Correction and versioning
Every published record will one day need to change: a typing error, a revised figure, a withdrawn claim, a new release of a dataset. What matters is whether the change is visible, linked and propagated, or silent. This page sets out how corrections, retractions and new versions are recorded, why superseded assertions keep circulating after they are corrected, and what editors and stewards need to run a correction route that readers can follow.
Interoperability console
Correction and versioning · Crosswalk · Profile v3
Field mappings
| identifier | id | copy | Pass |
| evidence_label | quality.label | enum map | Pass |
| licence | rights.licence | SPDX id | Ambiguous |
| version | version | semver | Pass |
Conformance
Fig.Interoperability console. Design wireframe with placeholder names and illustrative values, not a record or a live system.
The short answer.
Corrections and retractions are the formal ways a published record is changed or withdrawn, and versioning keeps each changed state visible and linked. What matters is whether a change is visible and reaches everyone who relied on the record, or silent. Superseded and retracted findings often keep being cited after the notice.
People and hazards in World.
For correction and versioning, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on true-colour imagery, population density and night lights with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on World; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 3
People and hazards, for this page
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
For correction and versioning, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on true-colour imagery, population density and night lights with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on World; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · GDACS · Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A · NASA HLS S30Sources and licences
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). CC BY 4.0
- VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
- Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
- Live: GDACS (EC JRC / UN OCHA) Events are indicative, not official warnings.
- Observed (EO): Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026), Microsoft Planetary Computer
- Observed (EO): NASA HLS S30 (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026). We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- Optional layers (35 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.
Layers and dates
- True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
- Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
- Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
- Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
Correction and versioning: how the risk develops.
Superseded assertions and correction routes. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.
Silent edits
A value is overwritten in place without a version change or a notice. Anyone who downloaded or cited the earlier state now holds a record that no longer matches the source, and nothing tells them so.
Corrections stop at the source
A notice is issued where the record lives, but copies in aggregators, indexes, reference managers and derived datasets are not updated. The superseded assertion keeps circulating downstream and is cited as current.
Version forks
Preprint, accepted manuscript and version of record, or successive dataset releases, are registered without relations between them. Citations split across versions, and a correction made to one never reaches the others.
Reliance compounds
Corrected or retracted findings feed systematic reviews, models, guidelines and funding cases. Each reuse builds on the flawed assertion, so the cost of a late correction grows with every layer that came to depend on it.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Correction notice | A published statement that amends part of a record while the rest stands, linked to the original. |
| Retraction | The formal withdrawal of a published work whose findings are unreliable, with a notice that stays visible. |
| Silent edit | A change to a published record made without a new version, notice or date. |
What is measured, and how well.
Each indicator carries its unit, its cadence, the kind of source behind it and the evidence label a value would carry. No values are shown: a programme supplies them under its own authority.
| Indicator | Unit | Cadence | Source type | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corrections issued | count by type per period | monthly | Correction trail | OBSERVED |
| Time from report to correction notice | days | per case | Case records | OBSERVED |
| Content changes without a version increment | count | weekly | Content hash comparison | OBSERVED |
| Version chain completeness | share of versions linked to a predecessor | monthly | Relation metadata | OBSERVED |
| Retracted items linked to their notice | share of retracted items | monthly | Crossmark and retraction records | OBSERVED |
| Superseded records still cited as current | count of citing works | quarterly | Citation graph | ESTIMATED |
| Corrections reflected by downstream aggregators | share of sampled aggregators | quarterly | Aggregator sampling | ESTIMATED |
From sources to decisions.
The topic as a computational graph: named sources feed the methods, an evidence review gates the outputs, and the decisions stay with the authorities that hold them.
Fig. 02Nodes carry their type, two metric rows and a state; connectors show what feeds what; dashed frames name the owners; the timeline is the cadence. Design of the pipeline, not a record of a run.
Where the evidence comes from.
