Spectrum: Journal of Science Education recognizes that errors, ethical concerns, or serious problems may occasionally be identified before or after publication. The journal will respond to such concerns in a manner proportionate to the nature and severity of the issue.

Editorial actions are intended to maintain the reliability of the scholarly record, protect readers, provide appropriate transparency, and ensure that published literature accurately reflects the status of the research.

A correction may be issued when an article contains an error that affects the accuracy, clarity, or interpretation of part of the publication but does not invalidate the overall findings or scholarly contribution.

Examples may include:

• Incorrect numerical values that do not change the main conclusion;
• Errors in author information or affiliations;
• Incorrect labels in tables or figures;
• Omitted acknowledgments or funding information;
• Citation or reference errors that require formal clarification;
• Minor methodological or textual errors with meaningful implications for interpretation.

Minor typographical, grammatical, or formatting errors that do not affect the interpretation, scientific meaning, metadata accuracy, or academic integrity of an article may not require a formal correction notice. However, errors that could mislead readers, affect citation information, or alter interpretation should be corrected transparently.

Retraction is considered when a published article contains serious problems that substantially undermine the reliability, originality, ethical acceptability, or integrity of the work.

Grounds for retraction may include:

• Evidence that findings are seriously unreliable because of major error or misconduct;
• Fabrication or falsification of research data;
• Serious plagiarism;
• Duplicate or redundant publication;
• Unauthorized use of copyrighted material;
• Unethical research involving human participants;
• Serious authorship misconduct;
• Manipulation of the peer-review or publication process;
• Other major violations of research or publication ethics.

When an article is retracted, Spectrum will publish a clear retraction notice that is linked to the original article. The notice should explain the reason for retraction to the extent appropriate and identify whether the retraction was initiated by the authors, editors, publisher, or another responsible party.

The original article will normally remain available as part of the scholarly record, but will be clearly marked as RETRACTED to prevent readers from relying on the work without awareness of its status.

Spectrum generally prefers correction rather than retraction when an error is limited and the main findings remain valid. Retraction is reserved for cases where the problem is sufficiently serious that readers should no longer rely on the article as a valid scholarly publication. The journal does not use retraction merely to correct minor errors.

Withdrawal normally refers to a manuscript that has been submitted to Spectrum but has not yet been formally published. Authors who wish to withdraw a manuscript should submit a formal request to the Editorial Team through the journal's official communication channel.

The request should include the manuscript title, submission identification information where available, the reason for withdrawal, and confirmation that all authors agree with the withdrawal request.

Authors may request withdrawal during editorial screening or peer review when there is a legitimate reason to discontinue consideration of the manuscript. Authors should avoid submitting the manuscript to another journal until Spectrum has formally acknowledged the withdrawal. Withdrawal should not be used to circumvent ethical investigations, reviewer criticism, or legitimate editorial concerns.

Requests to withdraw a manuscript after formal acceptance should include a clear justification. Because substantial editorial, peer-review, copyediting, or production work may already have been completed, such requests will be considered carefully by the Editorial Team. If the article has already been formally published, the matter will normally be handled under the correction or retraction policy rather than as a simple withdrawal.

The Editorial Team may discontinue or withdraw a manuscript from the editorial process when serious problems are identified before publication. These may include plagiarism, duplicate submission, fabricated data, manipulated authorship, serious ethical violations, or failure to comply with essential editorial requirements. Such action does not prevent the journal from investigating possible publication misconduct.

Spectrum may publish an Expression of Concern when significant doubts arise regarding the reliability, ethics, or integrity of a published article but available evidence is not yet sufficient for correction or retraction.

An Expression of Concern may remain in place while an investigation is ongoing and may later be replaced or supplemented by a correction, retraction, or notice resolving the concern.

Complete removal of a formally published article is considered only in exceptional circumstances. Examples may include legal requirements, serious privacy violations, court orders, material that creates an immediate and substantial risk of harm, or other circumstances in which continued public availability would be unlawful or seriously inappropriate. Where possible, bibliographic metadata and an explanatory notice will remain available to preserve transparency in the scholarly record.

Authors who identify a substantive error in their published article should contact the Editorial Team as soon as possible. The request should clearly describe the error, its effect on the published article, and the correction required. Authors should cooperate with the Editorial Team in evaluating and resolving the issue.

Readers, reviewers, researchers, institutions, or other parties may raise credible concerns regarding published or submitted material. Concerns should include sufficient information or evidence to allow meaningful editorial assessment. The identity of individuals raising concerns will be handled appropriately, subject to ethical, legal, and procedural considerations.

When a significant concern is raised, the Editorial Team may:

• Review the manuscript and publication record;
• Request explanations from the author(s);
• Request original data or supporting documentation;
• Seek additional expert or reviewer assessment;
• Review similarity or plagiarism evidence;
• Consult relevant institutional representatives where appropriate;
• Temporarily suspend editorial processing while the matter is investigated;
• Take other reasonable steps necessary to establish the facts.

Decisions concerning corrections, withdrawals, retractions, expressions of concern, or article removal are made by the Editorial Team based on available evidence, publication ethics, the integrity of the scholarly record, and the nature of the identified problem. Whenever possible, formal post-publication actions will be clearly dated, permanently linked to the affected article, and publicly identifiable.

Where applicable, Spectrum will seek to ensure that article metadata accurately reflects formal post-publication actions. Corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern should remain clearly associated with the original article so that readers, indexing services, repositories, and citation systems can identify the current publication status.

Spectrum does not support silently changing substantive elements of a formally published article. Changes that materially affect the scholarly record should be made transparently through an appropriate correction, retraction notice, or other formal publication mechanism. This approach helps preserve the reliability, traceability, and transparency of the published literature.

This policy should be read together with Spectrum's Publication Ethics, Similarity Check Policy, Copyright and License Policy, and Peer Review Process. Where allegations involve plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, authorship, copyright, or other ethical concerns, the relevant journal policies may also apply.