Corrections, Retractions, and Withdrawal Policy

The Journal of Planner and Development (JPD) is committed to maintaining the accuracy, transparency, reliability, and integrity of the scholarly record. The journal recognizes that post-publication updates may be necessary when errors, ethical concerns, unreliable findings, duplicate publication, plagiarism, authorship issues, or other publication integrity concerns are identified.

This policy explains how JPD handles corrections, clarifications, expressions of concern, retractions, and manuscript withdrawals before and after publication. All cases are assessed carefully by the editorial office according to the seriousness of the issue, the available evidence, the journal’s publication ethics policies, and recognized standards of scholarly publishing.

1. Purpose of the Policy

The purpose of this policy is to protect the integrity of the published scholarly record and to ensure that any necessary post-publication action is handled in a transparent, fair, documented, and academically responsible manner.

JPD may issue a correction, clarification, expression of concern, retraction, or withdrawal notice when necessary to correct the record, alert readers to significant concerns, or remove unreliable or unethical content from the published literature.

2. Corrections

A correction may be issued when an error is identified in a published article, but the error does not invalidate the main findings, conclusions, or scholarly contribution of the work.

Corrections may be issued for, but are not limited to:

  • Errors in author names, affiliations, or contact details.
  • Errors in article metadata, volume, issue, pages, DOI, or publication dates.
  • Errors in tables, figures, maps, captions, or references.
  • Minor factual errors that do not affect the overall conclusions.
  • Production, formatting, or copyediting errors introduced during publication.
  • Omitted acknowledgments, funding information, or disclosure statements where correction is appropriate.

Corrections will be clearly identified and linked to the original article where applicable. The original article may be updated with a note indicating that a correction has been issued.

3. Clarifications

A clarification may be issued when the published article requires additional explanation, contextual information, or editorial note, but the issue does not require a formal correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

Clarifications may be used to address ambiguous statements, incomplete explanations, or editorial information that improves the transparency and interpretation of the article.

4. Expressions of Concern

An expression of concern may be issued when serious concerns are raised about a published article, but the available evidence is not yet sufficient to determine whether a correction or retraction is required.

An expression of concern may be issued in cases involving:

  • Possible plagiarism, duplicate publication, or redundant publication.
  • Possible data fabrication, data falsification, or unreliable findings.
  • Possible image, figure, map, or data manipulation.
  • Unresolved authorship or contributorship concerns.
  • Undisclosed conflict of interest or funding concerns.
  • Ethical approval concerns involving human participants, surveys, interviews, or institutional data.
  • Ongoing institutional or editorial investigation.

The expression of concern will remain linked to the article until the investigation is completed and a final editorial action is determined.

5. Retractions

A retraction may be issued when the findings, conclusions, or integrity of a published article are seriously compromised. Retraction is used to correct the scholarly record and to alert readers that the article should not be relied upon as part of the scientific literature.

An article may be retracted if:

  • The findings are unreliable due to major error, data fabrication, or data falsification.
  • The article contains plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, or unethical reuse of text, data, figures, maps, tables, or images.
  • The article has been published elsewhere or submitted concurrently to another journal.
  • The article reports research conducted without required ethical approval.
  • There is evidence of inappropriate authorship, ghost authorship, guest authorship, or serious contributorship misconduct.
  • There is evidence of citation manipulation, peer review manipulation, or undisclosed conflict of interest that affected the integrity of the work.
  • The article contains major errors that invalidate the main findings or conclusions.

A retraction notice will state the reason for retraction and will be linked to the original article. The original article may remain available on the journal website with a clear retraction label to preserve the transparency of the scholarly record, unless removal is required for legal, privacy, or ethical reasons.

6. Article Removal

In exceptional cases, JPD may remove an article from the journal website. Article removal is considered only when the article contains unlawful content, violates privacy or confidentiality, poses a serious risk of harm, or is subject to a legal requirement.

Where removal is necessary, the journal may retain a bibliographic record and a notice explaining that the article has been removed, unless legal or ethical restrictions prevent this.

7. Manuscript Withdrawal Before Publication

Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript before final acceptance by submitting a written request to the editorial office. The request should include the manuscript title, manuscript ID, corresponding author details, and the reason for withdrawal.

If a manuscript is withdrawn before final acceptance, no publication fee is required. If a manuscript is withdrawn after final acceptance and after editorial production has begun, the editorial office may determine whether any administrative or processing implications apply according to the stage reached in the publication process and the journal’s published fee policy.

8. Withdrawal After Acceptance

Withdrawal after final acceptance is discouraged unless there is a serious and justified reason. Authors should not withdraw an accepted manuscript in order to submit it to another journal or avoid completing required publication procedures.

The editorial office will assess withdrawal requests after acceptance on a case-by-case basis. The journal may request clarification from the corresponding author and may require confirmation from all authors before approving withdrawal.

9. Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy, originality, ethical compliance, and integrity of their submitted and published work. If authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their published article, they must promptly notify the editorial office and cooperate in issuing a correction, clarification, or retraction where necessary.

Authors are also responsible for responding to editorial inquiries related to corrections, ethical concerns, similarity issues, authorship concerns, data reliability, or post-publication investigations.

10. Editorial Investigation

When a correction, expression of concern, retraction, or withdrawal issue is raised, the editorial office will assess the case based on the available evidence. Depending on the nature of the concern, the journal may:

  • Review the article, submission files, editorial records, reviewer reports, and correspondence.
  • Request clarification from the author(s).
  • Consult editors, editorial board members, reviewers, or independent experts.
  • Request documentation related to data, ethics approval, authorship, permissions, or funding.
  • Contact the authors’ institution or relevant authority where serious misconduct is suspected.
  • Issue a correction, clarification, expression of concern, retraction, or withdrawal notice where appropriate.

11. Post-Publication Notices

All post-publication notices will be clearly identified and linked to the relevant article where applicable. Notices will be written in a transparent and factual manner and will explain the reason for the action as clearly as possible while respecting confidentiality, legal considerations, and the integrity of the editorial process.

12. Relationship with Publication Ethics

Cases involving plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, image or map manipulation, unethical research practice, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, or undisclosed conflict of interest will be handled according to the journal’s publication ethics policies.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and readers should consult the journal’s related policies for further information.

13. Related Policies