Retraction. Procedure for retracting published articles

The journal “Mountain School of Ukrainian Carpaty” is committed to upholding COPE principles against all possible violations. Particular attention is paid to checking manuscripts for originality and preventing instances of plagiarism.

Multiple submissions
Authors must submit manuscripts that are unique and must not have been submitted to any other journal. Sometimes authors may disregard this requirement by submitting the same article to several journals or by submitting several articles based on the same research. As with plagiarism, duplicate submission can take various forms: verbatim copying, partial but substantial copying, or even paraphrasing of the research. Violation of this policy will result in immediate rejection and possible sanctions against the authors.

Citation Manipulation
Submitted manuscripts containing citations whose primary purpose is to increase the number of references to a particular author’s work or to articles published in a specific journal will be immediately rejected, and sanctions against the authors may be imposed.

Data fabrication
If fabricated or falsified experimental data (including manipulation of images) is found in a submitted article, this will result in immediate rejection and possible sanctions against the authors.
In the event of suspected misconduct or fraud, the journal will conduct an investigation in accordance with COPE guidelines. If the investigation raises legitimate concerns, the authors involved will be contacted via their email addresses and given the opportunity to resolve the issue. Depending on the situation, this may result in the journal taking specific measures. If the manuscript is still under review, it may be rejected. If the article has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, the journal will immediately take the following measures:

  • A correction may be published alongside the article if a fundamental error is identified (e.g., an experimental error or miscalculation).
  • A correction will be issued if the journal’s editorial board has made a significant error during the preparation of the article for publication, including errors such as failing to correct factual evidence within the timeframes set by the journal and in accordance with the journal’s policy. A significant error is one that affects the scientific record, the scientific integrity of the article, or the reputation of the authors or the journal.
  • A correction is a notification of a significant error made by the authors of the article. All corrections are approved by the editorial board.

Correction procedure

  1. Corrections may be initiated by authors, editors or readers.
  2. The editorial board assesses the request and, if necessary, consults with the authors.
  3. Once approved, corrections are published as a separate document linked to the original article, marked ‘Correction’.

Retraction
In some cases, the editorial board may decide to retract an article. Reasons for possible retraction of an article:

  • there is clear evidence that the results are not valid (e.g. fabricated data and image manipulation);
  • the research results have previously been published elsewhere without proper citation or justification (e.g. in cases of duplicate publication);
  • the study constitutes plagiarism;
  • there is evidence of fraudulent authorship;
  • it has been proven that the peer-review process was compromised;
  • there is evidence of breaches of research ethics and professional codes of conduct.

Requests for retraction may be submitted by authors, editors or third parties. The editorial board conducts an investigation involving the authors and, where necessary, external experts. The decision is made by the editor-in-chief or his/her deputy. Once a decision to retract an article has been made:

  • a “Retracted” watermark will be added to the published version of the article;
  • the title of the article will be “Retracted: [Article title]”;
  • a separate retraction statement will be published under the title “Retracted: [Article title]”.

The journal’s editors sign the retraction statement, which will be numbered and assigned a DOI.
In some cases, the authors of a scientific article under review by the journal may request the retraction of their manuscript. Such a request may only be submitted prior to the article’s publication. To withdraw a manuscript, authors must send a letter to the journal’s editorial board containing a clear and comprehensive explanation of the reasons for withdrawal. The letter must be concise and signed by all authors of the article. The withdrawn manuscript will be completely removed from the publisher’s database, but copyright remains with the authors of the article.

Additional conditions
If it is established that the article is part of a group of publications compromised by paper mills or other fraudulent practices, the editorial board may decide to retract the article.

Use of artificial intelligence
The concealed or undeclared use of artificial intelligence systems to generate text, images or other data in a manuscript is considered a serious breach and may constitute grounds for retraction. Authors are required to disclose the use of such tools transparently. Concealing such facts may be considered grounds for retraction. The editorial board reserves the right to check manuscripts for the use of generative artificial intelligence systems. Automated detection tools, expert assessment by reviewers and additional enquiries to authors may be used for this purpose.

Falsification of authorship and theft of personal data
Manuscripts may be retracted in cases of confirmed false authorship, the use of another person’s personal data (name, ORCID, etc.), as well as concealed or forced authorship.

Statement of concern
In cases where there are serious concerns regarding the authenticity of an article or a breach of academic integrity, but there is insufficient evidence for immediate retraction, the editorial board may publish a statement of concern. Such a statement has its own DOI, is linked to the original article, and contains a brief explanation of the reasons for publication. The statement of concern remains available until the editorial investigation is concluded.
The decision to publish corrections, statements of concern or retractions is taken by the editorial board and implemented as soon as possible after the identification of significant breaches. In cases where final agreement on the text with the authors is not possible, the editorial board reserves the right to publish the statement without delay in order to preserve scientific integrity.

Availability of retracted articles
Retracted articles remain openly accessible in the journal’s archives and databases, clearly marked as “Retracted”. Complete removal is possible only in exceptional cases where required by applicable legal provisions (in particular, personal data protection, copyright infringement, compliance with court orders, or security considerations).