Withdrawal and Retraction Policy

Archives of Operative Medicine (AOM) is committed to maintaining the integrity and reliability of the scientific record. We follow internationally accepted best practices and the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding the withdrawal and retraction of scholarly work.

 

  1. Withdrawal Policy

Before Acceptance:

  • Authors may request to withdraw their manuscript before editorial decision, by sending a formal withdrawal request to:
    editor@aomjournal.com
  • The request must be signed by all co-authors and include the manuscript ID and title.
  • Withdrawal is not permitted solely due to editorial delay or peer review outcome dissatisfaction.

After Acceptance / In Press Stage:

  • Withdrawal is strongly discouraged after acceptance.
  • Requests at this stage will only be considered in cases of:
    • Ethical concerns (e.g., authorship disputes, undisclosed conflicts)
    • Serious errors in data or methods
  • Any inappropriate withdrawal after peer review without valid reason may result in blacklisting of authors for future submissions.

 

  1. Retraction Policy

Retraction may occur when:

  • There is clear evidence of misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, data fabrication, unethical research)
  • The article contains serious errors that invalidate findings (e.g., flawed methods, incorrect data analysis)
  • The work has been published elsewhere (redundant publication)
  • There is unauthorized or forged authorship

Process:

  • Retractions are initiated by:
    • The authors,
    • The editors,
    • Or institutional bodies
  • A formal investigation is conducted in line with COPE Retraction Guidelines.
  • If retraction is warranted:
    • A retraction notice is published and linked to the original article
    • The article PDF is watermarked as “Retracted” but remains accessible for transparency

 

  1. Corrections and Expressions of Concern
  • Corrections (Errata) are issued for minor errors that do not affect scientific validity.
  • An Expression of Concern may be published when:
    • A formal investigation is ongoing
    • There is suspicion of misconduct, but insufficient evidence for retraction

 

Transparency and Archiving

All withdrawn, corrected, or retracted articles will remain visible with a clear notice, in line with academic transparency principles and indexing standards.