NAME AND PRONOUN CHANGE POLICY

The Link journal of Speech, Language and Audiology (JSLA) supports the right of authors to update their name and/or pronouns on previously published articles. JSLA recognizes that name and pronoun changes may occur for many reasons, including personal preference and life circumstances, and the journal is committed to supporting author dignity, privacy, and accurate attribution in the scholarly record. This policy is intended to enable authors to maintain continuity of their academic identity while minimizing unnecessary disclosure and reducing barriers to requesting updates.

Policy Overview

JSLA will honor requests to update an author’s name and/or pronouns without requiring disclosure of the reason for the change and without requiring supporting documentation. When a request is approved, JSLA will update the author’s name and/or pronouns across journal-controlled records to the extent feasible, including the article landing page, article PDF and HTML formats where applicable, and associated journal metadata used for indexing and discovery. The DOI will remain unchanged so that citations remain valid and persistent links continue to resolve correctly. To protect author privacy and reduce the risk of unintended disclosure, JSLA will implement name and pronoun updates without issuing a public correction notice or editorial statement, unless the author explicitly requests otherwise. In contrast, spelling mistakes or factual errors unrelated to identity are handled through the journal’s standard corrections process to maintain transparency of content changes.

Indexing and Third-Party Platforms

JSLA will update its own records promptly after processing an approved request and will take reasonable steps to notify relevant indexing and discovery services where the journal has an established update pathway. However, the journal cannot guarantee the timing or completeness of updates on third-party platforms because external services apply their own synchronization schedules, metadata refresh cycles, and policy constraints. JSLA encourages authors to allow reasonable time for external propagation and, where necessary, to update their researcher profiles and identifiers on third-party services to improve consistency across systems.

Request Requirements

Authors requesting a name and/or pronoun change should contact the journal using an official correspondence channel and provide sufficient information to identify the relevant publication records. The request should include the author’s previously published name, the updated name and/or pronouns to be applied, an email address for verification and follow-up, and the DOI(s) or precise citation details of the affected article(s). Because name changes may affect co-author records and citation practices, authors may also indicate their preference regarding whether co-authors should be notified; JSLA will respect this preference to the extent possible while maintaining appropriate publication record integrity and operational clarity.