Article retraction and Expression of Concern

Retractions should occur after the journal's editors have carefully considered appeals received from the editor, author, or reader (according to the COPE Retraction Guidelines)

If, as a result of consideration of such an appeal, it was found that:

• the conclusions are unreliable or based on a material error (for example, miscalculation or experimental error) or as a result of falsification (for example, image manipulation);
• the text contains plagiarism;
• the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper reference to previous sources or disclosure to the editor, permission to republish or justification (i.e. there is a case of duplication of publications);
• the text contains materials or data without obtaining proper permission for use;
• copyright has been infringed or other material infringement of rights has been detected (for example, defamation, violation of privacy, etc.);
• research is unethical;
• the publication took place solely on the basis of a compromised or manipulated review process;
• the author(s) have not provided information to the editorial office about a significant conflict of interest that, in the opinion of the editor-in-chief, could significantly affect the evaluation of the work or the recommendations of the editors and reviewers.

 The PDF file of the retracted article remains on the website with the note "Retracted".

We use the EASE Retraction Form for the withdrawal procedure.