Retraction Policy
Retractions are considered and issued in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and when the integrity and veracity of the article are significantly compromised. The purpose of retraction is to correct the literature and ensure its integrity rather than to punish the authors.
Scope of the Policy
Fabrication or Falsification
Articles will be retracted in cases of evident fabrication or falsification of data, including image manipulation.
Plagiarism
If a significant portion of the paper is proven to be plagiarized.
Duplicate Publication
Articles found to have been published elsewhere, or simultaneously submitted to multiple journals.
Erroneous Data or Conclusions
If the core conclusions of the paper are invalidated by errors in data, calculation, or experimental procedure.
Authorship Issues
Inclusion of authors without their consent, or if those listed do not meet authorship criteria.
Ethical Violations
Non-compliance with ethical standards for the treatment of human subjects or animals.
Procedure for Retraction
- 1
Investigation
Upon suspicion of any of the above issues, an initial investigation will be conducted by the editorial board.
- 2
Contacting Authors
Authors will be contacted with evidence and concerns and asked to provide an explanation or correction.
- 3
Expert Consultation
If needed, external experts may be consulted.
- 4
Decision
Based on gathered evidence and responses, the editorial board will make a decision regarding retraction.
- 5
Notification
If a retraction is issued, a notice will be published explaining the reasons and linked to the original article.
Refund Policy in Case of Retraction
In the case of article retraction, refunds may be issued on a pro-rata basis as follows:
| Stage of Publication | Percentage of Refund |
|---|---|
| Within a week of submission (no reviewers assigned) | 100% |
| In peer review process | 90% |
| After manuscript is accepted | 80% |
| After pre-publish is sent | 40% |
| After publication | No Refund |
Note: The refund policy applies only to article processing charges (APCs) and is contingent upon the nature of the retraction. Intentional breaches of ethics by authors may not be eligible for refunds.
The retraction and refund policies serve to uphold the standard of the scholarly record and maintain the trust of the scientific community and the public.
- The author(s) will get the full refund of their money if the manuscript is retracted before it reaches review process.
- The author(s) will get the full refund of their money if the paper is not accepted.
- There are no refunds or cancellation of debts if the author withdraws his or her paper from consideration; or if he or she declines to revise and resubmit.
- There are no refunds or cancellation of debts, once the paper is published.
- There are no refunds or cancellation of debts if the paper is removed due to Copyright Infringement Claims.
- After Publishing Issue / Indexing author can’t make the correction in the article. After publishing Issue/Indexing, If the author wants to make correction in the article, he/she has to pay extra as per changes in the article.
- Refund will proceed through the online mode in 10-15 working days.
- Wrongly deposit money or extra deposit money will be returned back within 03 weeks if respective author informs us within 02 days after the date of money deposit.