I have a form that includes a Notes field to which users can append notes. After 1) a note is added, 2) the approval status is changed to "rejected," and 3) a new note is added (putting the form back into "pending" status), the previous note disappears.

Example:

Created form

Added note 1

Rejected request

Added note 2. After this note was saved, note 1 disappeared.

Added note 3

Added note 4

Rejected request

Added note 5. After this note was saved, note 4 disappeared.

At this point only notes 2, 3, and 5 are displayed on the form. Notes 1 and 3--the ones right before the rejection--have been lost, and aren't even in the version history of the form. I tested this with approving the request and the notes remain, so the only issue is with rejection causing the latest note to be removed.

This is frustrating because bits of past correspondence are getting erased, and can't be referred back to.

it sounds like you're losing a version when you reject a form and returning to the previous version. You should confirm this by checking the version history before rejecting a form.

Do you have a workflow on this or is it using the OOTB approval workflow?

Yep, that seems to be the case - it's returning to the previous version upon rejection.

I believe I'm using the OOTB approval workflow - it's pretty straightforward with Approved, Pending and Rejected choices.