Withdrawal Policy

Al-Bahath Article Withdrawal, Retraction & Removal Policy

Policy Statement:

Al-Bahath takes the integrity of the scholarly record extremely seriously. Once an article is published or accepted for publication, it becomes part of the permanent academic record. Al-Bahath strictly adheres to COPE Guidelines regarding article modifications, retractions, and withdrawals to balance scientific integrity with fairness to authors and readers.

Classifications of Modification

Action Category Stage Description Policy Outcome
Pre-Publication Withdrawal During Peer Review / Pre-Proof Author requests to pull paper before formal publication. Allowed only with legitimate, documented justification.
Post-Publication Corrigendum Post-Publication Author or publisher discovers a honest error that does not invalidate results. A formal correction notice is published and linked to the paper.
Retraction Post-Publication Unreliable findings, severe plagiarism, data fabrication, or ethical violations. Article remains online but marked "RETRACTED" with an official statement.
Removal (Rare) Post-Publication Severe legal violations, court orders, or grave safety risks. Metadata remains online; full text is replaced with a legal notice.

1. Pre-Publication Article Withdrawal

Withdrawing a paper late in the editorial process wastes significant time and resources provided by editors and volunteer peer reviewers.

  • During Peer Review: Authors may request withdrawal only prior to formal acceptance. Requests must be submitted in writing signed by all co-authors stating explicit reasons.

  • Unilateral Withdrawal Ban: Manuscripts are not considered withdrawn until authors receive formal written confirmation from the Editor-in-Chief. Submitting the manuscript to another journal before receiving confirmation constitutes unethical duplicate submission.

  • Post-Acceptance / Pre-Proof Penalties: Withdrawal requests after acceptance without severe, valid justification (e.g., discovery of an unfixable technical error) may result in a temporary submission embargo for the authors.

2. Article Retraction Process (COPE Compliant)

If published work contains fundamental errors, unethical practices, or fabricated data, the article will be retracted following COPE's Retraction Guidelines.

 

1.Allegation or Error Identification:Trigger.

A concern is raised by readers, reviewers, co-authors, or automated post-publication surveillance (e.g., image manipulation, plagiarism, data fabrication).

2.Editorial Assessment:Investigation.

The Editor-in-Chief forms an independent panel to review evidence. The corresponding author is contacted and given a clear deadline to respond and provide raw data.

3.Determination & Recommendation:Decision.

The panel determines whether the issue is an honest error (requiring a Corrigendum/Erratum) or misconduct/invalid science (requiring a Retraction).

4.Formal Retraction Notice Publication:Execution.

A formal Retraction Notice titled "Retraction: [Article Title]" is published in the next issue and linked directly to the original article DOI.

 

Retraction Rules for the Digital Record:

  • Watermarking: The original PDF is not deleted. Instead, a watermark stating "RETRACTED" is applied across every page.

  • Retraction Statement: A standalone, open-access Retraction Notice explains who retracted the paper and the specific grounds for retraction.

  • Metadata Integrity: The article metadata remains indexed in databases (Crossref, PubMed, Scopus) marked clearly as retracted to prevent future unflagged citations.

3. Article Removal (Extreme Cases)

In exceptional circumstances, Al-Bahath may remove an article's full-text file from its online platform. This occurs only if:

  1. The article is subject to a court order or legal injunction.

  2. Content poses a severe health, biosecurity, or safety risk.

  3. Content explicitly violates third-party privacy rights or defamatory laws.

Note: Even when the full text is removed, the bibliographic metadata (Title, Authors, Abstract, DOI) and a statement explaining the legal/safety reason for removal will remain publicly visible.

4. Article Replacement

If a retracted paper's authors wish to publish an entirely corrected version, an Article Replacement may be considered if the original research question remains valuable and the error was unintentional. The replacement will link directly to the retraction notice of the original paper.