Article Retraction

According to the COPE Retraction Guidelines followed by our journal, an article may be retracted for the following reasons:
- Unreliable findings resulting from either clear misconduct (e.g., fraudulent use of data) or unintentional error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error).
- Redundant publication, whether full or partial, of previously published material—for example, findings that have been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission, or justification.
- Plagiarism or other forms of unethical research or misconduct.

Retraction Procedure

A retraction may occur after the journal editors carefully review a claim submitted by an editor, author(s), or reader(s). For more details on the appeal and complaint process, see the section Complaints and Appeals.

If, as a result of such a review, any of the following circumstances are confirmed, the PDF file of the retracted article will remain available on the journal’s website, but each page will be clearly watermarked with the word "Retracted":
- The findings are unreliable due to a significant error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error) or due to fabrication (e.g., image manipulation);
- The text contains plagiarism;
- The findings were previously published elsewhere without proper reference to earlier sources, disclosure to the editor, permission for republication, or justification (i.e., a case of duplicate publication);
- The article contains materials or data used without appropriate authorisation;
- Copyright has been infringed or another serious rights violation has occurred (e.g., defamation, breach of confidentiality, etc.);
- The research was conducted unethically;
- The article was published solely based on a compromised or manipulated peer review process;

The author(s) failed to disclose a significant conflict of interest which, in the view of the Editor-in-Chief, could have substantially affected the evaluation of the work or the recommendations of editors and reviewers.

Expression of Concern

The journal editors may consider issuing an Expression of Concern on the journal's website if there is evidence of:
- Author misconduct during the research or publication process;
- Unreliable findings, while the institution or organization affiliated with the authors does not plan to investigate the matter or lacks an appropriate established procedure;
- An ongoing investigation of academic integrity violations, with reasonable grounds to believe that a resolution will not be reached within a reasonable time frame.