Withdrawal Policy

This policy establishes procedures governing manuscript withdrawal and is intended to ensure that withdrawal requests are managed fairly while protecting the time, effort, and professional contributions of authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher.

Purpose

The journal recognizes that authors may occasionally need to withdraw a manuscript due to legitimate academic, ethical, or procedural reasons. However, manuscript withdrawal should remain an exceptional action and must be supported by clear and justifiable grounds.

Authors are expected to respect the editorial and peer-review process, particularly once substantial editorial assessment, reviewer evaluation, copyediting, or production activities have commenced.

Withdrawal Before Peer Review

Authors may request withdrawal before the manuscript enters peer review by submitting a formal written request to the Editorial Office.

The request should include:

manuscript title;
manuscript identification number (if available);
names of all authors;
reason for withdrawal;
written confirmation that all authors agree with the withdrawal request.

Where required by the journal, authors may also be requested to submit a signed Article Withdrawal Form, completed by all authors or submitted by the corresponding author on behalf of all co-authors.

If the manuscript has not entered the review stage, withdrawal will normally be processed and recorded in the journal system.

Authors should not submit the manuscript to another journal until written withdrawal confirmation has been issued by the Editorial Office.

Withdrawal During Peer Review or After Acceptance

Authors are generally discouraged from withdrawing manuscripts that are already under editorial evaluation or peer review.

Withdrawal at this stage may interrupt the review process and involve considerable time and professional effort from editors, reviewers, and the publisher.

Withdrawal requests after peer review has commenced may only be considered under exceptional and well-justified circumstances, including:

identification of significant errors affecting the validity of the work;
ethical concerns discovered after submission;
unresolved authorship disputes;
duplicate submission submitted unintentionally;
legal or copyright concerns;
other compelling circumstances affecting the integrity of the manuscript.

The corresponding author must provide a written explanation and confirm that all co-authors have been informed and agree with the request.

Withdrawal requests submitted after acceptance, copyediting, layout editing, final proof preparation, or publication scheduling are considered exceptional and will undergo additional editorial evaluation.

The Editor-in-Chief may consult the Editorial Board before making a final decision.

Unacceptable Reasons for Withdrawal

Withdrawal requests may be rejected if they are submitted solely for reasons that do not align with responsible publication practices.

Examples include:

intention to submit the same manuscript to another journal;
avoiding revision requirements or reviewer comments;
attempting to bypass an unfavorable editorial decision;
moving an accepted manuscript to another publication venue;
misuse of editorial or peer-review processes.

Where withdrawal is associated with duplicate submission, misleading communication, or manipulation of the editorial process, the matter may be handled under the journal’s Publication Ethics Policy.

Withdrawal Initiated by the Journal

The journal reserves the right to withdraw a manuscript from editorial consideration where necessary.

Circumstances may include:

failure to respond to editorial communication within the required timeframe;
incomplete submission documents;
unresolved authorship disputes;
evidence that the manuscript is simultaneously under consideration elsewhere;
serious publication ethics concerns;
attempts to manipulate editorial evaluation or peer review.

When withdrawal is initiated by the journal, the Editorial Office will document the reason and notify the corresponding author.

Additional editorial measures may be taken in accordance with journal policies where appropriate.

Withdrawal Confirmation and Editorial Decision

Every withdrawal request is evaluated individually and remains subject to editorial review.

A manuscript will only be regarded as officially withdrawn after a formal written confirmation has been issued by the Editorial Office.

The journal does not impose administrative penalties for manuscript withdrawal. However, repeated, unsupported, or unjustified withdrawal requests may be considered in future editorial evaluations to protect the integrity, fairness, and efficiency of the publication process.

Final authority regarding manuscript withdrawal rests with the Editorial Board.

Contact

Authors requesting manuscript withdrawal should contact the Editorial Office using the official communication channel provided on the journal website.

Requests should be submitted by the corresponding author and must confirm that all authors have been informed and agree with the withdrawal request.

Information regarding the Article Withdrawal Form may be obtained through the journal’s contact service.