Post-Publication Discussion

Purpose

To give readers an official and respectful channel to comment on, question, or criticize published UJC articles, so that the scientific record can be corrected and enriched transparently.

Types of contributions accepted

  • Comment / Letter to the Editor: A scientific comment on the methods, analysis, interpretation, reproducibility, or conclusions of a published article. Proposed length is a maximum of 1,000 words and 10 references.

  • Author Response: A response by the original authors to a comment, published alongside it and linked to it.

  • Notification of ethical concerns: Alleged misconduct is not published as a comment, but is reported confidentially to the editor and handled according to the Allegation of Research Misconduct policy.

Requirements for comments

  1. It addresses a specific UJC article (title, volume, issue, and DOI or URL) and contains evidence-based arguments or data.

  2. It is submitted within 24 months of the article's publication; beyond that, it is considered if there is significant new evidence.

  3. It includes the sender's name, affiliation, email, and declaration of conflicts of interest.

  4. It is courteous and scholarly; personal attacks, unsupported accusations, or defamatory material will not be processed.

Handling process

  1. Receipt: The comment is submitted through OJS (manuscript type Comment) or the UJC editorial email; the editor confirms receipt within 7 working days .

  2. Screening: The editor checks suitability and determines whether the comment is scientific in nature or is essentially an ethics report.

  3. Author response: The original authors are invited to respond within 30 days ; the absence of a response does not prevent publication of a substantive comment.

  4. Review: A comment containing new data, analysis, or methodological assessment may be reviewed by independent reviewers; the editor's decision is final.

  5. Publication: The Comment and Author Response are published as separate items linked in both directions to the original article (with their own DOI where possible).

  6. Follow-up: If the comment reveals an error, the authors publish a Correction; if it is more serious, it is handled according to the Allegation of Research Misconduct policy.

Discussion on external platforms

UJC respects discussion on moderated external platforms (for example, PubPeer). UJC is not responsible for their content, but the editor follows up on substantive concerns that come to its attention, in the same way as direct reports.

Changes to the scientific record

Post-publication changes are recorded transparently and linked to the original article; articles are not changed silently. Minor non-substantive changes (typographical errors, broken links) may be corrected without a formal Correction. The status of an article is shown to readers through Crossmark if the journal is registered with Crossref.