Retraction, Withdrawal and Correction Policy

1. Withdrawal

A manuscript may be withdrawn before publication when there is a legitimate reason, such as a major authorship problem, duplicate submission discovered by the authors, serious methodological or ethical concerns, or another circumstance that makes continued consideration inappropriate.

• Authors requesting withdrawal should explain the reason to the editorial office.
• A withdrawal request does not prevent the journal from examining suspected misconduct that arose during the editorial process.
• Once an article has been formally published, post-publication concerns are normally addressed through correction, retraction, or another editorial notice rather than simple withdrawal.

2. Correction

A correction is appropriate when an otherwise reliable publication contains an error or omission that does not invalidate its central findings, argument, or scholarly contribution. Corrections should identify the affected article, describe what has been corrected, and remain linked to the published record.

3. Retraction

Retraction may be considered when a published article is no longer reliable or when a serious breach of publication ethics substantially compromises the scholarly record. Grounds may include fabrication or falsification, major plagiarism, redundant publication, serious methodological error, unethical research, substantial authorship or copyright problems, or other evidence that materially undermines the publication.

• The journal will review the available evidence and, where appropriate, seek an explanation from the author(s) or relevant parties.
• A retraction notice should identify the retracted article and explain the principal reason for the action.
• The bibliographic record should remain identifiable so that readers can understand that a retraction has occurred.

4. Editorial Review of Concerns

When a credible concern is raised, the journal will assess the evidence proportionately and avoid premature conclusions. Authors will normally be given an opportunity to respond. Where the matter cannot be resolved immediately, the journal may use an editorial notice while an investigation or clarification is ongoing.