Named public datasets and institutional records, each with its licence class. Sources by agreement are used only under their terms and never republished.
| Source | What it gives | Licence class |
|---|---|---|
| Retraction Watch Database | Records of retractions, corrections and expressions of concern across publishers | Open, distributed by Crossref |
| Crossmark | Publisher-deposited update status linking corrections and retractions to the original work | Open metadata via Crossref |
| Crossref and DataCite relation metadata | Relations such as is new version of, is previous version of and is obsoleted by | Open metadata; CC0 for DataCite |
| PubPeer | Post-publication comments that often surface errors before formal notices | Public comments under site terms |
| Internet Archive Wayback Machine via Memento | Time-stamped captures showing what a page said at a given moment | Free access under archive terms |
| Software Heritage | Archived source code with intrinsic identifiers for every version | Open archive, terms per content licence |
Who decides, and what the evidence serves.
Nexus Registry prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.
| Who decides | The question | Evidence this page serves |
|---|---|---|
| Journal editors and publishers | Whether an error warrants a correction, an expression of concern or a retraction | COPE guidance, the nature of the error, and the citing and derived works that relied on it |
| Data stewards and repository managers | Whether a change is a correction to the same version or a new version | The versioning policy, the extent of the change and the identifiers already cited |
| Research integrity offices | Whether a pattern of corrections signals possible misconduct needing investigation | Correction history across records by the same contributors, with dates and stated reasons |
| Systematic reviewers and guideline panels | Whether included evidence must be re-examined after a correction | Retraction and correction status of every included item at the review date |
Outputs this topic produces
- Correction trails showing each change, its type, author, date and reason
- Version chains linking every release to its predecessor and successor
- Notices for superseded assertions kept visible beside the corrected record
- A published correction route stating whom to contact and how a report is handled
What experts ask about corrections.
- When is a change a correction, an update or a replacement, and how should each be labelled?
- How can a correction reach citations, copies and derived records?
- What must be kept of a superseded version so that past decisions can be understood?
- Who may initiate, review and approve a correction?
- How is a correction itself corrected?
Why uncorrected errors persist.
Studies of retracted research have long shown that flawed papers continue to be cited after retraction, largely because readers meet them through copies, summaries and reference lists that never learn of the change. The same happens with datasets, dashboards and programme descriptions. Silent edits make it worse: when a page changes without notice, readers cannot know that what they cited is no longer what the page says.
Good practice therefore treats records as append-only. A correction creates a new version that points to the one it supersedes, states what changed and why, and is announced through a notice that downstream systems can detect. Publishing communities have developed shared guidance for retractions and corrections, and versioned identifiers let citations point to a specific state. The Registry's procedure is described on corrections and version history.
How versioning works in practice.
- 01
Version chains
Each version records its predecessor and successor, so the full history can be followed.
- 02
Typed changes
A change is labelled as a correction, an update, a supersession or a withdrawal, each with a reason.
- 03
Change notices
Machine-readable notices let copies elsewhere update, a feature discussed under registry interoperability.
- 04
Limits
No registry can recall copies it does not control. Notices help only systems that read them, and some errors are found too late to change decisions already taken. Correcting a record does not correct the reasoning others built on it.
How it is studied, and what the methods cannot say.
- Data engineering, interoperability and stewardshipSchema-validated ingestion · Persistent identifier reconciliation · Lineage capture in pipelinesApplied here
- Cybersecurity and cryptographyTamper-evident record history · Signed exports and releases · Threat modelling of edit pathsApplied here
- Digital identity and public digital systemsIssuer authentication and authority · Contributor disambiguation by the personApplied here
Questions and answers.
What is the difference between a correction and a new version?
Are retracted records deleted?
How can I tell if a record I cited has changed?
Why do retracted findings keep being cited?
Will an earlier version disappear after a correction?
Can anyone request a correction?
Is a withdrawal the same as a correction?
Around Nexus Registry.
Bring your expertise to this field.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.