Corrections and Retractions

Jurnal Bina Mulia Hukum is committed to keeping the scholarly record accurate, complete, and trustworthy. If errors, problems, or misconduct are found in a published article, the journal acts promptly and transparently to correct the record. This policy follows the Retraction Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the NISO Recommended Practice on Retracted Science.

1. Principles

• The scholarly record is preserved. Published articles are not deleted. Changes are made through notices linked to the original article, so readers can see clearly what was changed and why.
• The aim is accuracy, not punishment. Corrections and retractions exist to correct the scholarly record, not to punish authors.
• Timeliness. The journal handles every case as quickly as possible, so that readers are not misled by inaccurate information.
• Transparency. Every correction notice, expression of concern, and retraction notice is freely accessible and states the reason for the action.

2. Types of Post-Publication Changes

a. Correction

A correction is published when part of an article contains an error that does not affect the article’s main findings or conclusions. There are two types:

• Erratum: corrects an error introduced by the journal during editing, layout, or publication, for example a misspelled author name, a wrong affiliation, or a missing table.
• Corrigendum: corrects an error made by the author(s), for example an inaccurate citation, a mistake in data or legal references, or an incomplete funding or conflict of interest statement.

Corrections are published as a separate notice with its own DOI, and are linked to the original article. Depending on the nature of the error, the article may also be updated, with a note on the first page indicating the date and nature of the correction.

b. Expression of Concern

An expression of concern is published when the editors have serious concerns about the reliability or integrity of an article, but a final conclusion cannot yet be reached. For example:

• an investigation by the journal or the author’s institution is still in progress,
• the available evidence is not yet conclusive,
• the investigation is not expected to be fair or impartial.

An expression of concern is linked to the original article. Once the investigation is complete, the expression of concern is followed by a correction or retraction, or is removed if the concerns turn out to be unfounded.

c. Retraction

An article is retracted when its findings or conclusions can no longer be relied upon. Grounds for retraction include:

• clear evidence of fabrication or falsification of data, sources, or legal materials,
• major error that invalidates the findings or conclusions,
• plagiarism or self-plagiarism without disclosure,
• duplicate or redundant publication,
• serious ethical violations, such as research involving human participants without informed consent,
• undisclosed conflicts of interest that undermine the validity of the work,
• manipulation of authorship or the peer review process,
• unauthorized use of material or data, or infringement of copyright or other rights.

d. Removal

In very rare cases, an article may have to be removed from the website. This applies only when the article:

• clearly infringes legal rights, for example it is defamatory,
• is subject to a court order,
• contains content that poses a serious risk to a person’s safety, such as the identity of a protected source or participant.

When an article is removed, its metadata (title, authors, and DOI) remains on the website, together with a notice stating that the article has been removed for legal reasons.

e. Replacement

If an article contains a serious honest error that the authors can fix, and the correct version leads to different conclusions, the journal may retract the original article and publish a corrected version. The retraction notice explains the reason and is linked to both the original version and the new version.

3. Retraction Procedure

1. Initiation. A retraction may be requested by the author(s), or initiated by the editors on the basis of a post-publication discussion, an allegation of misconduct, or the findings of an investigation by the author’s institution.
2. Investigation. The editors investigate the case according to COPE flowcharts and the journal’s policy on Allegations of Research Misconduct. The authors are given an opportunity to respond.
3. Decision. The Editor in Chief makes the final decision. Where possible, the retraction notice is agreed with the authors. If the authors do not agree, the journal may still retract the article and will state this in the notice.
4. Publication of the notice. The retraction notice is published in the next issue, or online as soon as possible, and is given its own DOI.

4. Content of the Retraction Notice

The retraction notice:

• is titled “Retraction: [Original Article Title]”,
• states the authors’ names and the full citation of the original article,
• is linked to the original article, and the original article is linked back to it,
• clearly explains the reason for the retraction, and distinguishes between honest error and misconduct,
• states who initiated the retraction,
• is written objectively and factually, without defamatory statements,
• is freely accessible to all readers.

5. Status of the Retracted Article

• The retracted article remains on the website, so the scholarly record is preserved.
• Every page of the article PDF is watermarked “RETRACTED”, and the article title on the website is labeled “RETRACTED”.
• The retraction is reported to Crossref and to the indexing services that list the journal, so that the article’s metadata is updated across these services.

6. Withdrawal Before Publication

Withdrawal is different from retraction. Withdrawal applies to a manuscript that has not yet been published:

• Before acceptance: the author may withdraw the manuscript by sending a written request to the editors, explaining the reason. The request must be signed by all authors.
• After acceptance but before publication: withdrawal is allowed only for strong reasons, and requires the approval of the Editor in Chief.
• A manuscript that is under review must not be submitted to another journal until the editors have confirmed the withdrawal in writing.

7. Article Processing Charges

The article processing charge (APC) is not refunded if a published article is retracted because of the author’s error or misconduct. Corrections required because of an error by the journal are made at no cost to the author.

8. Appeals

Authors who disagree with a decision to correct, publish an expression of concern about, or retract their article may submit a written appeal to the Editor in Chief within 30 days of being notified. The appeal must include new evidence or arguments. It is reviewed by editors who were not involved in the original decision, and the outcome of the appeal is final.