Retraction policy (withdrawal of published publications)
Retraction is the procedure for withdrawing or marking a published scientific article in cases where, after its publication, significant circumstances have been established that call into question its scientific integrity, reliability, or compliance with the principles of publication ethics.
A retraction applies to an article that has already been published and is different from rejecting a manuscript before it is published.
Grounds for retraction
The article may be revoked, in particular, if it is established:
- significant falsification or fabrication of data;
- plagiarism;
- significant self-plagiarism;
- duplicate publication;
- unlawful authorship;
- a significant error that makes the results of the publication unreliable;
- copyright infringement;
- other significant violations of publication ethics.
Decision-making procedure
The initiator of the consideration of the issue of retraction may be the editorial board, author, reader, reviewer, or other person who reported a possible violation.
The editorial office checks the information received and, if necessary, contacts the authors for explanations.
The decision to retract is made by the editorial board after reviewing the available materials.
Designation of retracted article
In case of retraction:
- the article page is stored in the journal archive;
- a clear notice of its retraction is placed on the article page;
- the date and reason for the retraction are indicated;
- The PDF file of the article is marked as retracted;
- The DOI of the publication is retained if it has been registered.
A retraction should not result in the destruction of the historical record of the fact of publication.