Ad-Dustur protects the integrity and completeness of the scholarly record for all its readers. Changes to an article already published online are made only under the conditions set out below. This policy follows best practice in academic publishing and COPE guidelines.

Erratum (Correction)

An erratum is a statement from the authors of the original article that briefly describes the correction of an error or omission in the article. The effect of the error on the article's conclusions must be explained. A corrected article is not removed from the journal website; it is accompanied by an erratum notice that readers can access freely and that is linked to the article concerned.

Retraction

A retraction is a notice that an article should no longer be considered part of the scholarly literature. An article is retracted when there is clear evidence that:

• the findings are unreliable, whether due to misconduct or honest error;
• the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper attribution, permission, or justification;
• the article is plagiarized; or
• the research was conducted unethically.

A retracted article is not removed from the journal website; it is accompanied by a freely accessible retraction notice linked to the article. A retraction may be requested by authors who discover substantial scientific errors, or decided by the editor or publisher. In every case, the notice states the reason for the retraction and who is responsible for the decision. If a retraction is made without the unanimous agreement of all authors, this is also recorded. In rare and extreme cases, such as legal infringement, the publisher may edit or remove an article; its bibliographic information is kept to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Publisher's Note

A Publisher's Note informs readers that an article has been corrected after publication. It is issued by the publisher for typographical or production errors that are the publisher's fault and that affect the integrity of the metadata (such as the title or author list) or readers' understanding. In such cases the original article is replaced with the corrected version, and the date of correction is stated. Minor errors that affect neither the metadata, readers' understanding, nor the scientific substance are corrected at the publisher's discretion.

An article may only be replaced less than one year after its publication date. Corrections to articles published more than one year ago are documented through a Publisher's Note only.

Related guidance: COPE Guidelines for Retracting Articles