Q: Can I change the figures in my paper after submission?
The paper I submitted to a journal is under review. I just received the first comments of the reviewers, and the paper will be looked at again when we hand in a revised version taking them into account. Upon creating a supplementary figure, I noticed I made a small mistake in my data analysis program which has an impact on one data group displayed in a table and in another figure. However, this impact does not change the scientific conclusion for my key data. Upon handing a revised version, can I ask to change my table and my figure?
Asked on 18 Jun, 2019
Absolutely! Your editor and reviewers will appreciate that you have made every effort to revise and correct as appropriate. Be sure to include in your Author Response that you have made these changes.
It is should not be a problem to correct the data as you have mentioned that it will not result in any change in the conclusion of the paper. But you should first write to the journal editor explaining the mistake and provide him/her the corrected version. You must explain why you think correcting the mistake in the data will not affect the overall conclusion of the study. You should ask the journal editor if you can correct the mistake that you have discovered when you submit the revised manuscript. I'm sure the editor will give permission to correct the data; however, it is best to be transparent.
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