Corrections, Retractions, Withdrawals, Removals, and Replacements

1. Purpose and Guiding Principles

MEV is committed to maintaining an accurate, reliable, transparent, and permanent scholarly record. After an article has been published, any substantive change to that record must be made through an appropriate and clearly identified notice.

MEV does not silently alter the Version of Record. When a published article requires amendment or editorial action, the journal may issue a Correction, Expression of Concern, Retraction, Withdrawal, Removal, or Replacement, depending on the nature, seriousness, and publication status of the case.

Decisions under this policy are intended to protect readers and correct the scholarly record, rather than to punish authors. The Editor-in-Chief or a designated editor makes the editorial decision in consultation, where appropriate, with members of the Editorial Board, independent experts, the publisher, authors’ institutions, research funders, or other competent bodies.

MEV follows the relevant guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

2. Reporting Errors or Concerns

Authors who discover an error in their published article must notify MEV promptly. Readers, reviewers, institutions, and other parties may also report concerns about published content.

Reports should be submitted to:

Email: jmev@brin.go.id
Recommended subject: Post-Publication Concern – [Title of the Article]

The report should include, where available:

• the title, DOI, URL, and publication details of the article;

• a clear description of the error or concern;

• the parts of the article affected;

• supporting data, documents, references, or other evidence;

• an explanation of the possible effect on the results and conclusions; and

• the reporter’s name, affiliation, contact details, and any relevant competing interest.

Reports involving possible research or publication misconduct will be handled under MEV’s Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct Policy.

3. Editorial Assessment

The Editor-in-Chief or a designated editor who has no relevant conflict of interest will assess the reported matter. The assessment may include:

• examination of the published article and supporting materials;

• requests for original data, images, code, calculations, ethical approvals, or other documentation;

• responses from some or all authors;

• independent technical, statistical, image-integrity, or ethical review;

• consultation with the publisher;

• communication with authors’ institutions, research funders, ethics committees, or other journals; and

• consideration of institutional or regulatory findings.

Authors and other persons directly concerned will normally be given a reasonable opportunity to respond. Failure to respond does not prevent MEV from taking action based on the available evidence.

MEV will seek agreement from the authors where appropriate. However, the journal may correct, retract, or otherwise amend the publication record without unanimous author agreement when the evidence demonstrates that editorial action is necessary.

4. Corrections

4.1 When a Correction Is Appropriate

A Correction will be issued when an error or omission affects the accuracy, clarity, interpretation, attribution, or reproducibility of an article but does not invalidate its principal results and conclusions.

Examples may include:

• an incorrect value, unit, label, equation, or calculation;

• an error in a figure, table, caption, or supplementary file;

• an incomplete or inaccurate description of a method;

• an omitted acknowledgement, funding statement, or competing-interest disclosure;

• an incorrect citation or reference;

• incorrect author, affiliation, or contributor information; or

• a production or editorial error introduced during publication.

Minor typographical, grammatical, layout, or formatting errors that do not affect meaning, attribution, interpretation, or indexing may be corrected administratively and may not require a separate formal notice.

If an error is too extensive to be addressed by a Correction or renders the main results or conclusions unreliable, MEV will consider retraction instead.

4.2 Form of a Correction

MEV normally uses the neutral title:

Correction: [Title of the Original Article]

The notice will:

• identify the article being corrected;

• describe the error and the corrected information;

• indicate whether the error originated with the authors, editorial process, or production process, where this can be established;

• explain whether and how the error affects the article’s interpretation or conclusions;

• identify the persons or body issuing the Correction;

• receive its own publication metadata and DOI;

• be openly accessible; and

• be electronically linked in both directions with the original article.

The authors will normally be consulted on the wording of the Correction. The Editor retains final responsibility for ensuring that the notice accurately amends the scholarly record.

The original article will not be silently replaced. When MEV updates the online article or its supplementary files, the change will be clearly identified and dated, a link to the Correction will be provided, and the publication history will be preserved.

Authorship changes will also be assessed under MEV’s Authorship and Contributorship Policy. A public Correction may be issued when an approved change affects the published author or contributor record.

5. Expression of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be issued when readers need to be informed of a serious unresolved question about the reliability or integrity of a published article but the available evidence is not yet sufficient for a Correction or Retraction.

