Retraction, Correction and Erratum Policy

Last updated: 13/03/2026

Pensar – Journal of Legal Sciences adopts procedures for correcting the scientific record based on recognized editorial best practices and international guidelines, ensuring transparency, traceability and preservation of the editorial history.

This policy follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Scientific Integrity Policy of the Higher Council for Publishing of the University of Fortaleza, and CNPq Ordinance No. 2.664 of March 6, 2026, which establishes the Policy of Integrity in Scientific Activity.

1. Definitions

Correction / Erratum (Corrigendum/Erratum): applied when a relevant error exists in a published article that does not invalidate the central conclusions of the work, such as descriptive data, spelling, specific excerpts, references, metadata, authorship/affiliation, or omissions of acknowledgements or funding information, when applicable.

Retraction: applied when there is evidence that the published content is unreliable, whether due to serious error or misconduct, including plagiarism, duplicate publication, manipulation of data or images, improper authorship, fraud, or ethical violations that compromise the integrity of the work.

Expression of concern: may be published when there is a relevant suspicion regarding the reliability or integrity of the article and an investigation is ongoing, but a final decision on correction or retraction has not yet been reached.

2. Who may request

Requests may be submitted by authors, readers, reviewers, editors, institutions, funding agencies or third parties, by email to the Editor-in-Chief or through the contact channel indicated on the journal website, including a description of the issue and, whenever possible, supporting evidence.

3. Investigation and decision procedure

The editorial team conducts an initial assessment of the allegation and may request clarifications, documents or statements from the authors.

When necessary, the journal may consult reviewers, associate editors, members of the Editorial Board or the authors’ affiliated institutions.

In cases involving suspected scientific misconduct, the journal may follow the flowcharts and recommendations of COPE.

The decision may result in:

dismissal of the allegation;
publication of a correction or erratum;
publication of an expression of concern;
publication of a retraction.

If there is a potential conflict of interest involving the responsible editor, the case and editorial process will be transferred to another editor.

4. Publication and record format

Corrections, errata, retractions and expressions of concern will be published as an independent editorial document containing:

complete identification of the affected article (title, authors, volume, issue, year, DOI and URL);
objective description of the reason for the editorial measure and the modifications made, when applicable;
date of publication of the editorial note.

The note will be linked to the article, and the article will be linked to the note (bidirectional link).

In cases of retraction, the article will remain available to preserve the scientific record, with a clear and visible notice stating “Retracted”, indicating the corresponding retraction note.

The journal will maintain a record of editorial interventions in the article’s publication history.