Retractions, Corrections & Expressions of Concern

Vallensis Publishing is committed to the integrity of the scholarly record and follows the retraction guidelines of COPE.

When articles may be retracted

• Clear evidence of unreliable findings due to misconduct (fabrication, falsification) or honest error
• Prior publication without proper attribution (duplicate publication)
• Plagiarism
• Unethical research (no required ethics approval or informed consent)
• Unresolvable contested authorship
• Undisclosed conflict of interest that would have materially affected editorial decisions

Process

1. Concerns may be raised by anyone via contact@vallensis.org
2. The Editor-in-Chief investigates credible concerns following COPE flowcharts
3. The article may be temporarily marked "Under Investigation"
4. Authors are notified and given the opportunity to respond
5. A final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief, with the Editorial Board where necessary
6. Retraction notices are published promptly, clearly linked to the original article, and state the reason
7. The original article remains online, watermarked "RETRACTED" with the date

Expressions of Concern may be published where an investigation is ongoing or inconclusive. Corrections address minor errors that do not affect conclusions.

Published articles are the version of record. After publication, substantive changes are made only through a formal Correction, Expression of Concern, or Retraction notice, each permanently linked to the original article.