Journal Policy
Corrections, Retractions, and Withdrawal Policy
Journal of Biological and Sustainability Sciences
Policy Statement
The Journal of Biological and Sustainability Sciences is committed to maintaining the accuracy, transparency, and integrity of the scholarly record.
When errors, ethical concerns, authorship issues, data problems, plagiarism, duplicate publication, or other post-publication concerns are identified, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, retraction, article update, or withdrawal, depending on the nature and seriousness of the case.
All post-publication decisions are handled carefully, fairly, and transparently, with the aim of protecting readers, authors, reviewers, institutions, and the scientific record.
Corrections
A correction may be issued when an article contains an error that does not invalidate the main findings, conclusions, or scientific contribution of the work.
Corrections may be used for mistakes in author information, affiliations, funding details, acknowledgments, figures, tables, data labels, units, references, typographical errors, or other factual errors that require public clarification.
The correction notice should clearly identify the original article, describe the error, provide the corrected information, and indicate whether the conclusions of the article are affected.
Minor Corrections
Minor corrections may be made for typographical, formatting, or metadata errors that do not affect the interpretation of the article. When necessary, the article record may be updated with a clear note.
Major Corrections
Major corrections may be issued when errors affect important parts of the article but do not invalidate the overall findings. These corrections are published as formal notices linked to the original article.
Retractions
A retraction may be issued when an article is no longer reliable, when serious ethical concerns are confirmed, or when the published work significantly violates publication standards.
Retraction does not remove the article from the scholarly record. Instead, the article remains accessible with a clear retraction notice so that readers understand the status of the work.
Reasons for Retraction
- Fabrication, falsification, or serious manipulation of data.
- Plagiarism, duplicate publication, or redundant publication.
- Major errors that invalidate the main findings or conclusions.
- Unethical research practices or lack of required ethical approval.
- Serious image manipulation or misuse of figures and tables.
- Undisclosed conflicts of interest that affect the reliability of the work.
- Authorship disputes or contributor misrepresentation that cannot be resolved.
- Use of unreliable, fabricated, or misleading references.
- Evidence that peer review or editorial process was manipulated.
Expression of Concern
An expression of concern may be published when serious questions have been raised about an article, but the investigation is still ongoing or the evidence is not yet sufficient for a correction or retraction.
The expression of concern alerts readers that there may be a problem with the article while the editorial office investigates the matter.
Once the investigation is complete, the expression of concern may be followed by a correction, retraction, update, or no further action.
Article Withdrawal
Article withdrawal applies mainly to manuscripts that have been submitted, accepted, or published online ahead of final issue assignment but require removal from the publication process due to serious concerns.
Withdrawal may be considered before final publication in cases of duplicate submission, major authorship disputes, accidental submission, ethical problems, legal concerns, or confirmed violation of journal policy.
Authors must not withdraw a manuscript after peer review or acceptance without a valid reason. Withdrawal requests must be submitted in writing by the corresponding author and may require confirmation from all co-authors.
Author-Initiated Withdrawal
Authors may request withdrawal before publication by providing a clear explanation. The editorial office will evaluate the request and may ask for written approval from all authors.
Editorial Withdrawal
The journal may withdraw a manuscript or article if serious ethical, legal, technical, authorship, or publication integrity concerns are identified before final publication.
Post-Publication Updates
In some cases, an article may require a post-publication update that does not rise to the level of correction or retraction. Such updates may include metadata clarification, improved links, repository updates, funding clarification, or supplementary file updates.
All meaningful updates should be transparent and traceable. The journal may add a note to the article record when an update is important for readers.
Investigation Procedure
When a concern is raised, the editorial office may review the article, contact the corresponding author, consult co-authors, request original data or documentation, seek advice from reviewers or editorial board members, and contact relevant institutions where appropriate.
- Concerns may be raised by readers, reviewers, editors, authors, institutions, or third parties.
- The journal will assess whether the concern is credible and relevant.
- Authors may be asked to provide explanations, original data, ethical approval, or supporting documents.
- The editorial office will evaluate the evidence and decide the appropriate action.
- Serious concerns may be referred to institutions or relevant authorities.
Retraction and Correction Notices
Correction, retraction, withdrawal, or expression of concern notices should be clearly labeled, linked to the original article, freely accessible, and included in the publication record.
- The notice should identify the original article title, authors, journal, year, and DOI or article link where available.
- The notice should explain the reason for the action in clear language.
- The notice should state who initiated the action where appropriate.
- The original article should remain linked to the notice.
- The publication record should remain transparent and traceable.
Author Responsibilities
- Authors must inform the journal promptly if they discover an error in their submitted or published work.
- Authors must cooperate with editorial investigations and provide requested information.
- Authors must not submit the same manuscript to another journal while it is under review at JBSS.
- Authors must not request withdrawal for unethical reasons after peer review or acceptance.
- All authors are expected to support correction of the scholarly record when necessary.
Contact for Post-Publication Concerns
Questions about corrections, retractions, withdrawal requests, expressions of concern, or post-publication updates may be directed to the editorial office.