Scientific Misconduct and Retraction

Scientific misconduct in research and non-research publications includes but is not necessarily limited to data fabrication; data falsification including deceptive manipulation of images; purposeful failure to disclose relationships and activities; and plagiarism. When scientific misconduct is alleged, or concerns are otherwise raised about the conduct or integrity of work described in submitted or published papers, the editor should initiate appropriate procedures detailed by such committees as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), consider informing the institutions and funders, and may choose to publish an expression of concern pending the outcomes of those procedures. If the procedures involve an investigation at the authors’ institution, the editor should seek to discover the outcome of that investigation, notify readers of the outcome if appropriate, and if the investigation proves scientific misconduct, publish a retraction of the article.

For additional details see Flowcharts, COPE (https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts) and the Recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors  (ICMJE) for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals, updated January 2024 (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/).