PatternIQ Mining (PIQM) is committed to keeping the published record accurate. Published articles are not changed silently: every change after publication is made through a notice that is linked to the article. The journal follows the COPE Retraction Guidelines.
Corrections
A correction is published when an article contains an error that affects its accuracy or the way it is understood, but the main findings remain valid.
- Erratum: corrects an error introduced by the journal during editing or production.
- Corrigendum: corrects an error made by the authors, for example in the author list, the data, a figure or a table.
The correction notice identifies the original article, describes the change and is linked to and from the article. The article itself is updated, with a note pointing to the notice, and the article metadata is updated accordingly.
Expressions of concern
An expression of concern is published when there are well-founded doubts about an article but an investigation is still under way or has not reached a clear result. It is replaced by a correction, a retraction or a notice that the concern has been resolved once the outcome is known.
Retractions
An article is retracted when:
- its findings are unreliable, through fabrication, falsification or a serious error;
- it contains plagiarism or has been published elsewhere without disclosure or justification;
- it reports research carried out without the required ethics approval or consent;
- the peer review process was manipulated;
- a major conflict of interest was not disclosed.
The retraction notice states who is retracting the article and why, and is linked to and from the article. The retracted article stays online so that the record is complete, but it is clearly marked as retracted on the article page and in the PDF.
Withdrawal and removal
Authors may withdraw a manuscript at any time before publication by writing to the editorial office. The journal makes no charge for withdrawal. Once published, an article is not removed, except in the rare cases where it infringes legal rights, is the subject of a court order or poses a serious risk to health or safety. In such cases the bibliographic details are kept and a notice explains why the content was removed.
Requesting a correction
Authors and readers who find an error in a published article are asked to write to editor.piqm@gmail.com, giving the article and a description of the error. Requests are assessed by the Editor-in-Chief, who may consult the reviewers and the authors.