Article Withdrawal Policy

The Journal of Responsible AI & Ethics (JRAIE) maintains this Article Withdrawal Policy to provide a transparent and consistent framework for handling requests to withdraw manuscripts at different stages of the editorial and publication process. The policy is intended to protect authors' legitimate interests while preserving the integrity of peer review, editorial decision-making, and the scholarly record.

Withdrawal is treated as a formal editorial action and should not be used as a substitute for responsible manuscript preparation, appropriate communication with the journal, or compliance with publication-ethics requirements. Authors are therefore encouraged to verify the accuracy, completeness, authorship, ethical status, and suitability of their manuscript before submission.

The journal evaluates withdrawal requests according to the stage of processing, the reasons provided, any ethical or legal concerns involved, and the potential effect of the withdrawal on the integrity of the editorial or published record.

1. Withdrawal Before Initial Editorial Assessment

Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript after submission but before substantive editorial evaluation has begun.

The corresponding author should submit a clear written request to the editorial office identifying the manuscript title, manuscript identification number where available, and the reason for withdrawal.

Where the manuscript has not yet entered peer review and no significant ethical concern has been identified, the journal may close the submission after confirming the request.

Authors should not submit the manuscript to another journal until the withdrawal has been formally acknowledged by JRAIE.

2. Withdrawal During Editorial Screening

A manuscript may also be withdrawn while it is undergoing administrative, technical, scope, originality, or research-integrity screening.

Where withdrawal is requested during this stage, the corresponding author should provide a reasonable explanation. The journal may complete any necessary assessment if a potential publication-ethics issue has already been identified.

A withdrawal request does not automatically terminate an investigation into suspected plagiarism, duplicate submission, authorship irregularity, fabricated information, manipulated data, or another significant integrity concern.

Where an ethical issue requires further review, the journal may retain necessary editorial records and continue an appropriate investigation even if the manuscript itself is removed from active publication consideration.

3. Withdrawal During Peer Review

Authors may request withdrawal while a manuscript is undergoing external peer review. However, such requests should be made only for a legitimate reason and as early as reasonably possible.

Peer review requires the professional time and intellectual contribution of editors and independent reviewers. Authors should therefore avoid requesting withdrawal merely because the review process is underway, because unfavorable comments have been received, or because they wish to submit the manuscript simultaneously to another journal.

The corresponding author should provide a written explanation for the request. The editorial office may consult the handling editor before confirming withdrawal.

Until formal confirmation is issued by the journal, the manuscript remains under consideration at JRAIE and must not be submitted elsewhere.

4. Withdrawal After a Revision Decision

A request for withdrawal following a decision of minor or major revision may be considered where the authors do not wish to continue with the revision process.

Authors should communicate the decision formally rather than allowing the manuscript to remain inactive without explanation.

Where the withdrawal follows reviewer criticism, methodological concerns, requests for additional evidence, or ethical questions, the journal may retain the editorial and peer-review record as part of its internal documentation.

If serious integrity concerns were identified during review, withdrawal will not necessarily prevent the journal from assessing those concerns or communicating with relevant parties where appropriate.

5. Withdrawal After Acceptance

Withdrawal after formal acceptance should be exceptional because the manuscript has already completed substantial editorial and peer-review processing and may have entered copyediting, typesetting, metadata preparation, or publication production.

Authors requesting withdrawal after acceptance should provide a detailed and academically or ethically justified explanation.

Examples of circumstances that may warrant consideration include:

  • Discovery of a major error that materially affects the reliability of the work

  • Identification of a serious problem in the underlying data or analysis

  • An unresolved authorship or legal issue

  • Discovery of an ethical concern that makes publication inappropriate

  • A significant breach of consent, confidentiality, privacy, or research-ethics requirements

  • Another substantial circumstance that would make continued publication inappropriate

The final determination will be made by the responsible editor after considering the circumstances and the need to protect the integrity of the scholarly process.

Withdrawal after acceptance should not be used simply to transfer an accepted manuscript to another journal.

6. Withdrawal After Publication

Once an article has been formally published, it becomes part of the scholarly record. At this stage, ordinary manuscript withdrawal is generally no longer the appropriate mechanism for addressing errors, disputes, or integrity concerns.

Published articles requiring substantive correction will be handled under the journal's applicable Corrections Policy, Retraction Policy, or Corrections and Retractions Policy, depending on the seriousness and nature of the matter.

Where the reliability or integrity of a published article is substantially compromised, the journal may consider a retraction rather than removing the article without an explanatory record.

The journal seeks to maintain transparency regarding post-publication changes and does not ordinarily remove published material solely because an author later wishes to withdraw the work.

7. Exceptional Removal of Published Content

Complete removal of published content should be limited to exceptional circumstances in which continued public availability would create a serious legal, privacy, security, ethical, or safety concern.

