Publication Process

Revised Articles

Revised manuscripts should be resubmitted within 1 month for major revisions and within 15 days for minor revisions. Authors who need additional time may request an extension by writing to: [email protected]

Accepted Articles

The publication fee is only required for accepted articles. The payment will only be processed after official acceptance and the journal will never require any prior deposit during the review process. Additional information regarding publication costs is available at Publishing Fees.

Proofreading and Final Check

In our dedication to upholding scientific integrity, Phenomena Journal adheres to a proofreading process following peer review, ensuring thorough scrutiny before publishing a paper. At this stage, publishing editors review the manuscript, identifying and addressing editorial inconsistencies, ambiguities, and any grammatical mistakes. Any remaining queries are resolved through discussion with the corresponding author.

Galley Proofs

To ensure a fast publication process for accepted articles, we kindly ask authors to provide their proof corrections within 5 days. The corresponding author will receive an email containing the galley proof. The galley proofs can be downloaded as a PDF file. Authors can annotate and upload their edits on the PDF version. After acceptance, authors cannot apply major corrections to the manuscript, Figures, Tables, or authorship. Before publication, we send galley proofs twice to authors, who are asked to carefully check them and send their approval for publication.

Authors must check carefully the typesetting, editing, correctness, and completeness of the text (including author names, affiliations, and corresponding author information), figures, and tables. All corrections must be returned to us at [email protected]. 

Publishing Schedule

Articles are published every three months. Special issues and supplements do not have a fixed publication date.

Post-Publication Corrections

We follow the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding the correction of published content. 

There is no time limit for notifying errors or publishing corrections. All correction requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the editorial team and Editorial Board, who will assess the impact of the amendment on the scientific content and determine the appropriate course of action.

  • Minor mistakes (e.g., typographical errors, formatting inconsistencies, or non-substantive language corrections) that do not affect the scientific meaning of the manuscript may be corrected by updating the online version of the PDF.
  • Significant errors (e.g., incorrect data in tables, factual inaccuracies, or spelling mistakes that alter scientific interpretation) may require a formal correction notice (Erratum), which will be linked to the original article.

If authors discover a mistake during the galley proof stage, the editorial office will normally correct the article in the final online version to ensure accuracy.

Erratum

Honest errors require the publication of a correction when they are detected. The journal publishes errata when a significant error has been detected in a published article and some changes are required. Corresponding authors should send an email stating the type of error and the requested corrections. All authors must agree to the erratum by signing a formal document.

To issue an erratum, the journal follows the ICMJE guidelines.

  • An erratum notice linked to the article to be corrected will be published in the first available issue.
  • The erratum notice will clearly state the title and authors, the issue of publication, and the DOI, in the erratum heading.
  • Corrections will be clearly stated in the erratum notice from the original version and the date(s) on which the changes were made.
  • The erratum notice will be freely available to all readers online.
  • We will post a new article version with details of the changes.
  • The journal will archive all prior versions of the manuscript.

Should the error arise from the journal or publisher, it will be distinctly identified through a specified publisher’s note.

Serious errors that invalidate the results and conclusions of the study may require retractions.

Post-Publication Concerns

Post-publication critiques may be submitted to the journal as “Commentaries”, providing a foundation for the raised criticisms. The journal provides original authors with the opportunity to respond to criticisms through a “reply letter.” Both the critique and response letters are peer-reviewed.

To report serious post-publication concerns, you can write to [email protected]. When complaints are raised, applicants should provide evidence to support the claims. The journal adheres to COPE guidelines for addressing significant post-publication concerns, such as errors, substantial mistakes leading to invalidated conclusions, plagiarism, data falsification, image manipulation, and undisclosed conflicts of interest.

The Editor in Chief and the Editorial Board Members may start an independent investigation with a new set of reviewers to establish any errors and/or malpractice. If the investigation yields a result, such as a correction or retraction, the journal will promptly notify both the individual who initially raised the concern and the authors involved. Instances of suspected misconduct will be reported to the author’s affiliated institution and/or university.

Retractions

Retractions will be considered by the journal in case of evidence of unreliable data (i.e., experimental error), plagiarism, unethical research, and misconduct (i.e., data fabrication and image manipulation). In particular, the Editor in Chief may consider retracting a publication following guidelines on Good Publication Practice as reported in COPE and in ICMJE guidelines.

  • A retraction notice, with a direct link to the original retracted article, will be published in the first available issue;
  • The retraction notice will clearly state the title and authors, the issue of publication, and the DOI in the retraction heading;
  • The retraction notice will be freely available to all readers and will state who is retracting the article and the detailed reason(s) for retraction.
  • The original retracted article will be flagged as retracted with a red label on the original PDF file.

All requests for retractions by authors must be sent by the corresponding author, who should provide detailed reasons for retraction. Authors should also provide a signed document stating that all authors agree with the retraction and related reasons. 

Expressions of Concern

Following guidelines on Good Publication Practice as reported in COPE, the Editor in Chief may consider issuing an Expression of Concern if well-founded concerns arise after publication to warn readers that an investigation is ongoing and in case the investigation may take more time to be concluded.

Expressions of Concern may also be issued in case an investigation has proved inconclusive and if there remain strong indicators that the concerns are valid.

  • An expression of concern, with a direct link to the original article, will be published in the first available issue;
  • The expression of concern will clearly state the title and authors, the issue of publication, and the DOI in the expression of concern heading;
  • The expression of concern notice will be freely available to all readers and will state the reason for the investigation.