On Monday, at a news conference to discuss the report, two of its authors, Steve Coll, the Columbia journalism school’s dean, and Sheila Coronel, the dean of academic affairs, noted that Rolling Stone had itself commissioned the report, in part as an attempt to allow others to learn from its mistakes. But they also rejected the notion that Jackie was to blame for the article’s issues. The magazine’s reporting was at fault, they said, and they stood by their recommendations for more robust newsroom practices.

“This failure was not the subject’s or the source’s fault,” Mr. Coll said. “It was the product of failed methodology.”

Ms. Erdely broke down when describing to them the moment she realized that Jackie might not be reliable, they said. They declined to comment on whether any of those involved with the article should have lost their jobs. “We pointed out systemic and institutional problems,” Ms. Coronel said. “We leave it up to Rolling Stone to decide how best to deal with these problems.”

The article, titled “A Rape on Campus,” was based on Jackie’s account of being raped by seven men at a fraternity event, and the resistance she met when trying to get justice for herself. It initially stoked a national debate on sexual assaults on campus, but was quickly called into question by The Washington Post and the fraternity itself. Last month, the police in Charlottesville, Va., said they had “exhausted all investigative leads” and found “no substantive basis” to support the article’s description of the assault.

The Columbia report, written by Ms. Coronel and Mr. Coll, with Derek Kravitz, a postgraduate research scholar, criticized the process behind the article. The magazine did not engage in “basic, even routine journalistic practice,” it said, specifying that it had not corroborated Jackie’s account with the friends quoted in the article using pseudonyms; had not adequately sought to identify the man who Jackie said led those who raped her, also identified by a pseudonym; and had not given the fraternity adequate information to respond before publication.

At the news conference, Mr. Coll said that he and Ms. Coronel were concerned that the failings of the article, and the fallout from it, including their report, might discourage others from reporting on the vital issue of campus sexual assault. “It would be a really unfortunate outcome if journalists backed away from doing this kind of reporting as a result of this highly visible failure,” he said. “Because this is important work, and it’s hard work.”