Such circumstances may include, where legally or ethically justified:

  • Material that violates applicable law

  • Serious infringement of privacy or confidentiality

  • Publication of information that creates a substantial and demonstrable risk of harm

  • Content subject to a valid legal restriction or court order

  • Unlawfully published copyrighted or confidential material

  • Other exceptional circumstances requiring removal to protect individuals or comply with legal obligations

Where removal is necessary, the journal should preserve an appropriate bibliographic record or notice whenever legally and technically possible so that the history of the publication remains transparent.

8. Duplicate or Simultaneous Submission

Authors must not submit the same or substantially similar manuscript to more than one journal at the same time.

If authors request withdrawal because they have simultaneously submitted the manuscript elsewhere, the matter may be treated as a publication-ethics concern rather than as a routine withdrawal.

The journal may seek clarification from the authors and may take appropriate editorial action depending on the circumstances.

Authors should wait until JRAIE has formally confirmed withdrawal before submitting the manuscript to another publication.

9. Withdrawal Following Discovery of Plagiarism

If plagiarism or substantial unattributed overlap is identified before publication, the journal may reject or withdraw the manuscript from consideration following appropriate editorial assessment.

An author request to withdraw the manuscript after plagiarism has been identified does not necessarily prevent the journal from documenting or investigating the matter.

Where necessary, the journal may request an explanation from the authors and may take additional action consistent with its Plagiarism Policy and Research Misconduct Policy.

10. Withdrawal Following Data or Research-Integrity Concerns

A manuscript may be withdrawn from publication consideration when credible concerns arise regarding data fabrication, falsification, manipulated analyses, unreliable findings, unethical research practices, unsupported conclusions, or other significant research-integrity problems.

Authors are expected to cooperate with reasonable editorial requests for clarification, underlying data, approvals, consent records, analytical documentation, or other supporting information.

Where a manuscript is withdrawn because the authors themselves identify a genuine error, the journal will distinguish responsible self-correction from intentional misconduct on the basis of the available evidence.

11. Authorship Disputes and Withdrawal

Withdrawal may be requested where a serious authorship dispute cannot be resolved during editorial processing.

The journal may pause the manuscript while the authors attempt to resolve the matter. Where the dispute concerns contribution, consent to publication, unauthorized submission, addition or removal of authors, or another significant authorship issue, the journal may request written confirmation from the affected individuals.

JRAIE does not ordinarily determine complex institutional authorship disputes that require evidence beyond the journal's editorial authority. Such matters may need to be resolved by the relevant institution or other competent body.

12. Withdrawal for Ethical or Legal Reasons

The Editor-in-Chief may discontinue consideration of a manuscript where publication would create substantial ethical, legal, privacy, confidentiality, security, or research-integrity concerns.

The journal may act independently of an author withdrawal request where continued processing would be inappropriate.

Where possible, authors will be informed of the reason for the editorial action unless legal, confidentiality, investigative, or safety considerations limit the information that may be disclosed.

13. Withdrawal Initiated by the Journal

JRAIE may withdraw a manuscript from editorial consideration where circumstances make continued processing inappropriate.

Possible reasons include:

  • Confirmed or strongly supported plagiarism

  • Duplicate or redundant submission

  • Fabricated or falsified data

  • Manipulation of the peer-review process

  • False authorship or identity information

  • Unauthorized submission of another person's work

  • Serious breach of research ethics

  • Failure to provide essential clarification concerning major integrity concerns

  • Significant conflicts affecting the legitimacy of the submission

  • Legal restrictions that prevent publication

  • Other serious violations of journal policy

An editorially initiated withdrawal does not necessarily imply a formal finding of misconduct unless such a finding is supported by appropriate evidence.

14. Withdrawal Request Procedure

The corresponding author should submit a withdrawal request through the journal's official communication channel.

The request should include:

  • Manuscript title

  • Manuscript identification number, where applicable

  • Name of the corresponding author

  • A clear reason for requesting withdrawal

  • Confirmation that the request is made with the knowledge of all authors, where applicable

  • Any relevant supporting information necessary to explain the circumstances

The journal may request confirmation from additional authors where necessary to establish that the withdrawal request is authorized.

15. Agreement of Co-Authors

The corresponding author is expected to communicate withdrawal decisions to all co-authors.

Where a withdrawal request appears to involve disagreement among authors, the journal may seek confirmation from the author group before closing the manuscript.

If the journal becomes aware that one or more authors oppose withdrawal because of an unresolved authorship, ownership, integrity, or consent issue, editorial processing may be paused while the matter is assessed.

16. Formal Confirmation of Withdrawal

A manuscript should not be regarded as formally withdrawn until the journal has communicated confirmation of the withdrawal.

Before receiving confirmation, authors should not assume that the editorial process has ended.

Once withdrawal has been confirmed, the manuscript will no longer be considered for publication by JRAIE unless a new submission is explicitly permitted by the editorial office.

A withdrawn manuscript may require a new submission and fresh editorial evaluation if the authors later wish to seek publication in the journal.

