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Retractions Policy
This Retractions Policy is developed in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, and internationally recognized standards and best practices for ethical scholarly publishing.
1. Purpose
This policy establishes the principles and procedures for retracting published articles when serious concerns arise regarding the reliability, integrity, or ethical compliance of the published work.
2. Grounds for Retraction
An article may be retracted when there is clear evidence of research misconduct or a serious breach of publication ethics, including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, duplicate or redundant publication, unethical research practices, undisclosed major conflicts of interest that invalidate the work, copyright infringement, manipulated peer review, or major errors that render the findings unreliable.
3. Initiation of Retraction
Retraction requests may originate from authors, readers, reviewers, editors, institutions, or other credible sources. Every allegation will be treated confidentially and evaluated objectively.
4. Investigation Process
The Editor-in-Chief, together with the Editorial Board where appropriate, will review the available evidence, communicate with the authors, and may seek clarification from the authors' institutions. Investigations will follow COPE guidance and principles of fairness, confidentiality, and due process.
5. Retraction Decision
If the investigation confirms that retraction is warranted, the Editor-in-Chief will approve the retraction. Authors will normally be informed before the final decision; however, the journal reserves the right to retract an article without author agreement when the evidence clearly justifies doing so.
6. Publication of Retraction Notice
A formal retraction notice will be published promptly, freely accessible, permanently linked to the original article, and clearly identify the reasons for the retraction. The notice will distinguish misconduct from honest error whenever possible.
7. Status of Retracted Articles
Retracted articles will remain available as part of the scholarly record but will be clearly marked as 'Retracted' on every electronic version. The original article will not be removed except where legally required.
8. Corrections Instead of Retraction
When errors are minor and do not invalidate the overall findings, NIJBM may publish a correction (erratum or corrigendum) rather than retract the article.
9. Author Responsibilities
Authors are expected to promptly inform the journal if they discover significant errors in their published work and to cooperate fully with any investigation or corrective action.
10. Editorial Independence
Retraction decisions are based solely on scholarly evidence, publication ethics, and the integrity of the academic record. Commercial interests, sponsorship, institutional affiliations, or personal relationships will not influence editorial decisions.
11. Appeals
Authors may submit a reasoned appeal with supporting evidence if they believe a retraction decision was made in error. The Editor-in-Chief may seek advice from independent experts or the Editorial Board before issuing a final decision.
