Correction and Retraction

The International Journal of Management and Business Economics (IJMEBE) recognizes the importance of maintaining the integrity, accuracy, and completeness of the permanent scholarly record. In circumstances where errors, inaccuracies, or ethical breaches occur in published manuscripts, the journal follows the standard practices and guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions.

1. Corrections

When an error in a published paper is identified that does not render the primary findings or conclusions invalid, a formal correction will be issued. Corrections are published in the next available issue, assigned an independent Digital Object Identifier (DOI), and permanently linked bi-directionally to the original publication.

  • Erratum (Publisher's Error):

Issued when a significant mistake was introduced during copyediting, typesetting, layout design, or production by the journal's editorial team (e.g., misprinted author names, omitted affiliations, corrupted tables, or distorted figures).

  • Corrigendum (Authors' Error):

Issued when an honest, unintentional mistake was made by the authors (e.g., minor calculation errors, transcription errors in datasets, or missing acknowledgments/funding disclosures) that does not alter the fundamental scientific validity of the research.

2. Expressions of Concern

An Expression of Concern is a formal notification published by the Editor-in-Chief when:

  • There is well-founded reason to believe that research misconduct or substantial publication error has occurred, but an institutional investigation is inconclusive, pending, or prolonged.
  • The evidence presented is substantial enough to alert the scholarly community, but not yet definitive enough to justify an outright retraction.

An Expression of Concern will be resolved with a subsequent Notice of Retraction or Corrigendum once conclusive findings from an institutional investigation are finalized.

3. Retractions

Retraction is reserved for articles with serious flaws that undermine the validity, trustworthiness, and ethical basis of the published work. Articles may be retracted by the authors, the Editor-in-Chief, or through mutual agreement.

IJMEBE follows the COPE Retraction Guidelines and will retract an article if:

  • Unreliable Findings: There is clear evidence that the results are untrustworthy, whether due to scientific misconduct (data fabrication, data falsification) or honest human error (e.g., calculation errors, experimental failure).
  • Plagiarism and Redundancy: The work constitutes significant plagiarism (ideas, text, or data), redundant publication (publishing substantially the same work without proper cross-referencing), or self-plagiarism.
  • Ethical Violations: The research was conducted without necessary ethical approvals, informed consent was violated, or severe conflicts of interest were hidden.
  • Compromised Peer Review: There is verifiable evidence that the peer-review process was manipulated or fabricated.

Retraction Procedure:

  1. Notice Publication: A formal, open-access Retraction Notice titled "Retraction: [Article Title]" is published in the current issue, assigned its own DOI, and linked directly to the original article. The notice clearly states who is retracting the article and the detailed rationale behind the decision.
  2. Watermarking the Original Article: The original PDF and HTML records will not be deleted from the journal's website or public archives. Instead, the PDF is watermarked on every page with a prominent, permanent label: "RETRACTED", preserving the historical bibliographic record while preventing misleading citations.

4. Article Removal (Exceptional Circumstances)

In extremely rare and exceptional circumstances, an article may be completely removed from the online platform. Complete removal is strictly limited to instances where:

  • The article contains defamatory, libelous, or unlawful material.
  • The publication infringes upon someone's legal privacy rights.
  • An article is subject to a direct court order.

In such events, the bibliographic metadata (title, author list, DOI) will remain, accompanied by an explicit editorial statement explaining why the full text was withdrawn.