This page states how QAIRU Journal corrects, retracts or flags a published article, who may raise a concern, how long each step takes and how the notice reaches readers and services that carry the article.
The published version of record is permanent. QAIRU Journal does not silently alter, replace or remove a published article. Where something in an article is wrong, unreliable or in question, the journal says so in a separate published notice that is linked to the article and stays with it. Readers who reached the article through a citation, a repository or a search service must be able to see the same notice.
This policy applies the COPE retraction guidelines, the COPE flowcharts and the COPE Core Practices. Related pages: Publication Ethics, Archiving and Preservation.
| Notice | Used when | Effect on the article |
|---|---|---|
| Correction (corrigendum) | An error introduced by the authors affects the record but not the reliability of the findings — a wrong value in a table, a mislabelled axis, an incorrect affiliation, a missing funding or conflict-of-interest declaration | The article stands; the notice states what was wrong and what is correct |
| Erratum | An error introduced by the editorial office or in production — a lost figure, a mangled equation, a wrong author order in the published version | The article stands; the notice states that the error was not the authors' |
| Expression of concern | A well-founded concern exists that cannot yet be resolved: an institutional investigation is under way, the authors do not respond, or the evidence is inconclusive | The article stands, flagged, until the concern is resolved by a correction, a retraction or a further notice withdrawing the expression of concern |
| Retraction | The findings are unreliable; a major error invalidates the conclusions; misconduct is established, including plagiarism, fabrication, falsification and image manipulation; the article duplicates another publication; an undisclosed conflict materially affects interpretation; the research was conducted unethically; or the article infringes copyright | The article remains available, marked as retracted |
A retraction is not a judgement on the people involved. It is a statement about the reliability of the article, and honest error is a legitimate reason to retract; the notice says which applies.
Authors, readers, reviewers, editors and institutions may raise a concern. Send it in writing to journal@qairu.edu.kz with:
General assertions without a locatable problem cannot be assessed. Concerns raised anonymously are assessed on the evidence they contain, and the journal does not disclose the identity of a person who raises a concern to the authors.
| Step | Timescale |
|---|---|
| Acknowledgement of the concern by the editorial office | Within five working days |
| Assessment by an editor with no conflict of interest in the article | Begins on receipt |
| The authors are informed and invited to respond | Usually within 14 days of being contacted |
| Referral to the authors' institution where misconduct is alleged | As soon as the allegation is judged to have substance |
| Decision by the Editor-in-Chief | After the authors' response, or after the stated period has passed |
| Publication of the notice | As soon as its wording is agreed |
The corresponding author is the point of contact and is expected to inform the co-authors. Where the authors do not respond, or where an institutional investigation will take longer than the readers of the article can reasonably wait, the journal publishes an expression of concern in the meantime and issues the final notice when the matter is resolved. Where the concern involves an editor, that editor is excluded from the assessment and from the file; see Conflicts of Interest.
Every notice is a separate citable item with its own DOI, published in the current issue and linked bidirectionally to the original article: the notice cites the article, and the article page and its PDF link to the notice. Notices are freely available under the same terms as articles, with no barrier of any kind.
The title of a notice names its nature and the article it concerns, so that the notice is unambiguous in a reference list and in a search result — for example, "Retraction: [title of the original article]". The text states who requested the notice — the authors, the editors or an institution — what is wrong, which parts of the article are affected, and whether any conclusions survive. Where an author dissents from a retraction, the notice records that.
The original article remains available. It is not deleted, and its content is not edited. It is marked prominently as retracted or as the subject of an expression of concern, by a banner on the article page and a watermark on every page of the PDF, and it links to the notice. This keeps citation possible and honest: a reader who follows an existing citation arrives at the article and sees its status immediately.
Crossref metadata for the article is updated when a notice is published, so that the relationship between the article and the notice propagates to the services that carry the article record.
Removal happens only in exceptional cases: a legal order, or content that presents a serious risk to a person's safety or privacy. Retraction is not removal — a retracted article stays in the archive.
Where an article must be removed, the metadata — authors, title, and the publication and removal dates — is retained on a tombstone page at the article's original address, together with a statement of the reason for removal in the most specific terms the circumstances allow. The DOI continues to resolve to that page. Preservation arrangements are described in Archiving and Preservation.
A change to the author list after publication is made only where every author, including any being added or removed, agrees in writing and states the reason, and where the editor is satisfied that the change reflects the actual contribution. The change is published as a correction; it is never made silently. The requirements for authorship are set out in Authorship and Contributions.
An article may be updated for reasons that are not errors — for example, a dataset or a code repository receives a permanent identifier after publication. Such an update is published as a correction that states what changed and when. The original version remains part of the record.
All corrections, errata, expressions of concern and retractions are collected in a dedicated section of the journal archive, in reverse chronological order, each linked to the article it concerns. The section is open to readers and to indexing services without registration.
Effective date: 2026-09-01 · Version: 1.0 · Questions: journal@qairu.edu.kz