Change to User Reporting of Errors in PubMed

The PubMed Data Management System (PMDM), which allows publishers or their authorized representatives to update or correct nearly all elements of their citations, is now available. Users should now report basic citation errors in PubMed data directly to the publisher, including errors in author names, affiliations, or citation bibliographic information (such as date of publication, volume, issue, and page or e-location), typographical errors in titles or abstracts, and errors in grants or databanks.

PMDM is a secure Web application for PubMed data providers to access and edit their PubMed citation data. Nearly all citation elements can be updated at any time after initial receipt of their records by PubMed. The vast majority of PubMed citations are supplied electronically by publishers or their representatives, and the PMDM was created to improve the ease and timeliness for publishers to update and correct their own citations. Changes made in the PMDM are reflected in PubMed within 24-48 hours.

With the implementation of PMDM, NLM is no longer routinely updating or correcting publisher-supplied citations. Users who report citation errors in PubMed to NLM will be directed by NLM customer service to contact the publisher directly. NLM will continue to receive and investigate error reports about our value-added data on the citations, for example, MeSH Headings and Subheadings, Supplementary Concepts, and Publication Types. Use our Contact Us form for these reports.

NLM policy on publication of errata is not changing, and journals should continue to follow best practices and publish errata to correct errors appearing in the original article, for example, dosage errors, incorrect statistical analyses, mislabeled figures, or wrong conclusions.