RETRACTION, CORRECTION, & WITHDRAWAL (R-C-W) POLICY

Retraction, Correction & Withdrawal (R-C-W) Policy

 

It is to our understanding that the authors have prepared the manuscripts attentively and CrossOver: Journal of Adaptation Studies have conducted peer-review processes. Nevertheless, sometimes potentials for published articles to be withdrawn or deleted for scientific reasons are not without possibilities. It should not be lightly done and can only occur under extraordinary circumstances. Thus, corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when required will be carried out with strict standards to maintain confidence in the authority of its electronic archives. It is to our commitment and policy to maintain the integrity and completeness of important scientific records for researchers and librarians’ archives.

 

Article Retraction

CrossOver: Journal of Adaptation Studies is fully committed to playing its parts in maintaining the integrity of the scholarly records. Therefore, on occasion, it is necessary to retract articles. Articles may be retracted if the following causes are found:

  1. Major scientific errors that would result in the invalidation of the article's conclusions, for example, where there is clear evidence that findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g., data fabrication) or honest error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error).
  1. Findings that have previously been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission, or justification (i.e., cases of redundant publication).
  1. Ethical issues such as plagiarism (appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit, including those obtained through confidential review of others' manuscripts) or inappropriate authorship

To guarantee that retractions are handled according to publication best practice and following COPE retraction guidelines, CrossOver: Journal of Adaptation Studies adopts the following retraction process:

  • An article requiring potential retraction is brought to the journal editor's attention.
  • The journal 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).
  • Before any action is taken, the editor's findings should be sent to the Ethics Advisory Board. The purpose of this step is to ensure a consistent approach in accordance with industry best practices.
  • The final decision as to whether to retract is then communicated to the author and, if necessary, any other relevant bodies, such as the author's institution on occasion.

The retraction statement will be posted online and published in the next available issue of the journal (see below for more details of this step).

 

Article Correction

CrossOver: Journal of Adaptation Studies should consider issuing a correction if:

  • A small part of an otherwise reliable publication reports flawed data or proves to be misleading, especially if this is the result of honest error.
  • The Author or Contributor list is incorrect (e.g., a deserving author has been omitted or someone who does not meet authorship criteria has been included).

Corrections to peer-reviewed content fall into one of three categories:

  • Publisher correction (erratum): to notify readers of a critical error made by publishing/journal staff (usually a production error) that has a negative impact on the publication record or the scientific integrity of the article, or on the reputation of the Authors or the journal.
  • Author correction (corrigendum): to notify readers of an important error made by the Authors, which negatively impacts the publication record or the scientific integrity of the article or the reputation of the Authors or the journal.
  • Addendum: an addition to the article by its Authors to explain inconsistencies, to expand the existing work, or otherwise explain or update the information in the main work.

The decision of whether a correction should be issued is made by the Editor(s) of a journal, sometimes with advice from Reviewers or Editorial Board members. Handling Editors will contact the Authors of the paper concerned with a request for clarification, but the final decision about whether a correction is required and which type rests with the Editors.

Article Removal

In an extremely limited number of cases, it may be crucially necessary to remove a published article from our online platform. This will only happen if an article is clearly defamatory, or infringes others’ legal rights, or where the article is, or we have good reason to expect that it will be, the subject of a court order, or where the article if acted upon, may pose a serious health risk. In such circumstances, while the article's metadata (i.e., title and author information) will be retained, the text will be replaced with a screen indicating that the article has been removed for legal reasons.

Article Replacement

In cases where an article, if acted upon, may pose a severe health risk, the original paper's authors may wish to retract the flawed original and replace it with a corrected version. Under such circumstances, the above procedures for retraction will be followed with the difference that the article retraction notice will contain a link to the updated re-published article and a history of the document.

Article Withdrawal

The author is not allowed to withdraw submitted or published manuscripts (unless there are compelling reasons), because the withdrawal is a waste of valuable resources that editors and reviewers spent a great deal of time processing submitted manuscripts and works invested by the publisher.

These circumstances can occur if the initial version of the article contains an error, or may have been accidentally sent twice to CrossOver: Journal of Adaptation Studies or a different publisher. In addition, it can also occur due to an element of Infringements of the scientific code of ethics, such as double submissions, false claims of authorship, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fraudulent use of data or the like. Articles that meet the element of Infringements of the code of ethics upon the author's awareness can withdraw the article accompanied by a letter of statement withdrawal addressed to the editorial board of CrossOver: Journal of Adaptation Studies.