Engagement in scholarly discourse is encouraged. Readers who wish to comment on or raise questions about a published article may submit a Matter Arising or email to the Editor. Both Matter Arising and email will be sent to the Editor only. A Matter Arising provides a formal avenue to discuss scientific interpretations, methodological concerns, or other issues related to a previously published article. The authors of the original article will be invited to submit a response, allowing balanced academic discussion. Both the Matter Arising and the response will be subject to editorial assessment to ensure the quality and fairness of the discussion.
Corrections and Updates
Minor errors that do not impact the scientific interpretation of the article (for example, typographical errors, formatting errors, or non-substantive language changes) can be corrected by updating the online version of the article. A statement indicating the updated version and date of revision will be added to the publication history for clarity.
Major errors that impact data accuracy, factual content, or scientific interpretation are handled by a formal correction notice (Erratum), which will be linked to the original article and describes the changes.
Investigations and Ethical Concerns
For serious concerns, such as major errors, plagiarism, data falsification, image manipulation, or undeclared conflicts of interest, the journal may undertake an independent investigation according to ethical guidelines. Authors may be asked to supply original data and a statement. The results of the investigation may lead to a Correction, Expression of Concern, or Retraction, depending on the results.
Retractions and Expressions of Concern
Retractions are published in cases where there is evidence that the published data are unreliable, unethical behaviour has occurred, or misconduct has been identified. A retraction notice will be perpetually connected to the original published article, which will be labelled as a retracted article.
An Expression of Concern may be published to alert readers when an investigation is in progress or when concerns are not resolved.
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