The New Zealand Medical Journal has retracted an article published in NZMJ’s Vol 132 No 1502, 20 September 2019 issue
entitled: Are over-the-counter fish oil supplements safe, effective and accurate with labelling? Analysis of 10 New Zealand fish
oil supplements.
The NZMJ and authors unreservedly apologise to the manufacturers, suppliers and the public for the error in the above
manuscript with regard to the dose of active agents in the fish oil supplements.
“Errors occur in research publications from time to time and it is very important to put the scientific record straight
as fast and accurately as possible. This happens often enough that there are well established scientific guidelines
around the process of how this is undertaken, written by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
that the NZMJ adheres to” says NZMJ’s editor Frank Frizelle.
“When an error is minor, that is it doesn’t alter the main outcome of the study, then then this is
dealt with by an erratum. This commonly does happen in medical journals. For example, the Lancet (a prestigious and
important British medical journal) has a regular section called “department of error” where it publishes its erratum’s
monthly. We publish such notices as soon as they are recognised. “When an error is major, that is the main conclusions
of a manuscript
are invalid, then the manuscript must be retracted, as we have done.”