Authors, readers, researchers and institutions may report concerns to the EJMCR Editorial Office at contact@ejmcr.com, identifying the article and providing relevant evidence. Concerns involving an editor, staff member or a conflict in complaint handling may be escalated to Discover STM Publishing Ltd through its published contact route.
Corrections and Version Control
A formal correction is appropriate for a substantive factual error requiring public clarification when the article remains sufficiently reliable. Examples include errors in calculations, data presentation, text, tables or figure labels, and material authorship or metadata errors. Evolving scientific debate does not automatically require correction. Trivial typographical errors need not receive a separate notice.A formal correction should identify, cite and link to the article, explain the change, carry a publication date, be freely accessible and be discoverable in the journal record. The article should link to its correction. Significant updates should be identified and dated; prior versions should be preserved as appropriate to production and archiving arrangements. Substantive scientific findings should not be silently altered.
Author Name Change Policy
EJMCR recognises that an existing author may need to update their name on a published article for personal or professional reasons. EJMCR will consider such requests upon receipt of legal documentation verifying the author’s identity. Authors should contact the Editorial Office at contact@ejmcr.com through a verified contact channel, providing the affected article details, the intended updated name and the required documentation. Information may be requested to verify that the request comes from the author or an authorised representative and to identify the records affected.This service incurs a processing fee. It concerns administrative processing of an author-requested post-publication name change and associated publication-record updates. It is separate from publication-integrity notices. Requests to correct an original production or metadata error should be identified separately for editorial assessment, rather than automatically treated as a personal name-change request.
Requests will be handled with appropriate confidentiality. They may involve marriage, divorce, personal identity, religious reasons or safety concerns. Only information necessary to assess and process the request should be collected. Identity documents and personal reasons must not be included in public article files or metadata, and authors need not disclose personal reasons publicly. The Editorial Office should clarify the applicable notice and record-update arrangements with the author; this policy does not establish a new silent-update procedure.
A name-only update by the same author differs from adding or removing an author, changing author order or contributions, or resolving authorship entitlement. Those matters follow the journal’s authorship requirements and may require investigation or a formal correction. A name-only update is not a misconduct finding and does not automatically require authorship-dispute procedures or every coauthor’s approval. Genuine identity or authorship disputes may require further assessment.
Following verification, EJMCR will amend the author’s name in the online article and seek consistency in relevant publication records as appropriate and technically feasible. Records may include the webpage, PDF, JATS XML, DOI metadata and indexing or author-attribution records. EJMCR cannot guarantee changes to third-party databases, existing citations, historical files or independently maintained records, or complete removal of a former name from external sources.
Expressions of Concern
An expression of concern may alert readers to significant, credible questions about reliability or integrity when evidence does not yet justify a definitive correction or retraction. Concerns may involve data, images, ethics approval, peer-review manipulation or an ongoing institutional investigation. It is not a finding of misconduct; an allegation alone is insufficient. The freely accessible notice should identify and link to the article, describe the unresolved issue factually without unsupported accusations, and be linked from the article. EJMCR will consider appropriate follow-up when reliable information becomes available; no fixed investigation deadline is guaranteed.
Retractions
Retraction protects the scholarly record when serious problems make an article unreliable or substantially compromise its publication. Grounds may include major error, fabrication or falsification, materially misleading clinical data or images, serious plagiarism, inappropriate redundant publication, compromised peer review, serious ethical violations, unauthorised material or serious misrepresentation. Retraction may follow honest error or misconduct; its purpose is to correct the record, not punish authors. Minor errors, an authorship disagreement or a disclosed conflict do not automatically justify retraction.
The responsible editor ordinarily makes the final retraction decision, with publisher assistance where appropriate. Author agreement is not always necessary. If the editor is implicated or has a relevant conflict, an appropriate independent editorial or publisher process must handle the matter. Commercial interests must not influence the decision.
A notice should be clearly labelled Retraction, identify the article by title and bibliographic details, explain the reason and serious reliability concern accurately, identify the issuing authority where appropriate, and be published promptly after the decision. It should be freely accessible and linked to the original article, with a reciprocal status link. Where evidence permits, honest error should be distinguished from confirmed misconduct. Language must be factual and avoid speculation or unnecessary identification.
Retracted articles should normally remain accessible and clearly identified as retracted. Exceptional legal obligations, patient privacy, serious harm or other compelling considerations may justify removal or restricted access. Articles should not be silently deleted merely because they have been retracted.
Assessment and Communication
EJMCR receives and records a concern, assesses the evidence, seeks explanations or information from authors where appropriate, and may obtain institutional findings or expert advice. It then determines whether correction, expression of concern, retraction or no further public action is warranted, publishes any necessary notice and considers follow-up when new information arises. Reasonable efforts should be made to communicate with relevant authors. Failure or refusal to obtain every author’s agreement must not automatically prevent necessary action. Allegations must not be presented as confirmed misconduct.
Multiple Affected Publications
Credible concerns involving coordinated peer-review manipulation, fabricated submissions or other systematic publication-process manipulation may be assessed individually or through a coordinated investigation with publisher or institutional assistance. Each decision requires an appropriate evidentiary basis; association with an author, institution or suspected group alone does not justify retraction.
Charges and Publication Records
Post-Publication Correction Fees: Corrections requested by authors after publication are subject to editorial assessment and an applicable processing fee. This requirement applies to all author-requested corrections, including changes to author names, affiliations, article text, scientific information, data, tables, figures, captions and publication metadata. The fee covers additional editorial and production work associated with processing approved corrections, which may involve updating article PDF, HTML and XML files, metadata and relevant records supplied to external databases. Payment of the applicable processing fee is required before an approved author-requested correction is processed. Payment does not guarantee editorial approval.
Reporting Scientific Errors: Authors who identify a substantive error in a published article must promptly notify the Editorial Office. The journal will assess the reported concern on its scientific and ethical merits. The requirement to pay a processing fee for an author-requested correction does not prevent the journal from independently evaluating the reliability of the article or considering other appropriate editorial actions.
Expressions of Concern and Retractions: Expressions of concern and retractions are issued without a charge to authors. These actions are determined according to the available evidence and applicable publication-ethics procedures and are not conditional on author payment.
EJMCR should seek accurate notice relationships and article-status information in relevant publication records, including DOI metadata, XML and indexing records as appropriate. This policy does not guarantee automatic Crossmark, PDF, DOI or external-index updates or a complete public version history. Production or technical work is handled separately.
Related Policies and Guidance
COPE Retraction Guidelines (2025, version 3)
COPE Expressions of Concern (2025)
ICMJE Corrections and Version Control
COPE Author Fees and Waivers (2025)
Discover STM Corrections, Retractions and Allegations of Misconduct
EJMCR Publishing Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement
EJMCR Protection of Research Participants
EJMCR Editorial and Publishing Policies
Last reviewed: October 2026
Policy responsibility: EJMCR Editorial Office, in accordance with Discover STM Publishing Ltd policies.