Editorial Procedures for Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

This policy will be reviewed periodically and updated, as necessary, to remain consistent with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and other internationally accepted publication ethics standards.

This document outlines the principles and procedures for issuing corrections, retractions, and editorial expressions of concern in accordance with internationally accepted publication ethics.

• A correction (Erratum/Corrigendum) is issued to correct errors that do not affect the validity or conclusions of a published article. Corrections may be initiated by the authors or the editorial department/team. Approved corrections will be published and electronically linked to the original article.
• Retraction is issued when an article is found to be unreliable due to major errors, research misconduct, plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication or falsification, or other serious ethical violations. Authors may request retractions, or the editorial department/team may initiate them following an investigation. Authors will be given an opportunity to respond. If warranted, a retraction notice stating the reason for retraction will be published and linked to the original article, which will remain online and be clearly marked as "Retracted."
• An Editorial Expression of Concern is issued when credible concerns about a published article exist, but sufficient evidence for correction or retraction is not yet available.
• Editorial expressions of concern may be issued by the Editor-in-Chief when serious concerns are under investigation. The notice will be updated or replaced once the investigation is complete.

Editorial action may be taken in cases of:

• Significant errors affecting the accuracy of the publication.
• Plagiarism, duplicate publication, or copyright infringement.
• Data fabrication, falsification, or image manipulation.
• Ethical or authorship-related misconduct.
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest.
• Any issue that compromises the integrity or reliability of the published work.

The corresponding author will be notified of any proposed correction, retraction, or editorial expression of concern and, where appropriate, will be given an opportunity to respond before a final decision is made. All editorial notices will be published promptly, permanently linked to the original article, and maintained as part of the scholarly record. The editorial department/team will retain records of all related decisions and correspondence.

Institutional Notification: Where publication misconduct or serious ethical violations are confirmed, the journal reserves the right to notify the authors' affiliated institution(s), funding agencies, and relevant regulatory authorities, where appropriate.