Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections
- Letter to the Editor
We welcome "Letters to the Editor" that directly reference one of the contents published in TPHB. Letters are not usually peer-reviewed; however, TPHB may request responses from or forward letters to the authors of the original publication. These letters should reach us within three months of publication of the original article. For example, a letter referring to an article published in the June issue should be sent to editor@tphbjournal.com no later than September 31. Letters sent after the deadline will not be considered. The editorial board will inform the corresponding author about the article being commented on and ask him/her to respond within a certain period.
- Expressions of Concern
An Expression of Concern is a correction or typo published at the editors' discretion to inform readers of serious concerns or potentially misleading information about a published article. We usually complete our investigations of a suspected case before issuing a report, although in some rare cases, we may state concern as an interim notification. Expressions of concern are written by TPHB's editors-in-chief. When published, a statement of concern is posted at the top of the article's webpage and linked to the article's publication record, similar to a correction. The publication of a statement of concern does not change the status of the linked published article. Once a statement of concern has been published, the same article may be corrected or withdrawn, or the statement of concern itself may be corrected or withdrawn, depending on the editors' assessment of the information, data, and/or materials received in subsequent discussions.
The TPHB editorial board informs the authors of the affected article before publishing a statement of concern but does not require their consent or agreement. The editorial board undertakes to publish data or other materials received from the authors as supporting files with the expression of concern. In such cases, authors are consulted and can choose not to to publish their dossier/materials; however, this may influence the editors' decision to resolve the issue with an expression of concern. The TPHB editorial board/editors-in-chief may send a Statement of Concern to affected third parties. This may include, for example, the authors' institution(s) and the affected repository or another journal/publisher that has an article or submission involved in the case.
- Correction
A modification or correction of previously published material; (sometimes referred to as an "inaccuracy"). Correction refers to changes the author wishes to make after acceptance, during the publication process or at any time after publication. Authors have the right to request correction of typographical errors or other problems caused by them within seven days. There is no time limit for corrections other than typographical errors that are deemed important. They should be made if the author decides that they are scientifically necessary. A correction is then created and published in the next available issue. All corrections should be sent to editor@tphbjournal.com e-mail address. Proposals for corrections will be reviewed by the editorial board. Once the correction is accepted, this new article will be published in the journal.
- Withdrawal
A retraction is a public statement about an earlier statement that will be removed from the journal. The retraction can be initiated by the editors of the journal or the author(s) of the article. However, since the editors are responsible for the content of the journal, they can always decide to withdraw the material. Journal editors can retract publications even if all or some of the authors refuse to retract the publication. Only published items can be withdrawn. Publications should be withdrawn as soon as possible when the TPHB editorial board is convinced that the publication is seriously flawed and misleading (or redundant or plagiarized). Compelling reasons may include plagiarism, multiple submissions, false claims of authorship, fraudulent use of data, violation of professional and ethical rules, and failure to disclose a significant competitive interest.
Authors sometimes request retraction of manuscripts when authorship is challenged after publication. Unless there is reason to doubt the validity of the findings or the reliability of the data, it is inappropriate to retract a publication solely because of an authorship dispute. In such cases, TPHB editors-in-chief should inform those involved in the conflict that they cannot pass judgment in such cases. Nevertheless, they may be willing to publish a correction to the list of authors/contributors if the authors/contributors (or their institutions) provide appropriate evidence that such a change is justified.
