Retraction Policy

1. General Provisions

Retraction is an official procedure for withdrawing a published scientific article in order to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record, uphold academic integrity, and maintain trust in scientific publications.

The Editorial Board conducts retractions in accordance with:

  • the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE);
  • the journal’s Publication Ethics and Academic Integrity Policy.

Retraction is not a punishment but a mechanism intended to correct the scholarly record.

2. Grounds for Retraction

An article may be retracted if, after publication, any of the following circumstances are identified:

  • plagiarism or self-plagiarism;
  • fabrication or falsification of data;
  • duplicate or redundant publication without proper attribution or justification;
  • significant methodological errors that render the findings unreliable;
  • undeclared conflict of interest affecting evaluation or interpretation of results;
  • serious violations of research ethics;
  • unethical or impermissible use of artificial intelligence technologies in the preparation of the manuscript;
  • copyright infringement.

3. Initiation of the Retraction Procedure

The retraction procedure may be initiated by:

  • the Editorial Board;
  • the author(s);
  • a reviewer;
  • a reader or other interested party;
  • an institution affiliated with the author.

Notification of potential grounds for retraction must be submitted in writing to the Editorial Board, including arguments and supporting evidence (if available).

4. Consideration of Retraction

4.1. Preliminary Assessment

The Editor-in-Chief conducts an initial assessment of the validity of the reported grounds for retraction.

4.2. Investigation

If the grounds are substantiated, the Editorial Board:

  • initiates an internal investigation;
  • involves members of the Editorial Board who have no conflicts of interest;
  • if necessary, engages independent external experts.

4.3. Explanations from the Parties

The author(s) have the right to provide written explanations and additional materials.

All stages of the review are conducted confidentially and impartially.

5. Retraction Decision

Following the review, the Editor-in-Chief, in agreement with the Editorial Board, may decide to:

  • maintain the article without changes;
  • publish a correction or clarification (corrigendum / erratum);
  • issue an expression of concern;
  • retract the article.

The decision must be proportionate to the nature and severity of the identified violations.

6. Retraction Procedure

6.1. If Retraction Is Approved

  • The article is not removed from the journal’s electronic archive but remains accessible;
  • A clear label “Retracted” is placed on the article’s webpage;
  • A formal Retraction Notice is published, including:
    • the reason for retraction;
    • the initiator of the retraction (if appropriate);
    • the date of retraction;
    • a reference to the original publication.

6.2.

The Retraction Notice receives its own DOI and is publicly accessible.

7. Corrections and Clarifications (Without Retraction)

If minor errors are identified after publication that:

  • do not affect the scientific conclusions;
  • do not undermine the reliability of the results,

the Editorial Board publishes:

  • a corrigendum (correction initiated by the author);
  • an erratum (correction initiated by the Editorial Board).

Such corrections:

  • are linked to the original article;
  • preserve its status as a valid publication.

8. Notification and Indexing

The Editorial Board informs:

  • the author(s);
  • indexing databases and abstracting services (where appropriate);
  • readers via the journal website.

Retraction is reflected in the article’s metadata and remains transparent to the scholarly community.

9. Appeal

The author(s) have the right to appeal a retraction decision in accordance with the Journal’s Procedure for Handling Complaints and Appeals.

The decision resulting from the appeal review is final.

10. Final Provisions

The Editorial Board reserves the right to:

  • act in accordance with COPE recommendations in cases not regulated by this Policy;
  • update the retraction procedure in line with international standards.

Submission of an article to the journal constitutes the authors’ agreement with this policy.