Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

JASF welcomes scholarly discussion of its published articles and corrects the scholarly record promptly when needed, following COPE guidance.

Comments and discussion. Readers may send comments, questions, or critiques about a published article to the editorial office through the journal’s Contact page. Comments must be scholarly, evidence-based, and respectful. The editor forwards substantive comments to the corresponding author, who is invited to respond. Where a comment makes an important contribution, JASF may publish it as a Letter to the Editor together with the authors’ reply in a subsequent issue.

Concerns about an article. Concerns about possible errors, plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate publication, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or authorship problems are handled under JASF’s Allegations of Misconduct policy. The editor acknowledges receipt, investigates confidentially, and contacts the authors and, where necessary, their institutions.

Types of post-publication notices. Depending on the outcome, JASF may publish one of the following, each linked to the original article and openly accessible:

• Correction (Erratum or Corrigendum): for honest errors that do not invalidate the findings, caused by the publisher (erratum) or by the authors (corrigendum).
• Expression of Concern: when evidence is inconclusive or an investigation is still under way.
• Retraction: when findings are unreliable because of major error or misconduct, or in cases of plagiarism or duplicate publication. Retracted articles remain online, clearly watermarked “Retracted”, with a retraction notice explaining the reason, in line with the Withdrawal/Retraction Policy.

Version of record. Once published, an article is not silently changed. All changes are made through a formal notice, and the corresponding metadata is updated in Crossref.

Author responsibility. Authors who discover a significant error in their own published work must notify the editor promptly and cooperate in publishing a correction or retraction.