Post-publication discussion, amendments, retraction

The editorial board of the journal Actual Dentistry encourages scientific discussion and provides mechanisms for debating published materials. In its activities, we follow international standards for editors and authors established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Mechanisms of Scientific Discussion

  • Authors and readers may submit questions or critical remarks. Substantiated letters may be published together with the response of the authors of the original study.
  • Each official submission concerning the content of an article is subject to mandatory review by the Editor-in-Chief.
  • To minimize errors, editors coordinate all substantial changes to the text with authors at the prepress stage. Minor corrections (spelling, grammar) may be made by the editorial office without additional approval.

2. Corrections and Amendments

If errors are identified in an article as a result of discussion or audit, which do not undermine the scientific value of the work or alter its conclusions, the editorial office follows COPE recommendations regarding corrections.

Types of Corrections

  • Publisher’s Error (Erratum): if the error was introduced by the journal during typesetting or printing (e.g., a missing letter in the author’s name, a mismatch of table numbers in the text).
  • Author’s Error (Corrigendum): if the error was made by the author and discovered after publication (e.g., a mistake in measurement units, clarification of drug dosage, or the need to add a co-author who was mistakenly omitted).
  • Addendum: publication of additional information that clarifies part of the data but does not change the overall conclusions of the article.

Changes in authorship after publication require written consent of all contributors and justification to the Editor-in-Chief.

Correction Procedure

Substantial errors that do not affect the scientific integrity of the study are corrected by updating the publication:

  1. The original PDF file is replaced with the corrected version.
  2. An official notice with a detailed description of the corrections is posted on the article’s page (tab “Updates”).
  3. The original (initial) PDF file is marked with a note indicating the existence of a corrected version, archived, and remains accessible via a link in the change history section.

Correction of Significant Errors

If, after publication, a significant but unintentional error is discovered (affecting interpretation of results, methodology description, or accuracy of clinical recommendations, but not rendering the study invalid overall), the editorial office follows this procedure:

Procedure for correcting significant errors:

  1. The editorial office publishes a separate Correction Notice, registered with its own unique DOI.
  2. This notice is linked to the original article in the archive so that readers immediately see the updates.
  3. A title page with the corrected text is added to the original PDF file, along with a note indicating the update date.

The final decision on publishing a correction is made by the Editor-in-Chief after discussion with the authors and, if necessary, consultation with reviewers to assess the impact of the error on the scientific content.

3. Retraction of Articles

The editorial office adheres to COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) standards for retraction of publications.

Retraction is a mechanism for correcting the scientific record and alerting readers to articles whose content or data are so seriously flawed or erroneous that their conclusions cannot be relied upon. Unreliable content may result from honest error or misconduct during research or publication.

Retraction is an extreme measure applied in cases of proven fundamental errors that invalidate results (fabrication, plagiarism, duplication).

Grounds for Retraction

  • Data unreliability: clear evidence of major errors or manipulation of images/numbers.
  • Plagiarism and duplication: publication of results in another journal without proper justification or permission.
  • Violation of AI policy: undeclared use of artificial intelligence tools resulting in unreliable content or breach of authorship principles.
  • Misappropriation of personal data or fictitious authorship.
  • Key scientific conclusions based on publications that were later corrected or retracted.
  • Ethics compromise: undisclosed conflicts of interest, violations of bioethics, or manipulation of the peer review process.

Retraction Procedure

  1. Retraction may be initiated by the authors, the editorial office, or a third party with substantiated evidence.
  2. The editorial office conducts an internal review. The final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the editorial board.
  3. Following the decision to retract, the procedure concludes with publication of an official Retraction Notice, assigned a separate DOI.

Form of Retraction Publication

A retracted article is not deleted from the website or electronic archive to preserve the integrity of the scientific record. Instead:

  • Each page of the PDF file is marked with a “RETRACTED” watermark.
  • The Retraction Notice is hyperlinked to the original article. The notice clearly states: article title, authors, reason for retraction, and initiator of the process.
  • Information about the retraction is published in the next issue of the journal and is sent to all scientometric databases that index the journal.

Retracted articles remain openly accessible in the journal’s archive.

4. Safeguarding the Integrity of the Scientific Record

The editorial office guarantees that any changes after publication will be:

  1. Public: accompanied by a separate notice.
  2. Transparent: with indication of the date and reason for changes.
  3. Immutable: the original version of the article is preserved in the archive with appropriate labeling, ensuring traceability of the publication history.