The retraction process

1. General Provisions

1.1. Retraction of an article is an official procedure applied in cases of detected violations of academic integrity, publication ethics, or significant errors that affect the reliability of research results.

1.2. Retraction is carried out in accordance with international standards – the COPE Retraction Guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines) – and the journal's policy.

1.3. The decision on retraction is made by the editorial board after conducting an investigation.

2. Grounds for Article Retraction

Retraction of an article is carried out in the following cases:

  • plagiarism or unlawful use of others' results is detected;

  • falsification or fabrication of data is detected;

  • the article is a duplicate publication (without appropriate references or agreement with the editors of other journals);

  • copyright infringement is detected;

  • incorrect authorship is established (inclusion of "guest" authors or exclusion of actual co-authors);

  • published results contain significant scientific or technical errors that distort the conclusions;

  • concealment of the use of artificial intelligence contrary to the journal's policy is detected.

3. Initiation of the Procedure

3.1. The initiators of retraction may be:

  • author(s) of the article;

  • reviewers;

  • readers;

  • members of the editorial board;

  • academic or educational institutions.

3.2. A complaint or request is submitted in writing to the editorial office, stating the facts and providing evidence.

4. Review and Decision-Making

4.1. The editor-in-chief, together with the editorial board, conducts an initial review of the request (within 14 working days).

4.2. If necessary, independent experts are involved to assess the situation.

4.3. The author(s) have the right to provide a written explanation (within 10 working days).

4.4. After analysis, the editorial board makes one of the following decisions:

  • reject the complaint as unfounded;

  • correct the article by publishing a correction note (erratum / corrigendum);

  • officially retract the article with a published notice.

5. Retraction Procedure

5.1. In the event of a decision to retract:

  • an official retraction notice stating the reasons is published on the journal's website and in the corresponding issue;

  • the electronic version of the article is preserved in open access with a "Retracted" watermark on each page of the PDF and in the metadata;

  • information about the retraction is sent to bibliographic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, etc.).

6. Notification of Parties

6.1. The author(s) receive a written notification of the reasons and consequences of the retraction.

6.2. The complainant (if not the author) receives information about the editorial board's decision.

7. Appeal

7.1. The author(s) have the right to file an appeal within 30 days after notification of the retraction.

7.2. The appeal is reviewed by the editor-in-chief and independent experts, whose decision is final.

8. Principles of the Procedure

  • Transparency – the retraction notice is public and accessible.

  • Impartiality – all decisions are made based on evidence and expert conclusions.

  • Responsibility – authors bear full responsibility for the reliability and quality of the presented results.

  • Preservation of the scientific record – even retracted articles remain in the journal's archive with appropriate "RETRACTED" markings.