Policy of retraction and correction of published article

The regulation on the retraction of published articles includes the implementation of six processes:

– initiating the start of an investigation into the need to retract the publication;
– assessment of the possibility of retracting the publication;
– liaising with the authors' institution(s) for the purpose of informing if there is a suspicion of misconduct by their researchers, providing that may indicate possible misconduct that gives rise to these concerns. This stage is implemented if necessary and is carried out with the aim of involving the institution in the investigation;
– consideration of the issue of making changes to the published article;
– formation of a notice of retraction of the publication;
– deletion of the published article.

The term of consideration of complaints lasts from 2 weeks to 3 months and depends on the promptness of receiving responses from all parties involved in the consideration (authors, institutions, etc.).

 

Initiating an investigation into the need to retract a publication

It is carried out if the editors have received reasoned evidence of the authors' misconduct in the process of conducting research, preparing a manuscript or after the publication of the article from authors, reviewers, institutions, readers, etc. At the same time, editors are guided by the principles of objectivity and impartiality.

The editorial board ensures the confidentiality of information about ongoing investigations of misconduct (expressing concerns may be appropriate to inform readers of serious allegations).

 

Consideration of the issue of making changes to the published article

This process is initiated in the following cases:

– the revealed fact of violation of the authors' assurances about the existence of a conflict of interest can be corrected, the basis for which is solely the consent of the party that declared the existence of a conflict of interest and made reasonable claims in this regard to the authors of the published article. The validity of the claim implies the presence of proven facts and arguments regarding the actual existence of a conflict of interest;
– the fact of inaccuracies in the information about the authors in the list of authors was revealed;
– an error has been identified in the results or methodology of the study, which may mislead potential readers and users of the article, which may lead to negative consequences from the use of the results or the impossibility of obtaining / reproducing them.

 

Assessment of the possibility of retracting a publication

It is carried out in cases where:

– the facts of violation of the terms of the License Agreement have been revealed;
– the facts of manipulations at the stage of reviewing manuscripts were revealed;
– the fact of violation by the authors of assurances regarding the existence of a conflict of interest has been established and confirmed;
– the fact of violation of ethical norms by the authors in the process of conducting research, preparing a manuscript, implementing the rules for publishing an article by the publisher has been established.

At the same time, editors are guided by the principles of objectivity and impartiality.

 

Deleting a published article

The decision to delete a published article is made in the following cases:

– the article infringes someone's copyright or causes material or non-material damage to other persons or organizations, which may entail, in particular, legal proceedings;
– the article contains information that may reveal the confidentiality of individuals or organizations, which may entail, in particular, legal proceedings;
– the article contains information that is the subject of any object or subject that is the subject of litigation;
– the author(s) of the article cooperate with natural and legal persons – residents of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, persons who are in the territory of these states, are directly or indirectly sponsored by them or are in the State Register of Sanctions or other sanction lists, as well as in if there is information from recognized and reliable sources (state authorities, international organizations, etc.) about the involvement of the author(s) in money laundering or terrorist financing.
– the author(s) of the article or the institutions to which they belong have distorted information about their location, identity or any other material information in order to avoid restrictions on the acceptance of the manuscript for consideration, or publication, or for any other reason.

 

Formation of a notice of retraction of a publication

The notice of retraction of the publication is formed on the basis of the principle of objectivity and completeness of the arguments containing an irrefutable evidence base regarding the need to delete the article. The messages contain the necessary information that makes it possible to identify the article with electronic resources of indexing scientific periodicals.