Retraction, Correction and Erratum Policy

Last update: 03/03/2026

Pensar – Journal of Legal Sciences adopts procedures for correction of the scientific record based on editorial best practices, the institutional policy of the University of Fortaleza, and nationally and internationally recognized guidelines, ensuring transparency, traceability, preservation of editorial history, and integrity of scientific publication.

This policy observes, in particular:

1. Definitions

Correction / Erratum (Corrigendum / Erratum)

Applied when there is a relevant error in the published article that does not invalidate the central conclusions of the work, such as:

  • Specific descriptive data;
  • Spelling or textual passages;
  • Bibliographic reference;
  • Metadata;
  • Authorship or affiliation;
  • Omissions of acknowledgments and funding, when applicable.

Retraction

Applied when there is evidence that the published content is unreliable, whether due to serious error or misconduct, as well as in situations of:

  • Plagiarism or self-plagiarism;
  • Duplicate publication;
  • Manipulation of data, images, or documents;
  • Improper authorship or fraud in authorship attribution;
  • Improper or undisclosed use of Artificial Intelligence tools in disagreement with the journal's editorial policy (see the Use of Artificial Intelligence policy);
  • Other ethical violations that compromise the integrity of the work.

Expression of concern

May be published when there is relevant suspicion regarding the reliability, integrity, or ethical lawfulness of the article, with an ongoing investigation, and when it is not yet possible to conclusively decide on correction or retraction.

2. Who can request

Requests may be submitted by authors, readers, reviewers, editors, institutions, funding agencies, or third parties, by email to the Editor-in-Chief (revistapensar@unifor.br) or through another channel indicated on the journal's website, with an objective description of the problem and, whenever possible, with available elements or evidence.

3. Investigation and decision procedure

The editorial team will conduct an initial screening of the allegation and may request clarifications, documents, or statements from the authors. When necessary, the journal may consult reviewers, associate editors, the Editorial Board, the authors' affiliated institution, and, when pertinent, competent bodies or instances related to the investigation of scientific integrity.

In cases involving suspicion of scientific misconduct, the journal may adopt the COPE flowcharts, guidelines, and orientations, without prejudice to the observance of UNIFOR's institutional policy and applicable regulations.

Analysis timeframe: the timeframe varies according to the complexity of the case. Simple errata cases are handled within 30 days; complex cases involving misconduct investigation may require a longer period, with the requester informed about the progress of the analysis.

The decision may result in:

  • Filing of the allegation, when unfounded;
  • Publication of correction or erratum;
  • Publication of expression of concern;
  • Publication of retraction.

In case of potential bias, impediment, or conflict of interest of the responsible editor, the conduct of the case and the editorial process will be transferred to another editor.

4. Form of publication and record

Corrections, errata, retractions, and expressions of concern will be published as a specific editorial document, with:

  • Complete identification of the affected article, including title, authors, volume, number, year, DOI, and URL, when available;
  • Objective description of the reason for the editorial measure and what was changed, when applicable;
  • Date of publication of the corresponding editorial note.

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

In case of retraction, the article will remain available for preservation of the scientific and editorial record, with a clear, visible, and prominent "Retracted" notice, accompanied by a reference to the corresponding note.

The journal will maintain the history of editorial interventions in the article's record.

Update of metadata and external records

Whenever there is retraction, correction, or expression of concern, the journal promotes the update of the article's external records:

  • Update of the Crossref registration (DOI), with the specific tag that signals the change in the article's status, ensuring that automatic citation systems reflect the updated situation;
  • Notification to the indexers in which the journal is registered (DOAJ, Latindex, REDIB, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, Periódicos CAPES, among others — see the Indexers page), for updating the respective records;
  • Digital preservation of the retracted article in the journal's archiving systems (PKP Preservation Network and Rede Cariniana/IBICT), ensuring the historical record of editorial interventions.

5. Reference documents

Related documents