Article Retraction & Withdrawal

Article Retraction & Withdrawal

The Journal of Applied Tropical Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science is committed to maintaining the integrity, accuracy, and reliability of the scholarly record. The journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, withdrawal, retraction, or removal when necessary to address errors, ethical violations, or publication misconduct.

This policy follows internationally recognized publication ethics principles and applies to all manuscripts submitted to and articles published in the journal.

1. Manuscript Withdrawal

Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript before publication by submitting a written request to the editorial office. The request must include the manuscript title, manuscript ID, author names, reason for withdrawal, and confirmation that all authors agree to the withdrawal.

Withdrawal may be accepted when there is a valid reason, such as major errors in the manuscript, authorship disputes, incomplete ethical approval, duplicate submission by mistake, or unreliable data.

Withdrawal after acceptance is strongly discouraged because the manuscript has already undergone editorial screening, peer review, and editorial processing. The Editor-in-Chief has the final authority to approve or reject withdrawal requests.

Unethical withdrawal, including withdrawal after acceptance without valid reason or withdrawal for submission to another journal, may result in rejection of the manuscript, notification to all authors, or temporary restriction from future submission.

2. Article Retraction

A published article may be retracted when there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable or that the article violates publication ethics.

Grounds for retraction include:

  1. Plagiarism.
  2. Data fabrication or falsification.
  3. Duplicate or redundant publication.
  4. Serious methodological error that invalidates the findings.
  5. Unethical research involving animals.
  6. Lack of required ethical approval.
  7. Manipulation of images, data, or statistical results.
  8. Manipulation of the peer review process.
  9. Serious authorship problems.
  10. Undisclosed conflict of interest that affects the reliability of the article.
  11. Copyright infringement or legal violation.
  12. Other serious breaches of publication ethics.

Retraction is not intended to punish authors but to correct the scholarly record.

3. Retraction Procedure

When a concern is raised, the editorial team will conduct an initial assessment. If the concern is credible, the Editor-in-Chief may begin an investigation.

The investigation may include reviewing the article, requesting clarification from authors, asking for raw data or ethical approval documents, consulting editorial board members or independent experts, and contacting the authors’ institution when necessary.

The final decision to retract an article is made by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the editorial board and publisher, where appropriate.

4. Retraction Notice

If an article is retracted, the journal will publish a retraction notice linked to the original article. The notice will include the article title, authors, publication details, reason for retraction, date of retraction, and the party initiating the retraction.

The original article will normally remain available on the journal website but will be clearly marked as “Retracted” to preserve the scholarly record.

5. Correction

A correction may be issued when an article contains an error that does not invalidate the overall findings or conclusions.

Corrections may include errors in author affiliation, tables, figures, data presentation, funding information, acknowledgements, or minor methodological explanation.

A correction notice will be published and linked to the original article.

6. Expression of Concern

The journal may issue an expression of concern when serious questions arise about a published article but the evidence is not yet conclusive or an investigation is still ongoing.

An expression of concern may later be replaced by a correction, retraction, or removal after the investigation is completed.

7. Article Removal

Article removal is applied only in exceptional circumstances, such as legal requirements, defamatory content, privacy violations, copyright infringement, court order, or serious risk to human, animal, or public health.

If an article is removed, the journal may publish a notice explaining the reason for removal, unless prohibited by law.

8. Appeals

Authors may appeal a decision regarding withdrawal, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or removal. Appeals must be submitted in writing to the Editor-in-Chief within 14 days of the decision and must include clear reasons and supporting evidence.

The Editor-in-Chief may consult the editorial board, independent experts, or publisher before making a final decision. The final appeal decision is binding.

9. Final Authority

The final authority for decisions regarding withdrawal, correction, expression of concern, retraction, and removal rests with the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the editorial board and publisher where necessary.

All decisions are made based on evidence, fairness, transparency, publication ethics, and the responsibility to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.