Withdrawal, Correction, and Retraction

The author is not allowed to withdraw submitted or published manuscripts (unless there are compelling reasons), because the withdrawal is a waste of valuable resources that editors and reviewers spent a great deal of time processing submitted manuscripts and works invested by the publisher.

 

If the author still requests withdrawal of his/her manuscript the author will be asked to submit an "Article withdrawal Form" signed by all authors (or) the corresponding author of the manuscript stating the reasons for manuscript withdrawal. Authors must not assume that their manuscript has been withdrawn until they have received appropriate notification to this effect from the editorial office. Please contact the Editor for the "Article withdrawal Form".

 

 

An Erratum is a statement by the original paper's authors that briefly describes any correction(s) resulting from errors or omissions. Any effects on the conclusions of the report should be noted. The corrected article is not removed from the online journal, but notice of erratum is given. The Erratum is made freely available to all readers and is linked to the corrected article.

 

A Retraction is a notice that the paper should not be regarded as part of the scientific literature. Retractions are issued if there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable; this can be as a result of misconduct or honest error; if the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper referencing, permission, or justification; if the work is plagiarized; or if the position reports unethical research. To protect the integrity of the record, the retracted article is not removed from the online journal, but notice of retraction is given, is made freely available to all readers, and is linked to the retracted article. The authors can publish retraction when they have discovered substantial scientific errors; in other cases, the Editors or Publisher may conclude that retraction is appropriate. In all cases, the retraction indicates the reason for the action and who is responsible for the decision. If a retraction is made without the unanimous agreement of the authors, that is also noted. The Publisher may redact or remove an article in rare and extreme cases involving legal infringement. Bibliographic information about the report will be retained to ensure the integrity of the scientific record.

 

A Publisher's Note notifies readers that an article has been corrected after publication. It is issued by the Publisher and is used in cases where typographical or production errors (which are the Publisher's fault) affect the integrity of the article metadata (such as title, author list, or byline) or will significantly impact the readers' ability to comprehend the article. The original article is removed and replaced with a corrected version. Publisher's Notes are freely available to all readers. Minor errors that do not affect the integrity of the metadata or a reader's ability to understand an article and that do not involve a scientific error or omission will be corrected at the discretion of the Publisher.

 

The original article is removed and replaced with a corrected version in such a case. The date the correction is made is noted on the updated article. Authors should also be aware that an original piece can only be removed and replaced with a corrected version less than one year after the original publication date. Corrections to an article with a publication date older than one year will only be documented by a Publisher's Note.

 

The following guideline may also be helpful: COPE Guidelines for Retracting Articles.