FJMRI Journal | ISSN: Applied | DOI: via Zenodo | Open Access
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COPE Retraction Guidelines · Scholarly Record Integrity

Corrections, Retractions & Manuscript Withdrawal Policy

FJMRI is committed to the permanence and integrity of the scholarly record. We follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines for addressing scientific errors, expressions of concern, and retractions.

📑 COPE Retraction Code 🔗 Persistent DOI via Zenodo 🛡️ Scholarly Permanence Last Updated: January 2026

01. Corrigenda, Errata & Addenda

Honest scientific errors (e.g., inadvertent transcription typos in mathematical equations, mislabeled table columns, omitted co-author grant affiliations) that do not compromise the fundamental findings or conclusions of a published paper are rectified through formal notices:

Corrigendum

Issued when an error was introduced by the authors themselves during manuscript preparation or proof verification.

Erratum

Issued when a production formatting or typographical error was introduced by the journal editorial or typesetting team.

A formal correction notice is assigned its own unique Zenodo DOI, linked bidirectionally to the original article, and indexed in major scholarly search engines.

02. Editorial Expressions of Concern

When substantial allegations of research misconduct or data unreliability are raised and an official institutional investigation is underway or inconclusive:

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Alerting the Community: The Editor-in-Chief may publish an official Expression of Concern. This alerts the academic community to potential concerns without prematurely condemning the authors while awaiting final findings from the university or ethics committee.

03. Formal Article Retractions

FJMRI adheres strictly to the COPE Retraction Guidelines. Retraction is considered when:

  • There is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of major scientific error or fabrication/falsification.
  • The findings constitute pervasive plagiarism or redundant publication without attribution.
  • The research reported unethical practices, lacked requisite IRB approval, or infringed upon third-party intellectual property.
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How Retractions Are Displayed: The original article is never deleted from the server. A watermark stating "RETRACTED" is applied to every page of the published PDF, and a formal Retraction Statement is linked permanently to the article's persistent DOI explaining who retracted the paper and the specific reasons.

04. Rare Article Removal Criteria

Complete removal of a published article from the website occurs only under extraordinary circumstances:

  • Court order or formal judicial injunction mandating legal removal.
  • Content that poses an immediate, grave biosecurity or public health threat.
  • Defamatory or severely unlawful content infringing on individual privacy rights.

In such extreme instances, the article metadata and a tombstone page stating the legal reason for removal are retained under the permanent DOI.

05. Pre-Publication Manuscript Withdrawal Policy

Authors may withdraw a manuscript prior to formal acceptance by submitting a signed request explaining their rationale:

During Desk Review

Manuscripts can be withdrawn immediately upon author request with zero penalty or administrative cost.

During Active Peer Review

Authors should avoid frivolous withdrawals once external referees have invested volunteer hours. A valid academic justification must be provided.

Post-Acceptance

Once a manuscript is formally accepted and enters copyediting/typesetting, withdrawal is only permitted under exceptional, verified ethical circumstances.

Concurrent Submission Ban

Withdrawing a paper simply because another journal accepted it concurrently violates scientific ethics codes.

06. DOI Permanence & Scholarly Custodianship

Because a registered DOI constitutes an irreversible academic citation, published papers are permanent fixtures of scholarly record. Authors cannot unilaterally request "deletion" or unpublishing because of changed career paths or post-hoc disagreements among co-authors.