MEV may issue an Expression of Concern when:

• preliminary evidence suggests that part or all of the article may be unreliable;

• an investigation into a significant concern is ongoing and is likely to take considerable time;

• the relevant institution is unwilling or unable to conduct a fair and conclusive investigation;

• institutional findings are inconclusive;

• essential data or documentation cannot yet be verified; or

• conflicting evidence prevents an immediate final decision.

An Expression of Concern is a cautionary notice and does not, by itself, constitute a finding of misconduct.

The notice will identify the article, describe the unresolved concern as clearly as confidentiality and legal considerations permit, and be permanently linked to the article. After the matter is resolved, MEV will publish an appropriate outcome notice, such as a Correction, Retraction, or editorial statement.

The original Expression of Concern will remain part of the publication history and will be linked to the final outcome.

6. Withdrawals

6.1 Meaning of Article Withdrawal

For the purposes of this policy, Article Withdrawal refers to action taken concerning a publicly accessible early version of an accepted article that has not yet been published as the final Version of Record.

It is different from an author’s request to withdraw an unpublished manuscript during submission or peer review, which is handled under MEV’s submission procedures.

6.2 Grounds for Withdrawal

A publicly accessible early version may be withdrawn when:

• it was made publicly available prematurely because of an editorial or production error;

• it duplicates another version because of an editorial or production error; or

• a technical failure resulted in publication of an incorrect or incomplete file that should not have entered the public record.

When an early version is withdrawn, its full content may be replaced by a Withdrawal notice. The bibliographic metadata will be retained where appropriate, and the notice will explain that the version was withdrawn and provide the reason.

When a publicly accessible early version is found to contain unreliable findings, plagiarism, unethical research, or another serious breach of publication ethics, MEV will normally use retraction rather than withdrawal so that the reason for the editorial action remains transparent.

An accepted manuscript that has never been made publicly accessible may be removed from the publication process without creating a public Withdrawal notice, unless transparency or legal considerations require otherwise.

7. Retractions

7.1 Purpose of Retraction

Retraction is used when the findings, conclusions, or integrity of an article can no longer be relied upon and the problem cannot be adequately resolved through a Correction.

Retraction does not necessarily mean that every author was responsible for misconduct. An article may also be retracted because of a major honest error or circumstances beyond the control of some or all authors.

7.2 Grounds for Retraction

MEV may retract an article when there is sufficient evidence that:

• its findings or conclusions are unreliable because of a major error, miscalculation, invalid method, fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation of data or images;

• it contains plagiarism or substantial unattributed overlap;

• it substantially duplicates previously published work without adequate disclosure, permission, attribution, or justification;

• data, images, text, or other material were published without lawful authorization;

• it reports research conducted without required ethical approval or in serious violation of accepted ethical standards;

• its peer-review or editorial process was compromised or systematically manipulated;

• its authorship is fictitious, stolen, purchased, sold, or cannot be verified;

• it originated from a paper mill or other fraudulent submission practice;

• it contains serious citation manipulation;

• a major competing interest was not disclosed and materially affected the research, review, or editorial decision;

• a review or synthesis depends substantially on publications that have been retracted, making its own conclusions unreliable;

• prohibited or undisclosed use of artificial intelligence materially undermines confidence in the work; or

• another serious breach of MEV’s publication policies causes the Editor to lose confidence in the validity or integrity of the article.

Retraction will not normally be used solely because:

• authorship is disputed but the content remains reliable;

• the authors later change their interpretation or opinion;

• a minor error can be corrected without invalidating the main findings;

• readers disagree with the conclusions without evidence that the article is unreliable; or

• an allegation remains unsubstantiated.

MEV does not use partial retraction. If only a limited part of an article is affected and the remainder remains reliable, a clearly scoped Correction may be issued. If the affected part cannot be separated without creating uncertainty about the article as a whole, retraction will be considered.

7.3 Retraction Procedure

Before deciding on retraction, MEV will ordinarily:

• inform the authors of the concern;

• provide a reasonable opportunity to respond;

• assess available evidence and relevant institutional findings;

• consult independent experts or the publisher where necessary; and

• consider whether Correction, Expression of Concern, or another action would adequately protect the scholarly record.

