Scientific and Technical Bulletin
of the Institute of Oilseed Crops NAAS

Editorial Policy on Misconduct and Retraction Procedure

 We support adherence to the principles of COPE and oppose all possible violations. Special attention is paid to checking works for originality and preventing cases of plagiarism.
 Duplicate submission
 Authors must submit manuscripts that are unique and must not be submitted to any other journal (except in certain exceptional circumstances and only with the approval of the reviewer). Sometimes authors may ignore this requirement by submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals or submitting several manuscripts based on the same research. As in the case of plagiarism, duplicate submission may take various forms: literal copying, partial but substantial copying, or even paraphrased copying of research. Violation of this policy will result in immediate rejection along with possible sanctions against the authors.
 Citation manipulation
 Submitted manuscripts in which citations are found whose main purpose is to increase the number of references to the author’s work or to articles published in a particular journal will be immediately rejected, and sanctions against the authors may also be applied.
 Data falsification
 If falsified or fabricated experimental data (including image manipulation) are detected in a submitted article, this will lead to immediate rejection and possible sanctions against the authors.
 In case of suspected misconduct or fraud, the journal will conduct an investigation in accordance with COPE guidelines. If, after the investigation, justified concerns remain, the involved authors will be contacted via their email addresses and given the opportunity to resolve the issue. Depending on the situation, the journal may take the following measures, including but not limited to:
 - if the manuscript is still under review, it may be rejected and returned to the author;
 - if the article has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the violation;
 Mass manipulation and “paper mills”
 If it is determined that an article is part of a group of publications compromised by “paper mills” or other systemic fraudulent practices, the editorial board may decide to retract the article as part of a package. The retraction notice must indicate that the article belongs to a group of works affected by similar violations.
 Use of artificial intelligence
 Undisclosed or hidden use of artificial intelligence systems for generating text, images, or other data in a manuscript is considered a serious violation and may be grounds for retraction. Authors are required to transparently disclose the use of such tools. Concealment of such facts may also be considered grounds for retraction. The editorial board reserves the right to check manuscripts for the use of generative artificial intelligence systems. For this purpose, automated detection tools, expert peer review, and additional inquiries to authors may be used.
 Authorship falsification and identity theft
 Manuscripts may be retracted in cases of confirmed false authorship, use of another person’s personal data (name, ORCID, etc.), as well as hidden or coerced authorship.
 Corrections
 A correction may be published together with the article if a fundamental error or mistake is identified (for example, an experimental error or miscalculation).
 Typographical errors
 Typographical errors will be corrected if a significant mistake was made during article preparation, including omissions such as failure to incorporate corrections to factual data requested by authors within the journal’s specified deadlines and in accordance with its 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.
 Formal correction notice
 A formal correction notice is a statement regarding a significant error made by the authors of an article. All corrections are approved by the editorial board of the journal.
 Correction procedure
 Corrections may be initiated by authors, editors, or readers.
 The editorial team evaluates the request and, if necessary, consults with the authors.
 Once approved, corrections are published as a separate document linked to the original article, marked as “Correction”.
 Expression of concern
 In cases where there are serious doubts regarding the reliability of an article or violations of academic integrity, but insufficient evidence for immediate retraction, the editorial board may publish an expression of concern. Such a notice has its own DOI, is linked to the original article, and contains a brief explanation of the reasons for publication. The expression of concern remains available until the editorial investigation is completed.
 Timeliness of procedures
 Decisions on publishing corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions are made by the editorial board and implemented as soon as possible after significant violations are identified. In cases where final agreement with the authors is not possible, the editorial board reserves the right to publish a notice without delay in order to preserve scientific integrity.
 Retraction (withdrawal of published articles)
 In some cases, the editorial board may decide to retract an article.
 Reasons for potential retraction of a work:
 - there is clear evidence that the results are unreliable, whether due to misconduct (e.g., fabricated data or image manipulation);
 - the research results have been previously published elsewhere without proper citation, license, or justification (e.g., in cases of redundant or duplicate publication);
 - the research is plagiarized;
 - there is evidence of fraudulent authorship;
 - it is proven that the peer review process was compromised;
 - there is evidence of unethical research and violation of professional ethical codes.
 Retraction requests may be submitted by authors, editors, or third parties. The editorial board conducts an investigation involving the authors and, if necessary, external experts. The decision is made by the editor-in-chief of the journal or their deputy.
 After a decision to retract an article is made:
 - a watermark “Retraction” will be added to the published version of the article record;
 - the article title will be changed to “Retraction: [Article Title]”;
 - a separate retraction statement will be published under the title “Retraction: [Article Title]”.
 The journal editors sign this notice; the retraction statement will be numbered and assigned a DOI identifier.
 In some cases, authors of a scientific article under consideration by the journal may request withdrawal of their manuscript. Such a request can only be made before publication. To withdraw a manuscript, authors must contact the editorial office with a letter containing a clear and concise explanation of the reasons for withdrawal. The letter must be brief and signed by all authors of the article. The withdrawn manuscript will be completely removed from the publisher’s database; however, copyright remains with the authors.
 Availability of retracted articles
 Retracted articles remain in open access in the journal’s archives and databases with a clear label “Retraction”. Complete removal is possible only in exceptional cases required by applicable legal regulations (including personal data protection, copyright violations, compliance with court decisions, or security considerations).

Creative Commons «Attribution» 4.0 WorldWide