Corrections and Retractions

BSMMU Journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. Our articles adhere to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and follow the guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Our paramount objective is to preserve the integrity of the academic record for all published or potential publications. In cases where a significant inaccuracy, misleading statement, or distorted report is identified in a published article, prompt and conspicuous correction is initiated. If, following a thorough investigation, an article is found to be fraudulent, it is retracted, and this retraction is made easily recognizable to readers and indexing systems.

Corrections
In cases of errors within published papers, these are rectified through a corrigendum or erratum. The Editor-in-Chief determines when it is appropriate to inform our readership of a prior error and subsequently corrects it in a newly published article. The corrigendum or erratum is presented as a distinct article in the journal and references the original publication.

Retractions

Retractions are carried out when an article contains severe errors that render its conclusions invalid. They are also executed in cases of publication malpractice, such as plagiarism, duplicate publication, or unethical research. As per industry best practices and following COPE guidelines, our procedure for confirmed retractions includes the following steps:

  1. A retraction note titled "Retraction: [article title]" is authored by the editor. This note is published in a subsequent issue of the journal and is listed in the contents.
  2. In the electronic version, a link to the original article is established.
  3. The online article is preceded by a retraction note screen, and the link directs readers to this screen before accessing the article itself.
  4. The original article remains unchanged, with the exception of a watermark on both the HTML and PDF versions indicating that it has been "retracted".

Editorial Expressions of Concern
In situations where significant doubt arises about the honesty or integrity of a submitted or published article, journal editors may consider issuing an expression of concern. However, expressions of concern are only issued when an investigation into the issues concerning the article has yielded inconclusive results and strong indicators persist regarding the validity of the concerns. In rare cases, an editorial expression of concern may also be issued when an investigation is ongoing, but a definitive judgement will not be available for an extended period. The expression of concern is linked back to the relevant published article.