1. General Provisions

"Cognition, Communication, Discourse" adheres to COPE guidelines for retractions

Retraction is a mechanism for correcting the scientific record and for warning readers that a published article contains significant errors or unreliable data. Such issues may result from either unintentional mistakes by the author or deliberate violations of research ethics.

Retraction may also occur in cases of redundant publication (re-submitting the same results across different publications), plagiarism, or concealment of a conflict of interest that could influence the interpretation of the results.

The purpose of retraction is not to punish the authors but to maintain the integrity of the scientific record and eliminate false or problematic information.

2. Grounds for Article Retraction

The editorial team may retract an article in the following cases:

• A well-reasoned request for rertraction submitted by the author.
• A decision by the Editor-in-Chief based on identified violations.
• A breach of the journal’s publication ethics by the author.

An article is subject to retraction if:

• There is verified evidence of unreliable results due to significant miscalculations, experimental errors, data falsification, or fabrication;
• Plagiarism has been identified;
• The results were previously published elsewhere without proper citation or permission;
• Materials or data were used without appropriate authorization;
• Copyright infringement or other legal violations occurred;
• Unethical conduct is detected;
• The peer review process was compromised or manipulated;
• A significant conflict of interest that may have influenced the conclusions was not disclosed.

Retraction is typically not applied if:

• The issue concerns a dispute over authorship that does not affect the validity of the results;
• The main findings remain valid, and the concerns can be addressed without retraction;
• A conflict of interest was disclosed after publication, and the editorial board believes it does not affect the scientific value of the work.

3. Retraction Procedure

The decision to retract an article is made by the editorial board based on a proposal from the Editor-in-Chief. The author has the right to provide an explanation regarding the reasons for the retraction.

If the author(s) independently decide to retract an article, they must submit a written and reasoned request to the editorial office. If the grounds for retraction are confirmed, the editorial board makes the final decision.

If the retraction is initiated by the editorial team, the authors are informed and invited to respond. If the author does not reply, the editorial team may appeal to the Ethics Committee or proceed with the retraction without the author’s input.

The decision is recorded in the minutes of the editorial board meeting, specifying the grounds, date of retraction, and a reference to the source of plagiarism (if applicable). All metadata remain on the journal’s website, and the article text is preserved with the label "RETRACTED" and the corresponding date, both in the table of contents and within the article itself.

The Editor-in-Chief submits the relevant information to the Ethics Committee on Scientific Publications and academic databases, indicating the following:

• Author's name and article title;
• Source of the borrowed content;
• Retraction initiator;
• Reason and date of retraction;
• Link to the relevant page on the website;
• DOI (if available) and article metadata.

A copy of the editorial board’s minutes is also sent to the author (or corresponding author).

The editorial board may additionally decide to temporarily refuse new submissions from the author whose work has been retracted.

Information about the retraction is published on the journal’s website.

If an author wishes to retract an article that has already been published or has not yet been published, they must submit a written request including the following:

• Full name(s) of all co-authors;
• Article title;
• Year, issue, and volume of the journal;
• Page numbers (if already published);
• Justified reason;
• Contact email address;
• Phone number.

The author should understand that:

• Once retracted, the article will be removed only from the journal's internal database. However, due to the open access policy, it may remain available in external repositories (e.g., ResearchGate, Scribd, Turnitin, iThenticate, etc.). The journal bears no responsibility for copies retained in such external sources.