Manuscript Retraction, Withdrawal & Deletion Policy
Retraction Policy
Journal of Information Communication Technologies and Robotic Applications (JICTRA) recognizes the importance of post-publication commentary on published research as necessary to advancing scientific discourse Published articles may be retracted if:
- The paper has major scientific errors invalidating the conclusions of the article, for example, if evidently, findings are unreliable, due to misconduct (e.g. data fabrication) or unintentional error (e.g. miscalculation or experimental error).
- Where the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission, or justification (i.e. cases of redundant publication).
- Plagiarism (appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit including those obtained through confidential review of others' manuscripts).
- Inappropriate authorship (e.g., "guest" authorship; see COPE discussion document 'What constitutes authorship?').
- Unethical research has been reported.
Retraction Process:
In accordance with COPE guidelines, the journal adopts the following retraction process:
- All matters regarding a potential retraction are considered by the Chief Editor.
- The journal chief editor should follow the step-by-step guidelines according to the COPE flowcharts (including evaluating a response from the author of the article in question).
- The editor's findings are sent to Ethical Review Committee (ERC) for review.
- ERC consists of a Chairperson and three members out of senior members of the journal editorial team.
- The final decision is communicated to the author and if so decided by the ERC, to any other relevant bodies, such as the author's institution and HEC.
- The retraction statement is then posted online and published in the next available issue of the journal (see below for more details of this step).
- ERC decisions are considered final and cannot be challenged in a court of law. Any complaint against the decision will be addressed to ERC for reconsideration.
Retraction:
- If the paper has been published in the early issue of the journal, we shall issue a retraction statement which should be published separately but should be linked to the article being retracted. The article should be retained online to maintain the scientific record.
- Retraction announcement and the title of the original article included will be published in the next possible issue, with pagination in the contents list.
- The text of the retraction should explain why the article is being retracted in print as well as in the link to the online paper.
Withdrawal Policy:
An accepted article may be withdrawn if it is the uncorrected, unedited, non-typeset version before publication. If an accepted article is to be retracted because, for example, it contains errors, has been accidentally submitted twice, or infringes a professional ethical code of some type, it may be deleted and replaced with a withdrawal statement. The manuscript Processing Fee will not be refunded in any case.
- Where there has been a violation of the privacy of a research subject;
- Where there are errors to which a member of the general public might be exposed and if followed or adopted, would pose a significant risk to Policy & Law/Industry; or
- Where a defamatory comment has been made about others in the relevant field or about their work.
Deletion Policy:
Journal follows International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers guidelines on retractions and preservation of the objective record of science. Deletion of the online version of the paper will only be allowed:
- In case of a violation of the privacy of a research subject.
- The paper has errors to which a member of the general public might be exposed and if followed or adopted, would pose a significant risk to policy & Law/industry; or
- If a defamatory comment has been made about others in the relevant field or about their work.
- If an accepted article is to be retracted, because of gross errors, has been accidentally submitted twice, or violates professional ethical code.
However, bibliographic information about the deleted article should be retained for the scientific record and an explanation given for deletion.