MEV may proceed with retraction without the authors’ agreement. The journal may also act before an institutional investigation is completed when the available evidence is sufficiently clear or delay would expose readers to significant risk.

7.4 Retraction Notice and Article Status

A Retraction notice will:

• be titled Retraction: [Title of the Original Article];

• identify and link to the retracted article;

• state who is retracting the article;

• explain the reason for retraction in clear, objective, and non-defamatory language;

• distinguish, where possible, between honest error and misconduct;

• identify the responsible parties only when this has been established through a fair and reliable process;

• be openly accessible;

• receive its own publication metadata and DOI; and

• be listed as a separate item in the journal’s table of contents.

The original article will remain part of the scholarly record unless Removal is required. Its landing page, HTML version, and PDF will be clearly marked as retracted. A watermark or equivalent notice will be placed on every page of the PDF, and links will connect the article and Retraction notice.

8. Removals

Removal means that the full text of an article is no longer publicly accessible. Because removal compromises the completeness of the scholarly record, MEV will use it only in exceptional circumstances when retraction is not an adequate remedy.

Removal may be considered when:

• continued availability would violate a court order or other binding legal requirement;

• the article is defamatory or seriously infringes privacy, confidentiality, copyright, or other legal rights, and marking it as retracted would not sufficiently address the harm;

• the article contains unlawfully disclosed personal or confidential information that cannot be adequately redacted; or

• acting on the article could create a serious and immediate risk to health, safety, or the public.

Removal will not normally be used merely because:

• the article contains errors or unreliable findings;

• misconduct has occurred;

• an author or institution wishes to avoid reputational harm;

• the authors regret publication; or

• the article has become controversial.

Where an article is removed, MEV will retain its bibliographic metadata and replace the full text with a Removal notice, unless prohibited by law. The notice will explain the general reason for removal to the extent legally and ethically possible.

MEV will preserve an internal or archival copy where lawful and consistent with applicable data-protection and legal requirements.

9. Replacements

Replacement is reserved for exceptional cases in which an article presents a serious risk to health or safety, removal or retraction of the unreliable version is necessary, and publication of a corrected version is important to prevent harm or provide essential accurate information.

A Replacement will not be used merely because the authors wish to rewrite, update, or improve an article.

When replacement is approved:

• the original article will be retracted and, if necessary, removed;

• the Retraction or Removal notice will explain that a corrected version has been published;

• the replacement article will undergo appropriate editorial assessment and, where necessary, independent peer review;

• the replacement will be published as a distinct article with its own DOI and publication date;

• links will connect the original record, the relevant notice, and the replacement article; and

• the complete publication history will remain transparent.

10. Transparency, Indexing, and Preservation

Notices issued under this policy will be:

• permanently and openly accessible;

• clearly titled and dated;

• assigned appropriate metadata and a DOI;

• linked to the affected article and related notices;

• included in the journal’s table of contents where appropriate; and

• deposited with Crossref and communicated to indexing and preservation services where technically possible.

MEV will use Crossmark or other available mechanisms to indicate the current status of an article.

Corrections, Expressions of Concern, Retractions, Withdrawals, Removals, and Replacements will not be concealed behind access restrictions. The publication history will be preserved so that readers can identify what action was taken, when it occurred, and why.

11. Requests for Reconsideration

Authors or other directly affected parties may request reconsideration of an action under this policy when:

• substantial new evidence becomes available;

• a significant procedural error may have affected the decision; or

• a relevant conflict of interest was not identified during the original assessment.

A request must clearly state its grounds and provide supporting evidence. Mere disagreement with an editorial judgment is not sufficient.

Where practicable, reconsideration will be handled by an editor or qualified person who was not responsible for the original decision. During reconsideration, existing notices and article markings will ordinarily remain in place.

12. Related Policies

This policy should be read together with MEV’s policies on:

• Publication Ethics;

• Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct;

• Post-Publication Discussions;

• Complaints and Appeals;

• Authorship and Contributorship;

• Conflicts of Interest;

• Artificial Intelligence; and

• Plagiarism Screening.

13. Policy Review

MEV will periodically review and update this policy to remain consistent with developments in publication ethics, scholarly communication, applicable law, and COPE guidance.

Last updated: August 2026