Research Misconduct, Correction, and Retraction Policy
The International Journal of Research and Community Empowerment (IJoRCE) is committed to protecting the integrity, accuracy, and reliability of the scholarly record. The following policy summarizes the journal's procedures for handling allegations of research misconduct and for correcting or retracting published articles. Detailed provisions are provided in the IJoRCE Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.
1. Allegations of Research Misconduct
Research misconduct includes, but is not limited to, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, citation manipulation, peer-review manipulation, data or image manipulation, unethical authorship practices, undisclosed conflicts of interest, redundant publication, duplicate submission, and other serious violations of research or publication ethics.
When suspected misconduct is identified in a submitted or published manuscript, the IJoRCE Editorial Team may conduct an initial assessment, request clarification or supporting documentation, consult relevant Editors or Peer Reviewers, examine available evidence, and, where appropriate, communicate with the authors' institution, research ethics committee, funder, or other relevant authority.
The editorial or publication process may be suspended while the matter is being clarified or investigated. Depending on the findings, IJoRCE may take appropriate editorial action, including rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, removal, replacement, or referral to the relevant institution or authority.
Detailed procedures are provided in the Allegations of Research Misconduct section of the IJoRCE Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.
2. Correction and Retraction
IJoRCE takes appropriate post-publication action when an error, ethical concern, research integrity issue, or other significant problem is identified in a published article.
A Correction, Erratum, or Corrigendum may be issued when an error requires correction or clarification but does not invalidate the main findings or conclusions of the article.
An Expression of Concern may be issued when there are substantial concerns regarding the integrity, reliability, or ethical status of an article while an investigation is ongoing or the available evidence remains inconclusive.
A Retraction may be issued when serious errors, unreliable findings, plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated or falsified data, unethical research, or other serious violations compromise the integrity or reliability of the published work.
Where required by legal, ethical, privacy, safety, or scholarly integrity considerations, IJoRCE may also undertake Article Removal or Article Replacement in accordance with its Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.
All post-publication notices will be handled transparently and, whenever possible, linked to the original article to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.
Detailed grounds, authority, and procedures for Corrections, Errata, Corrigenda, Expressions of Concern, Retractions, Removals, and Replacements are provided in the IJoRCE Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.
Author Declaration
Authors are required to read and comply with the IJoRCE Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement and to submit a signed Statement of Manuscript Authenticity with their manuscript. Through this declaration, the Corresponding and/or First Author acknowledges that violations of research and publication ethics may result in investigation and appropriate editorial actions, including correction, expression of concern, withdrawal, retraction, removal, replacement, rejection, suspension of the editorial or publication process, or referral to the relevant institution or authority.
