;

  • the authors’ institution;

  • an ethics committee or research-integrity office;

  • specialists in data, images, or technical matters;

  • legal or other competent authorities.

The journal may await the outcome of an institutional investigation, but it may take independent interim or final editorial action where necessary to protect readers. An Expression of Concern may be issued where an investigation is unreasonably delayed.

The final decision will be made by the Editor-in-Chief on the basis of the evidence, the effect on article reliability, the authors’ response, and applicable COPE principles.

Editorial Independence, Conflicts of Interest, and Responsibilities

Where a concern involves an author, Editorial Board member, Editor-in-Chief, reviewer, Founder, or publisher with whom a conflict of interest exists, the conflicted person will take no part in the investigation or decision. The case will be assigned to an unconflicted editor or independent expert.

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for editorial decisions on post-publication action.

On the basis of a decision approved by the Editorial Office, I-EDU GROUP LLC will implement the technical updates to DOI relationships, webpages, PDFs, indexing records, and Crossmark metadata. It does not independently decide to correct or retract an article.

Authors must promptly inform the Editorial Office of any significant error or ethical concern they identify and cooperate with the investigation.

Metadata, DOI, Indexing, and Crossmark

A significant correction, retraction, Expression of Concern, withdrawal, or content-removal notice will be linked permanently and in both directions with the affected article.

Where applicable, the journal will update:

  • the official article landing page;

  • HTML and PDF files;

  • Crossref DOI metadata and update relationships;

  • Crossmark information, where the service has been technically implemented;

  • records supplied to indexing, archiving, and aggregation services.

Metadata, the official notice, and the article status must remain consistent. The speed of updates in third-party databases may depend on their technical processes.

Confidentiality and Protection of Complainants

Investigation materials will be shared only with persons who require them to consider the case. Personal data, confidential documents, and unverified allegations will be protected under applicable legal and ethical requirements.

The identity of a complainant will not be disclosed without consent unless required by law, a fair investigation, or a competent authority. The journal does not tolerate retaliation or pressure against a person who raises a concern in good faith.

Confidentiality does not mean concealing the outcome: the post-publication decision and its principal basis will be disclosed sufficiently to protect the scholarly record.

Complaints and Appeals

An author or another person directly affected by a decision may submit a reasoned appeal under the journal’s Complaints and Appeals Policy.

An appeal must identify:

  • a material factual error;

  • a serious procedural failure;

  • new evidence that was not considered;

  • a conflict of interest that affected the decision.

Disagreement with the outcome alone is insufficient. An appeal will not normally suspend a post-publication notice automatically; where new evidence changes the decision, the journal will publish an appropriate update.

Archive Content from the Previous Publishing Model

Where a concern relates to content published under a previous publishing model, the journal will act within the rights, records, and authority it holds to manage the relevant DOI and metadata.

Where the content, DOI, or Version of Record is controlled by another publisher, the journal may refer relevant evidence to and cooperate with that publisher or another competent body. The journal will not unilaterally alter a publication record or DOI metadata that it does not control.

The journal may nevertheless, within its lawful and technical authority, place a clear note or link on an archive copy hosted on its website to warn readers of a material risk.

Policy Administration

This policy takes effect from the date of its publication on the official website of Geliotekhnika and will be reviewed periodically to reflect developments in COPE guidance, Crossref requirements, and publishing practice.

Correction requests and concerns about article status or post-publication issues should be submitted to:

Email: ftikans@uzsci.net

ISSN 0130-0997 (Print)
ISSN 2181-9963 (Online)