RETRACTION, CORRECTION & EXPRESSION OF CONCERN POLICY

Corrections, Retractions & Expressions of Concern

The Journal of Community Pharmacy Practice is committed to the integrity of the published scientific record. All post-publication changes follow the COPE Retraction Guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines). For a health-related journal, these procedures are especially important to protect patients, practitioners, and public health.

1. Corrections (Erratum / Corrigendum)

A correction notice will be published when:

  • An author discovers a significant factual, methodological, or numerical error that does not affect the overall scientific conclusions
  • An error was introduced during editorial production or typesetting
  • Authorship attribution requires amendment after publication

Correction notices are published as separate, citable items linked bidirectionally to the original article. The original article is updated online with a prominent header notice. Corrections are also registered with Crossref and updated in all archiving systems.

2. Retractions

A published article will be retracted when:

  • The findings are found to be unreliable due to honest error, data fabrication, falsification, or major methodological flaw
  • The work constitutes duplicate or redundant publication without proper disclosure
  • The work has been found to be substantially plagiarised
  • The research was conducted without required ethical approvals (IRB/ethics committee) or informed consent
  • Authors have engaged in research misconduct that undermines the integrity of the findings
  • A legal requirement mandates retraction

Given the health-related nature of JCPP’s content, the editors apply special vigilance to any findings that could affect patient safety or clinical practice decisions. Where a published article contains information that could lead to patient harm if acted upon, the editors may expedite the retraction process.

Retracted articles are NOT removed from the journal website. They are permanently marked “RETRACTED” in the article title, abstract, full text, and metadata, along with the date and stated reason for retraction. The full text remains accessible.

3. Expression of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be published when an investigation into potential misconduct is ongoing and a final determination cannot yet be reached. It is replaced or withdrawn once the investigation concludes.

4. Patient Safety Alerts

For articles where post-publication evidence raises concern about patient safety implications, the editors may publish a Patient Safety Alert — a brief editorial notice attached to the article — even if a full retraction is not warranted. This is in addition to the standard correction or retraction process.

5. Reporting concerns

Concerns about the integrity of any published article may be submitted confidentially to the Editor-in-Chief at editor.jcpp@gmail.com. All reports are acknowledged within 5 business days and handled following COPE flowcharts. Authors named in a concern are given the opportunity to respond before any decision is made.