Retraction Procedure

1. General Provisions
   1.1. Retraction of an article is an official procedure applied in cases where violations of academic integrity, publication ethics, or significant errors affecting the reliability of the research results are identified.
   1.2. Retraction is carried out in accordance with international standards (COPE Retraction Guidelines) and the journal’s policy.
   1.3. The decision to retract an article is made by the Editorial Board following an investigation.
2. Grounds for Article Retraction
   An article shall be retracted if:
   • plagiarism or improper use of others’ results is identified;
   • data falsification or fabrication is detected;
   • the article constitutes a duplicate publication (without appropriate references or agreement with the editorial offices of other journals);
   • violations of copyright are identified;
   • incorrect attribution of authorship is established (including the inclusion of fictitious authors or the exclusion of legitimate co-authors);
   • the published results contain significant scientific or technical errors that distort the conclusions;
   • concealment of AI use contrary to the journal’s policy is identified.
3. Initiation of the Procedure
   3.1. The retraction procedure may be initiated by:
   • the author(s) of the article;
   • reviewers;
   • readers;
   • members of the Editorial Board;
   • academic or educational institutions.
   3.2. A complaint or request shall be submitted in writing to the editorial office, accompanied by relevant facts and evidence.
4. Consideration and Decision-Making
   4.1. The Editor-in-Chief, together with the Editorial Board, conducts a preliminary assessment of the complaint.
   4.2. Where necessary, independent experts are engaged.
   4.3. The author(s) have the right to provide a written explanation.
   4.4. Following the assessment, the Editorial Board shall render one of the following decisions:
   • to reject the complaint as unfounded;
   • to correct the article by publishing a correction notice;
   • to formally retract the article with a published retraction notice.
5. Retraction Procedure
   5.1. In the event of a decision to retract:
   • an official retraction notice stating the reasons shall be published on the journal’s website and in the relevant issue;
   • the electronic version of the article shall remain available in open access, marked “Retracted” on each page of the PDF and in the metadata;
   • information on the retraction shall be communicated to bibliographic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, etc.).
6. Notification of the Parties
   6.1. The author(s) shall receive written notification of the reasons for and consequences of the retraction.
   6.2. The complainant (if not the author) shall be informed of the Editorial Board’s decision.
7. Appeal
   7.1. The author(s) have the right to submit an appeal within 30 days of retraction notification.
   7.2. The appeal shall be considered by the Editor-in-Chief and independent experts, whose decision shall be final.

8. Principles of the Procedure
• Transparency – retraction notices are public and accessible.
• Impartiality – all decisions are based on evidence and expert conclusions.
• Accountability – authors bear full responsibility for the reliability and quality of the presented results.
• Preservation of the scholarly record – even retracted articles remain in the journal archive with appropriate markings.