Corrections, retractions and appeals
The version of record does not change silently. Every change to a published article is issued as a separate, citable, machine-readable notice, following COPE's retraction guidelines and NISO RP-45-2024 (CREC).
What each notice means
- Correction
- The article's conclusions stand; something in it was wrong and has been corrected. The corrected article is republished as a new version, and the correction is deposited with Crossref as an <update type="correction"> so that reference managers and indexers see it.
- Expression of concern
- A serious question has been raised that cannot yet be resolved. The article remains available with the concern displayed on it.
- Retraction
- The article should not be relied on. The notice states who retracted it and why, is freely available, and is deposited as an <update type="retraction">. The article page remains, prominently marked, so that citations to it resolve to the fact of the retraction.
How they are displayed
A notice appears at the top of the article page, before the text, and on every listing the article appears in. The status is carried in the deposited metadata and in the JATS, so it is evident to automated processes and not only to human readers.
What happens to the video
This is the question generic retraction guidance does not answer, so the journal answers it explicitly. On retraction the recording remains available with a permanent banner, because a retracted procedure video is often exactly what a reader needs to see in order to understand why it was retracted. The single exception is retraction for a consent or privacy failure — withdrawn consent, or an identifier discovered after publication — in which case the recording is removed and the notice says so. A patient's withdrawal of consent cannot be honoured by leaving the video up with a label on it.
Appeals
An author may appeal a rejection. Appeals go to the Editor-in-Chief, who does not handle the appeal if they handled the original decision. An appeal must identify a specific error of fact or process; disagreement with editorial judgement is not by itself grounds, though it may be stated.
Complaints
Complaints about the journal's process should go to complaints@videoendoscopy.org. Complaints that cannot be resolved with the journal may be taken to COPE.