CrossMark is a multi-publisher initiative to provide a standard way for readers to locate the current version of a piece of content. By applying the CrossMark logo, F1000 Research is committing to maintaining the content it publishes and to alerting readers to changes if and when they occur.
Clicking on the CrossMark logo will tell you the current status of a document and may also give you additional publication record information about the document. One of the ways F1000 Research will use CrossMark is to include information on new revised versions of the article, as well as new referee reports relating to the article.
F1000 Research recognizes the importance of the integrity and completeness of the scholarly record to researchers and librarians, and has therefore drawn up a policy on article withdrawal, retraction, removal and replacement to address these concerns and to take into account current best practice in the scholarly and library communities.
While our model encourages authors to update their articles and publish new versions, articles that have already been published will remain unaltered as far as is possible; however, in exceptional circumstances, an article may have to be later altered, actions that will not be undertaken lightly. Such circumstances include:
- Article Withdrawal: Where authors or others realise a serious error in the article such as mixing up of samples, use of a scientific tool or equipment that is found subsequently to be faulty. The article will be marked as ‘Withdrawn’ and include a statement on the reasons for withdrawal.
- Article Retraction: Where there has been a serious infringement of professional ethical codes, such as multiple submission, bogus claims of authorship, plagiarism, or fraudulent use of data, etc. The online article will be replaced by a screen containing the retraction note.
- Article Removal: Where legal limitations have been placed upon the publisher, copyright holder or author(s), such as where the article is clearly defamatory or infringes others’ legal rights, or where the article is the subject of a court order. The online article will be replaced by a screen containing the removal note.
- Article Replacement: Where false or inaccurate data that, if acted upon, would pose a serious health risk. Here, the authors may retract the original article and replace it with a corrected version. The article retraction notice will publish a link to the corrected re-published article and a history of the document.
We will regularly monitor international standards and best practices and will evolve these policies in line with developments as appropriate.