ARTICLE RETRACTION

Retraction of an article by the authors or the journal editor, often with advice from the scholarly community, is a longstanding academic practice. Articles may be retracted to address significant errors affecting the reported findings or for violations of journal policies.

Editors will consider retraction if:

- There is clear evidence of unreliability due to major errors (e.g., miscalculations or experimental mistakes) or data fabrication/falsification (e.g., image manipulation).
- The article is plagiarized.
- Findings have been published elsewhere without proper attribution or permission.
- It contains unauthorized material or data.
- Copyright infringements or serious legal issues (e.g., libel) exist.
- The research violates ethical guidelines regarding human or animal subjects.
- There is evidence of compromised peer review or manipulation of the editorial process.
- Evidence suggests authorship has been sold or citation manipulation has occurred.
- Authors fail to disclose significant conflicts of interest that could affect interpretations or recommendations.

Retraction Notice: Retraction is indicated when there are violations of responsible scholarly publishing guidelines, such as multiple submissions or fraudulent data. "Serious or major errors" invalidate the article's results.

Retraction in Action: A retraction notice signed by all authors will appear as the cover page of the PDF. The article will remain in the database, but a notation will indicate its retraction. The HTML version will be removed, and each page of the original article will bear a watermark indicating that it has been retracted.

ARTICLE WITHDRAWAL

Authors can withdraw their manuscripts until the article is included in the galley of the full issue, provided they submit a formal written request explaining their reasons. If authors find an error in a published article, they should promptly reach out to the journal using the contact information on its homepage. Typically, the corresponding author will report the error. A journal editor or qualified team member will assess the correction and any related information, and may seek further review if necessary. Ultimately, the editor will decide how to address the issue.

For Articles-in-Press—early versions of articles that have been accepted but are not finalized—withdrawal is allowed before final publication for specific reasons:

1. Errors present in the article.
2. Accidental duplication of another published piece.
3. Breaches of journal policies, such as multiple submissions, false authorship claims, plagiarism, or fraudulent data use.
4. Publication due to an editorial or production mistake.

If an Article-in-Press is withdrawn, its HTML and PDF content will be removed and replaced with a notice indicating its withdrawal.

ARTICLE CORRECTION

Published research reflects a specific moment in time, and the Version of Record cannot be updated for changes like author affiliations or new findings. However, we recognize that errors can occur during the research and publication process. When these issues arise, the following correction notices may be issued:

Erratum: This refers to a production error that occurred during publication. An erratum will be published online and in the hard copy of the next issue for transparency.

Corrigendum: This pertains to significant author errors affecting the article's content or reader comprehension. A corrigendum will also be available online and in the next hard copy for visibility.

Note of Clarification: This is used to clarify or emphasize points in the text without constituting a correction. All corrections must be explicitly labeled as an erratum, corrigendum, or note of clarification; the text itself cannot be altered. This ensures readers are aware of changes that might impact their future research.

Correction in Action: A correction notice or erratum signed by all authors will be published as the cover page of the corrected PDF. The corrected article will include details of the changes made and their dates. All previous versions will be archived by the journal and made available upon request, indicating any corrections.

ARTICLE REMOVAL

In very rare cases, it may be necessary to remove an article from the journal's online archive. This action will only be taken if:

- The article is defamatory or infringes on legal rights, and retraction does not suffice.
- There is a court order regarding the article.
- Following the article could pose a serious health risk.

In these cases, the article's metadata (title and authors) will be retained, but the text will be replaced with a notice stating that it has been removed for legal reasons.

ARTICLE REPLACEMENT