Promoting Health, Protecting the Environment, Advancing Justice and Sustainability in Africa
The Africa Journal of Health and Environmental Law (AJHEL) is committed to maintaining an accurate, transparent and reliable scholarly record. Where errors are identified in a published article, the Journal may issue an Erratum, Corrigendum or other appropriate correction notice.
This policy explains how AJHEL identifies, evaluates and corrects errors in published content.
The purpose of this policy is to:
An Erratum is a correction of an error introduced during the editorial, typesetting, formatting or publication process.
Examples may include:
An Erratum normally addresses an error attributable to the Journal or production process.
A Corrigendum is a correction of an error originating from the author or authors.
Examples may include:
A Corrigendum is appropriate where the error can be corrected without fundamentally invalidating the article.
The term Correction may be used where it is not necessary or appropriate to distinguish whether an error originated with the author or publisher.
The Editorial Board will determine the most appropriate form of notice.
AJHEL recognises that genuine scholarly work may contain honest mistakes.
An honest error does not automatically constitute research misconduct.
Where an error does not undermine the principal findings or reliability of an article, the Journal may issue an appropriate correction rather than treating the matter as misconduct.
A formal correction may be appropriate where an error affects:
Minor typographical or formatting errors that do not affect the meaning or interpretation of an article may not require a separate formal correction notice.
Examples include:
The Editorial Office will determine whether a formal notice is necessary.
A correction may be brought to the attention of AJHEL by:
Authors are encouraged to notify the Editorial Office promptly if they discover a material error in their published article.
A correction request should normally provide:
Upon receiving a correction request, the Editorial Board may assess:
Where a formal correction is required, AJHEL will normally:
AJHEL will not normally correct a substantive error silently.
A formal correction notice should clearly identify what has been changed.
Where appropriate, the notice should indicate whether the correction affects:
Where technically possible, a published Erratum or Corrigendum will be electronically linked to the original article.
The original article should also indicate that a correction has been issued.
This enables readers to identify the correction regardless of which version they access.
AJHEL seeks to preserve the publication history of its articles.
Where a correction materially changes an article, the Journal may maintain:
Corrections should not unnecessarily obscure the history of the publication.
AJHEL may issue corrections concerning:
Changes to authorship may require confirmation from all affected authors and, where appropriate, their institutions.
For health-related publications, corrections may concern:
Corrections involving patient or health information must continue to comply with applicable privacy and confidentiality requirements.
For environmental research, corrections may concern:
Where corrected data materially changes the findings, the Editorial Board may conduct a broader assessment.
AJHEL may issue corrections concerning:
Authors should verify corrections against authoritative legal sources wherever possible.
Corrections may be issued for inaccurate:
Where an incorrect reference materially affects the article's argument or evidence, the Editorial Board may undertake a broader assessment.
AJHEL may issue a correction where an article contains an inaccurate or incomplete:
Transparency in these areas is considered an important part of publication integrity.
A correction may not be appropriate where the problem fundamentally undermines the reliability or integrity of the article.
In such circumstances, AJHEL may consider:
Potential grounds may include:
A correction should not be used to conceal serious research misconduct.
Where evidence indicates possible:
AJHEL may proceed under its Allegations of Misconduct Policy.
Where a correction originates from an author, AJHEL may seek confirmation from the relevant authors before publication.
However, the Editorial Board may publish a correction without author approval where necessary to protect the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.
A typical correction may be presented as follows:
Title: Corrigendum to "[Original Article Title]"
Author(s): [Author Names]
Africa Journal of Health and Environmental Law (AJHEL)
Volume: [Volume]
Issue: [Issue]
Year: [Year]
DOI: [DOI]
The authors wish to correct the following information in the published article:
Original:
[Incorrect information]
Corrected:
[Correct information]
Effect on the Article:
The correction [does/does not] affect the principal findings or conclusions of the article.
The authors apologise for the error.
Title: Erratum to "[Original Article Title]"
Author(s): [Author Names]
Africa Journal of Health and Environmental Law (AJHEL)
Volume: [Volume]
Issue: [Issue]
Year: [Year]
DOI: [DOI]
An error was introduced during the editorial or production process.
Published version:
[Incorrect information]
Correct version:
[Correct information]
The Journal apologises for the error.
Where applicable, AJHEL may update article metadata and notify relevant DOI, indexing, abstracting or scholarly discovery services of significant corrections.
The timing and extent of such updates depend on the requirements of the relevant service.
Where an article has been corrected, readers and researchers are encouraged to cite the corrected publication where appropriate.
Correction notices should remain linked to the article to help researchers understand the publication history.
Where a published article is found to be fundamentally unreliable or seriously compromised, AJHEL may retract the article in accordance with its Retraction Policy.
A retraction is distinct from an Erratum or Corrigendum and is reserved for substantially more serious circumstances.
AJHEL seeks to ensure that corrections are handled:
An identified error should not automatically be interpreted as misconduct.
AJHEL recognises that maintaining research integrity requires not only preventing misconduct but also correcting legitimate errors when they are discovered.
The Journal therefore encourages authors, reviewers and readers to report substantive errors promptly.
AJHEL is committed to correcting significant errors promptly and transparently while preserving the integrity, accuracy and traceability of the scholarly record.
Africa Journal of Health and Environmental Law (AJHEL)
Published by Prime Crest Publishers
Promoting Health, Protecting the Environment, Advancing Justice and Sustainability in Africa
Africa Journal of Health and Environmental Law (AJHEL) | ISSN: XXXX-XXXX | © PrimeCrest Publisher
Email: primecrestpublisher@gmail.com
AJHEL is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.