Retraction and Correction

We acknowledge the significant effort authors invest in preparing manuscripts and the peer-review process we conduct. However, there may be instances when published articles need to be withdrawn or retracted for scientific or ethical reasons. These actions are not taken lightly and will only occur under extraordinary circumstances. We are committed to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the scientific record, ensuring researchers and librarians can trust the reliability of our electronic archives.

Article Withdrawal:
An article may be withdrawn under specific conditions, such as the discovery of significant scientific errors that invalidate its conclusions or ethical violations, including misconduct such as plagiarism, falsified data, or improper authorship. If an author identifies an ethical issue with their manuscript, they can formally request a withdrawal by submitting a statement to the editorial board.

Article Retraction:
In some cases, it may be necessary to retract an article. Retraction can occur if major scientific errors arise due to misconduct (e.g., data fabrication) or honest mistakes (e.g., calculation errors) that make the findings unreliable. Retraction may also be necessary in cases of redundant publication, where an article has been published previously without proper cross-referencing, permission, or justification, as well as ethical issues such as plagiarism or inappropriate authorship. The retraction process follows these steps:
1. The editor reviews the potential retraction and evaluates the issue according to COPE’s guidelines.
2. The Ethics Advisory Board reviews the findings to ensure consistency with best practices.
3. A decision on retraction is communicated to the author and any relevant parties, such as the author’s institution.
4. A retraction statement is published online and in the next available journal issue.

Article Correction:
If a publication contains minor errors or misleading data, the journal may issue a correction. This can occur in situations such as author or contributor errors (e.g., incorrect author list) or small flaws in the publication that do not impact the overall validity of the study. Corrections may fall into the following categories:
- Erratum: Publisher corrections due to errors made by the publishing staff.
- Corrigendum: Author corrections for errors made by the authors.
- Addendum: Additional information or updates to clarify or expand the article.

Article Removal:
In exceptional cases, an article may be removed from the journal platform due to legal reasons, defamation, or health risks. The article's metadata will remain visible, but the text will be replaced with a notice indicating its removal.

Article Replacement:
If an article poses serious risks, it may be replaced with a corrected version. The retraction procedure will apply, but the notice will link to the corrected article and include a revision history.