Despite the efforts exerted by researchers and the editorial and reviewing efforts, there is a possibility of withdrawing scientific material or requesting substantial modifications for reasonable scientific reasons and due to exceptional circumstances or legal reasons. This is done through strict guidelines to maintain the credibility and trust of the journal and the preservation system it follows.
- Withdrawing scientific material from publication or modifying it after publication is a necessary process aimed at correcting scientific materials and alerting researchers, scholars, and readers to errors they contain. Such errors, could pose scientific, methodological, informational, legal, or penal risks if failure to withdraw or modify occurs. This process aims to ensure scientific integrity rather than punishing researchers.
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It is the duty of the editorial leadership to directly withdraw scientific material from publication in both print and electronic versions or request modifications from the researcher. This should be announced to relevant parties, research platforms, search engines, bibliographies, and related databases. The editorial leadership exercises this right when there is clear evidence of the following, and when the researcher does not respond to their request:
- Discovery of scientific plagiarism, exceeding scientifically acceptable percentages.
- The appearance of evidence indicating the scientific material's contradiction with the journal's policies and objectives.
- The occurrence of unreliable results due to clear scientific or methodological errors or manipulation of information.
- Fabrication or falsification.
- Publication of the published research in another journal or venue without attributing it to the journal and without obtaining editorial approval.
- Violation of copyright.
- Serious legal violation associated with the publication of data/information not authorized for publication by official competent authorities, and other legal reasons (according to prevailing laws).
- Legal violation related to lying, defamation, or privacy infringement, and other legal reasons (according to prevailing laws).
- Manipulation of reviewer/editor comments.
- Existence of a case against the scientific material by any legal entity, court, university, scientific or research center.
- Evidence indicating that research results have been previously published through any means of publication without appropriate citations and without permission.
- Researchers are prohibited from using scientific material that has been withdrawn or amended, or quoting from it on the basis that it is published, and they must consider it withdrawn or unpublished in their subsequent research works.
- Relevant parties - research platforms, search engines, bibliographies, and related databases - are required to fully comply with the editorial decision to withdraw the material. Otherwise, they bear full scientific and legal responsibility for presenting scientific material that is not authorized for publication and is determined to be withdrawn, to researchers, students, and readers.
- The editorial leadership has the right to inform the institution(s) and scientific entities with which the researcher works or interacts of the decision to withdraw the material, along with stating the reason.