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Researchers documented 131 scientific articles that had been changed after publication without a correction notice or another visible indication of the change. The cases raise questions about how journals preserve the public record—but they are examples found through a targeted search, not an estimate of how often silent changes occur across scientific publishing.
What is a stealth correction?
A stealth correction is a change made to a scientific article after publication without a correction note or another indicator that the article was altered. Aquarius and coauthors define it as “at least one post-publication change made to a scientific article, without providing a correction note or any other indicator that the publication was temporarily or permanently altered.”
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The term covers more than edits to a paper’s scientific claims. The authors grouped changes into four categories:
- Article content: changes to text, data, or figures.
- Editorial-process record: changes to details such as editor names or submission, acceptance, and publication dates.
- Author information: changes to the authors listed or details about them.
- Additional information: changes to statements such as those about ethics, conflicts of interest, or funding.
A silent update is not, by itself, proof of deliberate concealment or misconduct. What makes it a transparency concern is that readers may not be able to see that the published record changed, what was changed, or why.
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What did the 2025 study find?
In a 2025 opinion article, René Aquarius, Floris Schoeters, Nick Wise, Alex Glynn, and Guillaume Cabanac assembled 131 published articles they identified as having undergone a post-publication change without a correction note or other indication. The paper documents cases; it is not a population-based survey of journals.
| Category or later outcome | Count reported by the authors |
|---|---|
| Articles with an identified stealth correction | 131 |
| Cases involving article content | 92 |
| Cases involving the editorial-process record | 27 |
| Cases involving author information | 9 |
| Cases involving additional information | 3 |
| Articles later given an official correction notice | 5 |
| Articles reverted to their original version | 17 |
| Articles that received an expression of concern | 9 |
| Articles eventually retracted | 11 |
| Book chapters removed | 7 |
These are counts in the authors’ assembled case list, not rates. The study does not establish what share of all published articles has been silently changed. Nor do the later corrections, reversions, expressions of concern, retractions, or chapter removals establish why a particular earlier change was made.
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How did the authors find the cases?
The authors used a pragmatic case-finding approach rather than a systematic census. They recorded cases already known to them, explored social media accounts of science sleuths, contacted sleuths, and searched PubPeer using terms including “no erratum,” “no corrigendum,” and “stealth.” They set no specific limits on publication period, journal, or publisher.
Because silent changes are difficult to discover systematically, the authors say their list cannot be comprehensive. The paper therefore shows that such cases exist and describes examples; it cannot measure their prevalence or establish that the cases are representative of publishing as a whole. Read the article in Learned Publishing.
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Why does a change without a notice matter?
A visible correction notice gives readers a traceable account of what changed and why. Without one, someone reading a current version may not know that an earlier version differed. That can complicate scrutiny of a paper’s claims and the journal’s handling of the record.
The authors argue that silent updates can leave future readers unaware of earlier problems and raise questions about the integrity of journals, editors, and publishers. They warn that, in serious cases, a silent correction could mask a situation that warrants formal retraction. These are concerns raised by the authors, not proof that every undocumented change is deceptive or affects a paper’s conclusions.
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The authors also point to gaps in guidance. Existing policies address some issues, including plagiarism, author removal, and inappropriate image manipulation, but they say specific procedures are not available for every kind of change they discuss. Examples include some changes to affiliations, consent or ethics statements, handling editors, or journal-issue allocation.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallCan readers tell whether a paper has been changed?
Not always. A correction notice or other explicit version history makes a change easier to identify; the defining problem with a stealth correction is that the article offers no such visible indication. A reader who encounters a changed article may therefore be unable to reconstruct the earlier version or the reason for the update from the article itself.
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A separate 2025 study in PLOS Biology reported an image replacement that initially appeared without a correction notice. The researchers informed the publisher, and a notice was added months later. This is a distinct example, not a replication of the 131-case study or evidence about the overall frequency of stealth corrections. Read the PLOS Biology study.
What should journals do when a published paper needs an update?
A transparent process should let readers see both that a change occurred and what it means for the record. The study’s authors favor public logging of changes, clearer guidance, and continued public reporting. Useful policy questions include:
- Is every post-publication change publicly logged?
- Does the notice explain what changed and why?
- Can readers access or verify earlier versions?
- Do the rules cover both scientific content and administrative details?
- Can readers and indexing services readily find the notice?
The authors’ summary states: “Stealth corrections must end immediately as they threaten scientific integrity.” That is their position and call for action; the study’s case list does not show that every silent update has the same significance.
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Radboudumc’s summary of the study and Chemistry World’s coverage provide further context.
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