Spectrum of Operational Research (SOR) is committed to maintaining the accuracy, reliability, and integrity of the scholarly record. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the information presented in their articles is accurate and that research methods, data, analyses, results, figures, tables, references, and conclusions are reported appropriately.
Authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and other interested parties are encouraged to contact the Editorial Office if they identify a significant error, omission, inaccuracy, or other issue in a published article that may affect its interpretation, reliability, or scholarly record.
Authors who discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work should promptly inform the Editorial Office and cooperate with the journal in assessing whether a formal post-publication action is necessary.
When a concern regarding the accuracy of a published article is received, SOR will assess the nature and significance of the issue and determine whether the published record requires clarification or amendment.
The appropriate response will depend on the effect of the identified issue on the accuracy, interpretation, reliability, or integrity of the article. Minor errors that do not materially affect the scholarly content may not require a formal published notice, whereas substantive errors may require formal action.
Where an identified issue requires amendment of the published scholarly record, SOR may take an appropriate post-publication action. Depending on the circumstances, this may include a correction, Expression of Concern, retraction, or, in exceptional circumstances, article removal.
The criteria and procedures governing these actions are defined in the journal's Retraction and Correction Policies .
An error does not necessarily constitute research or publication misconduct. The journal will distinguish, where reasonably possible, between honest error and concerns involving possible fabrication, falsification, deliberate misrepresentation, or other breaches of publication ethics.
Where an accuracy concern raises a credible allegation of research or publication misconduct, the matter will be considered in accordance with the journal's Procedures for Dealing with Allegations of Unethical Behaviour .
SOR seeks to ensure that necessary amendments to the scholarly record are made transparently and in a manner proportionate to the nature and significance of the identified issue.
