Q: In open access (OA) journals, is modification possible even after publication?
I found a paper in an OA journal. The paper is obviously based on our paper, but our paper was not cited. So, we raised an objection to the journal editor. Later, the editor emailed us to say that “we want to modify our published paper to cite your paper.” For OA journals, I wanted to know if modification is possible even after publication?
Modification is possible in the case of all journals and cases, whether OA or paywalled; whether physical or online; whether before publishing or after publishing. It may be challenging to effect in some cases (for various reasons), but it is always possible to at least seek to do so. The modification is done by issuing an erratum if the error is on account of the author(s) or a corrigendum if it’s the journal’s error.
In your case, it’s great that the editor has responded positively. You sound a bit hesitant in your query, but as you can see, you had no reason to be so. On receiving your mail, it seems the editor contacted the author(s), who realized their error and thus agreed to include the citation. This is a remarkable instance of academic integrity displayed by everyone involved in this scenario. So, kudos to all!
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