Retraction, Withdrawal, Correction, Removal, and Replacement Policies
Legal Research & Analysis (Leg. Res. Anal.) is committed to preserving the integrity of the scholarly record in legal studies. The journal recognises the effort authors invest in their manuscripts and the care taken in peer review. However, in exceptional circumstances, a published article may need to be corrected, retracted, removed or replaced, or a manuscript may need to be withdrawn before publication, to keep the legal literature accurate, trustworthy and complete.
All such decisions follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), including the COPE Retraction Guidelines, and are made transparently, fairly and with editorial independence. These actions aim to correct the scholarly record, not to punish authors.
Every notice described below is freely accessible, carries its own DOI where applicable, is linked to the original article, and is registered with Crossref so that the change is reflected in indexing databases.
1. Article Correction
A correction is issued when a published article contains an error that affects the accuracy of the record but does not invalidate its overall argument or conclusions.
- Author correction: an error introduced by the author(s).
- Publisher correction (erratum): an error introduced by the journal during editing or production.
Procedure
- A correction request may come from the authors, readers, reviewers or the editorial office.
- The Editor-in-Chief reviews the request, may seek clarification from the authors or advice from reviewers or Editorial Board members, and decides on the appropriate type of correction.
- A Correction Notice is published online, linked to the original article, and included in the next available issue.
- The article is updated or annotated to indicate that a correction has been issued. The original version is kept in the record.
Minor typographical errors that do not affect meaning are not normally corrected after publication.
2. Article Retraction
Retraction applies to the Version of Record (the final published article) when its findings or conclusions can no longer be relied upon.
Grounds for retraction include, but are not limited to:
- Major errors, whether honest mistakes or misconduct, that invalidate the conclusions, such as unreliable data, misinterpretation of legal sources or fundamentally flawed analysis
- Redundant or duplicate publication: substantially the same work published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission or justification
- Plagiarism
- Authorship manipulation, including fictitious authors
- Compromised peer review
- Undisclosed conflicts of interest that would have affected the editorial decision
- Data fabrication, falsification or misrepresentation, or other unethical research practices
Procedure
- A concern is raised with the Editor-in-Chief by authors, readers, reviewers or institutions.
- The Editor-in-Chief investigates the concern in line with the relevant COPE flowcharts and invites the corresponding author(s) to respond.
- The Editor-in-Chief consults Editorial Board members and, where needed, the authors’ institution(s).
- The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision and informs the author(s) and, where appropriate, their institution(s).
- A Retraction Notice is published online, linked to the original article, and included in the next available issue. The notice states the reason(s) for retraction and who initiated it.
- The original article remains online, clearly marked as retracted, including a “Retracted” watermark on the PDF. It is not removed, so the historical record is preserved.
Retractions may be issued in batches where systematic problems, such as coordinated manipulation of peer review, are identified.
3. Article Withdrawal (Pre-publication)
Withdrawal applies to manuscripts that have not yet been published as the final Version of Record, including accepted manuscripts and articles in production or posted as Articles-in-Press.
Authors may request withdrawal before final publication (up to the galley proof stage) by sending a formal written request to the Editor-in-Chief, signed by all authors and stating the reasons.
Withdrawal is generally considered for:
- Honest errors discovered after acceptance
- Accidental duplicate submissions
- Violations of journal policy, such as simultaneous submission elsewhere, false authorship or plagiarism
- Editorial or production errors that led to premature posting
Where an article has been posted online before withdrawal, a Withdrawal Notice is published and its bibliographic metadata is retained.
Once an article has been published as the Version of Record, it cannot be withdrawn. Any concerns are then handled through correction or retraction.
4. Article Removal
Removal of an article’s full text from the journal website is extremely rare and is reserved for exceptional legal or safety reasons, such as where an article:
- is defamatory;
- infringes legal rights, such as copyright, or breaches privacy or confidentiality;
- is subject to a court order; or
- poses a serious risk to the public if relied upon.
The article’s metadata (title, authors, DOI) is retained, and the full text is replaced with a notice stating that it has been removed for legal reasons.
5. Article Replacement
Where an article contains errors that pose a serious risk, such as a misstatement of legal principles likely to cause real-world harm, the authors may be permitted to retract the flawed version and replace it with a corrected one. This is considered only where the core scholarship remains valid after correction and retraction alone would not adequately protect readers.
Procedure
- The standard retraction process is followed.
- The retraction notice links to the corrected version.
- The replacement article is clearly labelled as a replacement.
- A full history of the changes is documented.
Contact
Concerns about published articles should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief at lra@innovativejournals.net. All cases are handled confidentially and in accordance with COPE guidance.
