The Editorial Board of the scientific journal “Forestry and Forest Melioration” adheres to the principles of publication ethics and ensures appropriate responses to cases of academic misconduct. If significant violations are identified, the Editorial Board may retract a published article.
Reasons for Retraction
Articles may be retracted in the following cases:
- Confirmed instances of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data falsification, or fabrication.
- Submission of a manuscript without the consent of all co-authors or disputes regarding authorship.
- Duplicate submission or redundant publication in another journal.
- Significant errors affecting the validity of the results or conclusions.
- Data falsification or manipulation.
- Violations of research ethics.
- Infringement of third-party rights, including copyright or confidentiality violations.
- Undisclosed involvement of artificial intelligence (AI).
Retraction Procedure
Retractions can be requested by the author or authors of an article, by an institution, by readers, reviewers or by editors through an official notification to the Editorial Office. The person initiating the retraction must submit a written statement setting out the reasons for the retraction. The statement must be accompanied by evidence supporting the need for retraction. The statement will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief within five working days.
The Editorial Board conducts an internal investigation, involving experts, authors, and institutional representatives where necessary. The authors of the article are given the opportunity to provide their explanations. The review period shall not exceed 30 calendar days. If a violation is confirmed, the Editor-in-Chief, in agreement with the Editorial Board, makes the final decision to retract the publication. Authors are notified of the decision before their article is retracted.
The retracted article is clearly indicated in all online sources (on the journal’s website, including in the table of contents, in the article itself and in all bibliographic databases). An official retraction notice is published on the journal’s website as soon as possible, clearly explaining the reasons and circumstances of the retraction. The retraction notice includes a clear heading stating ‘Retraction Notice’, the authors and title of the retracted article, its bibliographic data and DOI, a detailed explanation of the reasons for the retraction, and the date on which the decision takes effect. The notice is linked to the original article in the electronic archive. All electronic versions of the article (PDF, HTML) remain accessible but are clearly marked “RETRACTED” on every page. In the print version of the journal, information regarding the retraction will be published in the next issue. The retraction is reported to article authors and bibliographic databases.
The purpose of retraction is to correct the literature and ensure its integrity, not to punish the authors.
The Editorial Board of the scientific journal “Forestry and Forest Melioration” follows the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when handling such cases.