Instructional Design and Ethical Pedagogy (IDEP) is committed to maintaining the accuracy, reliability, transparency, and integrity of the scholarly record. When significant errors, omissions, ethical concerns, or research-integrity problems are identified after publication, the journal will take appropriate post-publication action.
Post-publication actions may include a correction, expression of concern, retraction, or, in exceptional circumstances, removal of an article. The action taken will depend on the nature, seriousness, and impact of the identified issue on the reliability and integrity of the published work.
A correction may be issued when an error is identified in a published article but the error does not invalidate the overall findings, conclusions, or integrity of the work.
Corrections may address matters such as:
- errors in author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, or funding information;
- minor errors in tables, figures, statistics, labels, references, or textual presentation;
- errors in data presentation that do not materially alter the interpretation of the research;
- omission of relevant disclosures or information that should form part of the publication record; or
- other errors requiring transparent amendment while leaving the principal findings reliable.
When a correction is required, IDEP will provide a clear notice identifying the original article and explaining the nature of the correction. Where technically appropriate, the correction notice and original article will be linked to one another so that readers can identify the amendment and understand the publication history.
An expression of concern may be issued when substantial questions arise regarding the reliability, ethical conduct, authorship, data integrity, or other aspects of a published article, but available evidence is not yet sufficient to justify a correction or retraction.
An expression of concern may remain in place while an investigation is ongoing. It may later be replaced or supplemented by a correction, retraction, or other appropriate notice when further evidence becomes available.
An article may be retracted when the published findings or scholarly record are no longer considered sufficiently reliable or when serious research or publication misconduct has been established.
Grounds for retraction may include, but are not limited to:
- fabrication or falsification of data, participants, instruments, analyses, or research findings;
- serious plagiarism or substantial unattributed use of another person's work;
- duplicate or redundant publication that materially compromises the scholarly record;
- fundamental methodological or analytical errors that invalidate the principal findings or conclusions;
- unethical research involving participants or absence of required ethical approval when such approval was necessary;
- serious manipulation of peer review, authorship, citations, images, data, or publication procedures;
- findings demonstrated to be unreliable as a result of major error or misconduct; or
- other circumstances in which maintaining the article as an unretracted scholarly record would be seriously misleading.
A retracted article will normally remain identifiable in the journal archive to preserve the transparency and integrity of the scholarly record. The article will be clearly marked as Retracted, and a retraction notice will explain the reason for the action to the extent that it is appropriate, lawful, and supported by the available evidence.
The retraction notice will be linked to the affected article where technically possible and will clearly identify the article title, author(s), publication information, and reason for retraction.
Complete removal of a published article from the journal website is considered an exceptional measure and is different from retraction.
Removal may be considered only when continued publication creates serious legal, privacy, confidentiality, personal-safety, court-order, or other exceptional risks that cannot reasonably be addressed through a correction or retraction. Where possible, bibliographic information and an explanatory notice will remain available to preserve the publication record.
A potential error, integrity concern, or misconduct issue is reported to or identified by the Editorial Team.
The editor examines the concern, available evidence, publication records, and potential effect on the reliability of the article.
Authors may be contacted and given an appropriate opportunity to provide explanations, original data, documentation, or other relevant evidence.
The journal may seek expert advice or contact the relevant institution, ethics committee, research-integrity office, funder, or competent authority where further investigation is required.
The Editor determines whether no action, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or another appropriate measure is necessary.
Where appropriate, authors will be informed of proposed post-publication actions and given an opportunity to provide relevant information or clarification. An author's disagreement with a correction or retraction does not necessarily prevent the journal from taking action when the available evidence demonstrates that an amendment to the scholarly record is necessary.
IDEP does not silently replace or substantially alter the scholarly meaning of a published article without an appropriate publication notice. Significant post-publication amendments should remain transparent so that readers can distinguish the original publication history from subsequent corrections or other editorial actions.
IDEP applies post-publication corrections and retractions to correct the scholarly record rather than conceal it. Editorial actions are based on the seriousness of the issue, reliability of the evidence, procedural fairness, transparency, and the need to preserve an accurate and trustworthy permanent scholarly record.