Procedure for withdrawing published articles

The journal adheres to the principles of academic integrity and editorial responsibility. The retraction of published articles is carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and international standards of scholarly publishing.

1. Grounds for Retraction

A retraction may be initiated in cases including, but not limited to:

  • plagiarism or self-plagiarism;
  • fabrication or falsification of research data;
  • significant errors affecting the validity of the findings;
  • improper authorship or violation of intellectual property rights;
  • duplicate or redundant publication without proper disclosure;
  • violations of research ethics;
  • manipulation of the peer review or citation process;
  • other serious breaches of publication ethics.

2. Initiation of Retraction

The retraction procedure may be initiated by:

  • the Editorial Board of the journal;
  • the author(s) of the article;
  • reviewers;
  • readers or third parties;
  • institutions affiliated with the authors.

All reports of potential violations are subject to mandatory review.

3. Review and Investigation

The Editorial Board examines the reported concerns and may involve independent experts when necessary. Authors are given the opportunity to provide explanations.

The investigation is conducted in accordance with the principles of objectivity, impartiality, and confidentiality.

4. Decision-Making

Following the investigation, the Editorial Board may decide to:

  • reject the allegation as unfounded;
  • request corrections (corrigendum);
  • publish an expression of concern;
  • retract the article.

5. Publication of Retraction Notice

If a decision to retract an article is made:

  • a separate retraction notice is published, clearly stating the reasons;
  • the notice is assigned its own DOI and is indexed;
  • the original article remains available with a clear “Retracted” label;
  • transparency and integrity of the scholarly record are preserved.

6. Principles of Retraction

The retraction process is based on the following principles:

  • transparency of the process;
  • clear justification for retraction;
  • no concealment of ethical violations;
  • preservation of access to the original publication;
  • respect for the rights of all parties involved.

7. Consequences of Retraction

In the event of retraction, the Editorial Board may:

  • inform the authors’ affiliated institutions;
  • restrict or prohibit future submissions;
  • notify relevant indexing and abstracting services.

8. Appeal

Authors have the right to appeal the retraction decision within 10 working days of receiving the decision.

Appeals are reviewed by the Editorial Board and, if necessary, with the involvement of independent experts.

9. Compliance with International Standards

The journal ensures that its retraction procedures comply with international standards in publication ethics and scholarly publishing.