The journal Animal Biology adheres to the principles of preserving the integrity of the scholarly record and applies the procedure for article retraction in cases where a published article contains serious violations or deficiencies that make its results unreliable or unsuitable to remain part of the scientific literature without an appropriate notice.
Article retraction is applied when the Editorial Office has sufficient grounds to believe that the published material is unreliable due to a serious error, fabrication or falsification of data, image manipulation, plagiarism, duplicate publication, substantial violations of ethical research standards, or other circumstances that significantly affect the reliability of the results and conclusions.
Retraction is not a means of punishing the author. It is a mechanism for officially informing the scientific community that the results of a particular publication should not be relied upon fully or at all. If the problem does not substantially affect the overall reliability of the article, the Editorial Office may apply other forms of correction of the scholarly record, including a correction or an editorial expression of concern.
Grounds for Article Retraction
Grounds for considering retraction may include:
- identification of serious errors in data, calculations, methodology, or interpretation of results;
- established cases of fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of data or images;
- plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or improper borrowing;
- duplicate publication or submission of material that has already been published in violation of the journal’s editorial policy;
- failure to comply with ethical requirements for research involving animals, biological samples, or other research objects;
- substantial violation of authorship, conflict of interest, or other standards of publication ethics, if this affects trust in the article.
Initiation of the Retraction Procedure
The retraction procedure may be initiated by the Editorial Office, as well as by an author, reviewer, reader, the author’s institution, or another interested party if the Editorial Office receives substantiated information about possible serious violations or unreliability of the published material.
Grounds for initiating the review may include a written submission, the results of an editorial investigation, an official conclusion from an institution, a report on a research integrity violation, or other documented information.
Procedure for Considering Retraction
If information is received about possible grounds for retraction, the Editorial Office proceeds as follows:
- Conducts an initial analysis of the information received and determines whether there are grounds for formal consideration.
- Collects and analyzes available materials, including the article text, editorial correspondence, reviews, explanations of the parties, additional documents, and, where necessary, external opinions.
- Gives the author or authors an opportunity to provide written explanations regarding the identified circumstances.
- If necessary, contacts the author’s institution, research organization, employer, or another competent body for official clarification of the facts.
- Makes a decision that there are no grounds for retraction, or that a correction, expression of concern, or article retraction is required.
Decision-Making
The decision on retraction is made by the Editor-in-Chief or an authorized editor who has no conflict of interest regarding the article concerned. In complex or disputed cases, the matter may be referred to the Editorial Board or considered with regard to the conclusions of a competent institution.
Publication of the Retraction Notice
If a decision to retract an article is made, the journal publishes a retraction notice. This notice must be clearly identified, directly linked to the original article, and include the article title, authors’ names, the reason for retraction, and information on who initiated the retraction, where appropriate.
The original text of the article is generally not removed from the journal’s website; it remains available as part of the scholarly record with a clear indication that the article has been retracted.
Removal of an article is possible only in exceptional cases, such as by court order, violation of the law, risk to third parties, or other particularly serious circumstances.
Notification and Indexing
The Editorial Office ensures that the retraction notice is published on the journal’s website and linked to the metadata of the original article. Where possible, updates concerning the retraction should be reflected in indexing systems and scholarly information services.
Confidentiality and Due Process
Until the consideration of article retraction is completed, the Editorial Office observes the principles of confidentiality, impartiality, and the right of the parties to provide explanations. When verifying the circumstances, the Editorial Office must act carefully and objectively and must avoid unfounded public accusations.