17. Editorial Records

JRAIE may retain administrative, peer-review, editorial, correspondence, and integrity-related records associated with a withdrawn manuscript where necessary for legitimate journal operations, publication-ethics documentation, dispute resolution, or protection of the scholarly record.

Withdrawal of a manuscript does not require the journal to erase records that must reasonably be retained for editorial accountability or legal and ethical purposes.

Any retained personal information should be managed in accordance with the journal's Privacy Policy and applicable data-protection obligations.

18. Confidentiality

Information concerning withdrawal requests, peer-review records, ethical investigations, author correspondence, and unpublished manuscript content will be handled confidentially.

Disclosure may occur where necessary for legitimate editorial, legal, ethical, institutional, or investigative purposes.

Where an institution or other responsible authority must be contacted regarding a serious research-integrity concern, the journal will seek to limit disclosure to information reasonably necessary for the matter under consideration.

19. Withdrawal and Peer-Review Confidentiality

Withdrawal does not alter the confidentiality obligations of reviewers, editors, and journal personnel.

Reviewers must not use unpublished ideas, findings, methods, data, or other information obtained through the review process for personal, academic, commercial, or competitive advantage.

Authors likewise should not publicly identify or misuse confidential reviewer information obtained through editorial correspondence.

20. Withdrawal and Editorial Independence

Decisions concerning withdrawal are made according to editorial, ethical, and scholarly considerations.

Withdrawal decisions should not be influenced by an author's nationality, institutional affiliation, professional status, geographic location, or other characteristics unrelated to the manuscript and the circumstances of the withdrawal request.

The publisher should not require continuation of a manuscript solely for commercial or promotional reasons when legitimate grounds for withdrawal have been established.

21. Withdrawal and Publication Ethics

Withdrawal does not remove the responsibility of authors to cooperate with legitimate publication-ethics inquiries.

Where credible evidence of misconduct arises before or after a withdrawal request, JRAIE may continue an appropriate investigation or may refer the matter to an institution or other responsible body where necessary.

The purpose of such action is to protect the integrity of the scholarly record and the fairness of the editorial process rather than to penalize authors for making a legitimate withdrawal request.

22. Relationship With Retraction

Withdrawal and retraction are distinct editorial actions.

Withdrawal generally applies to a manuscript that has not yet become part of the final published scholarly record.

Retraction is a post-publication mechanism used when a published article requires formal notification that its findings or content should not be relied upon because of serious error, misconduct, unethical research, duplicate publication, or another substantial problem affecting its integrity.

Authors should therefore consult the journal's Retraction Policy for matters concerning already published articles.

23. Relationship With Corrections

A published article should not ordinarily be withdrawn when the identified problem can be adequately addressed through a transparent correction.

Where an error affects only a limited part of an otherwise reliable article, the journal may issue an appropriate correction rather than retracting or removing the publication.

The nature and extent of the problem will determine the appropriate post-publication action.

24. Misuse of the Withdrawal Process

The journal considers repeated or strategic misuse of withdrawal requests inconsistent with responsible scholarly conduct.

Examples may include attempting to:

  • Avoid an ongoing research-integrity investigation

  • Conceal simultaneous submission

  • Transfer an accepted manuscript to another journal without a legitimate reason

  • Circumvent unfavorable peer-review findings

  • Remove evidence of an ethical concern

  • Disrupt the editorial process deliberately

Each case will be assessed according to its individual circumstances. The journal will avoid automatic penalties and will base any response on the available evidence and applicable editorial policies.

25. Author Responsibility

Authors should carefully review their manuscript before submission and ensure that all authors agree with the decision to submit.

Authors are responsible for confirming:

  • Accuracy of the manuscript

  • Authenticity and integrity of the underlying research

  • Appropriate authorship

  • Necessary ethical approvals

  • Accuracy of declarations

  • Absence of simultaneous submission

  • Availability of supporting information where relevant

  • Compliance with the journal's submission and publication policies

Responsible preparation before submission reduces unnecessary withdrawals and supports an efficient and credible editorial process.

26. Final Editorial Authority

The Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately authorized editor retains responsibility for determining the appropriate handling of withdrawal requests, particularly in complex cases involving acceptance, production, research integrity, legal concerns, authorship disputes, or post-publication issues.

Decisions will be based on the available evidence, the stage of publication, applicable journal policies, and the need to preserve the integrity and transparency of scholarly communication.

Commitment to Transparent Withdrawal Practices

The Journal of Responsible AI & Ethics (JRAIE) seeks to handle manuscript withdrawal requests fairly, consistently, confidentially, and transparently.

Legitimate withdrawal requests will be considered without unnecessary obstruction. At the same time, withdrawal will not be used to conceal publication misconduct, bypass ethical review, erase legitimate editorial records, or compromise the integrity of the scholarly record.

Where a matter concerns an already published article, the journal will use the appropriate correction, retraction, expression-of-concern, or other post-publication mechanism rather than treating the matter as a routine manuscript withdrawal.