Retraction, Withdrawal, & Correction Policies Policy Statement

Retraction, Withdrawal, & Correction Policies

Policy statement

We recognize the substantial effort authors invest in preparing manuscripts and design our peer-review procedures accordingly. Nonetheless, there are exceptional situations in which published items must be corrected or removed for scientific or ethical reasons. Such actions are taken only when necessary to preserve the reliability of our electronic archive. Our policy is intended to protect the integrity and completeness of the scholarly record for researchers, libraries, and other users.

Retraction

Al-Madina: Journal of Islamic Law is committed to maintaining the scholarly record’s integrity and may retract articles in certain circumstances, including when:

  • A major scientific error invalidates the paper’s conclusions — whether due to research misconduct (for example, fabricated data) or honest mistakes (such as calculation or experimental errors).
  • The work has been published previously elsewhere without appropriate citation, permission, or justification (redundant publication).
  • Serious ethical issues arise, for example plagiarism (using another person’s ideas, methods, results, or text without proper acknowledgement, including material seen during confidential peer review) or improper attribution of authorship.

When a possible retraction is identified, the following procedure will be followed (in line with COPE guidance):

  • The issue is referred to the journal editor.
  • The editor follows COPE flowcharts and procedures, including seeking a response from the author(s) where appropriate.
  • Findings are reviewed by the Ethics Advisory Board to ensure consistent application of best practices.
  • The final decision is communicated to the author(s) and, when necessary, to other parties such as the author’s institution.
  • A formal retraction notice is posted online and published in the next available journal issue; this notice explains the reason for retraction.

If authors retain copyright and choose to withdraw their work after publication, COPE retraction guidance still applies and the integrity of the scholarly record remains paramount.

Article withdrawal

Authors may withdraw manuscripts at any point prior to signing the publication declaration after acceptance. Because the publication declaration is completed once a manuscript is accepted, withdrawal is permitted only during submission and review stages. To withdraw, an author should send a written request (via email) to the journal indicating the manuscript details and intention to withdraw.

Article correction

Corrections may be issued when small parts of an otherwise trustworthy article are incorrect or misleading (for example, because of an honest error), or when the author list is inaccurate (such as omission of a contributor who meets authorship criteria, or inclusion of someone who does not). Corrections fall into three categories:

  • Publisher correction (erratum): To notify readers of significant errors introduced by the journal’s production process that affect the record, scientific integrity, or the reputation of the authors/journal.
  • Author correction (corrigendum): To notify readers of important errors made by the author(s) that affect the record, scientific integrity, or reputation.
  • Addendum: An author-supplied addition that clarifies, extends, or updates material in the original article.

The Editor(s) decide whether a correction is warranted, sometimes after consulting reviewers or editorial board members. Handling editors will ask the author(s) for clarification, but the final determination about correction type and necessity rests with the editorial team.

Article removal

On rare occasions it may be necessary to remove an article from the online platform — for example, where content is defamatory, violates legal rights, is subject to a court order, or presents a serious and demonstrable health hazard. In such cases the article text will be removed, but metadata (title, author names, etc.) will be retained and replaced by a notice explaining that the item was removed for legal reasons.

Article replacement

If a published paper contains defects that could cause grave harm (for example a public-health risk), the authors may retract the flawed version and publish a corrected replacement. Replacement follows the same retraction procedures described above; the retraction notice will include a link to the corrected republication and document the article’s history.