Procedure for withdrawing publications

General Provisions

The Editorial Board of the scientific and practical legal journal “Almanac of Law” determines the grounds and procedure for the retraction of publications, taking into account the international standards of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE, Retraction Guidelines).

The purpose of retraction is to preserve the reliability and integrity of scientific publications, ensure transparency, and uphold high standards of academic integrity.

Grounds for retraction

A publication may be retracted if it is established that:

1. Serious scientific misconduct has occurred, including:

— fabrication or falsification of data;

— manipulation of results or images;

— provision of false or falsified information.

2. Errors that render the results and conclusions unreliable, including:

— methodological errors;

— technical issues that have affected the data or conclusions;

— incorrect calculations or other critical errors that cannot be rectified by publishing a correction.

3. Breaches of academic integrity, in particular:

— plagiarism or self-plagiarism;

— excessive duplication or prior publication without proper citation (prior or simultaneous publication of the same material in another journal without proper citation or permission);

— improper or manipulative authorship (inclusion or exclusion of authors without justification).

4. Significant breaches of ethical standards, such as:

— research conducted without the necessary ethical approvals;

— breaches of ethical principles in work involving humans or animals;

— undisclosed or concealed conflicts of interest.

5. Other significant violations that call into question the reliability or ethical integrity of the scientific work.

Initiating the retraction procedure

The retraction process may be initiated by:

— the authors of the article;

— the editorial board or the editor-in-chief;

— reviewers or members of the editorial board;

— readers, researchers or other interested parties who have reported a violation.

All reports of potential misconduct are considered by the editorial board confidentially and impartially.

Investigation procedure

Upon receiving a report of potential misconduct, the editorial board registers the report and commences an initial assessment.

— The author(s) receive an official notification and the opportunity to provide an explanation.

— If necessary, the editorial board engages independent experts or an ethics committee.

— The final decision on retraction is taken by the editorial board following a professional and ethical analysis of all available evidence.

— If the circumstances are not clear-cut but give rise to serious concern, the editorial board may publish an Expression of Concern.

Publication of a retraction

If a decision is made to retract a publication:

1. Publishes a separate retraction notice, which:

— clearly identifies the retracted article (title, authors, date, DOI);

— contains a clear explanation of the reasons for the retraction;

— states who initiated the process (author, editorial board, etc.);

— is open to all readers and available free of charge.

2. Does not remove the original article, but:

— marks it as ‘RETRACTED’ on all pages;

— provides a hyperlink to the retraction notice;

— ensures corresponding changes are made to metadata, bibliographic records and indexing databases.

3. If necessary, the journal notifies the relevant institutions where the research was conducted.

Cases of publication of corrections

If the identified shortcomings do not affect the validity of the main conclusions, the editorial board may publish:

— a correction (Correction/Erratum), or — an addendum (Addendum), without applying the full retraction procedure.

Retraction at the authors’ initiative

Authors may request the retraction of their own article if:

— they have identified critical errors;

— ethical issues have arisen;

— it has become impossible to verify the results.

Such a request must be submitted in writing and agreed upon by all authors.

The decision on retraction is taken by the editorial board.

Principles and Ethical Standards

— The purpose of retraction is to correct a scientific publication, not to punish the authors.

— Retraction notices must be clear, informative and neutral.

— The editorial board ensures that all cases are considered fairly and objectively.

— All actions are carried out in accordance with COPE standards, with decisions being properly documented.