Research Paper Withdrawal Possibility Before and After Publications

Last updated on Sunday, August 18th, 2024

A research paper withdrawal from any journal means a piece of work having some information for the scientific society has been removed. Usually, the researcher looks for the Impact Factor and Scopus indexed journals to publish their articles. Because sometimes authors are not aware of the malpractices in the publications sector, in terms of the fake journals and clone journals. They just see only above mentioned journal parameters and publish their works.  In this article, we will focus on the research paper withdrawal.

Research Paper Submission Criteria

Traditional authors/researchers usually remain aware of the journals in their respective areas.  The problem comes with the seasonal researchers, those who have to publish the articles for a specific purpose. It may be a Ph.D. degree, job promotion and in general to publish the research articles because institutions expect it. These are primary stage researchers either associated with first stage supervisors and/or institutions. These authors have limited facilities, information about the best techniques/practices of the research work, and further publications.

So these researchers just remain in search to publish the research articles in indexed journals. Journals usually take the benefits of it. Here I want to highlight mainly two points; Clone journals and Fake research matrices. A basic idea about this sharing here.

1. Clone Journals

   These journals are similar to the original ones and have a similar website. In the primary stage, researchers are not able to identify those parameters required to identify the originality and submit their articles in such journals.

2. Fake Research Journals Matrices

   These journals highlight fake Impact Factor calculations or high values of Impact Factor on the home page of the journal. So primary stage researchers are attracted to their journals.  They mention some indexing agencies’ names which are similar to the reputed databases.

So researchers, focus only on the “Impact Factor of the Journal” which is the copyrighted property of the web of Science. No one can give/provide it, except the sister branch of the Web of Science, known as Clarivate. The second point is the h-index of the journal or Scopus indexing.

Questionable Practices of the Journals

Many journals which get indexed in the Scopus database, start publishing a huge number of articles or special issues of the conferences. In such cases, the peer review process stops, and articles are published with many mistakes and of low quality irrespective of the scope of the journal.

Some journals publish the articles in a very short period and publish all articles in one PDF file without giving DOIs to them.

Why does one withdraw the research paper?

There are many reasons for it.  some are listed below but not limited may be other cases;

1. When authors/researchers observe and find the information about malpractices of the journal such as clone journals, fake impact factors, and indexing
2. Also, at the submission time, they were not aware of the journal indexing (journal is not Scopus indexed) but at a later stage feel about its importance in the career.
3. The Journal peer review process delayed the article publication or
4. Not able to respond to the referee’s comments
5. Earlier there was no talk about the APCs but after the acceptance of the paper, they had started to deposit heavy amounts for the sake of APCs

Understand the Journal Editorial Workflow

When the author submits the research paper it goes for the first screening, where the editorial staff checks its keywords/scope,  similarity index, and plagiarism (manual analysis).  If it is under the criteria, senior editorial staff check its quality and recommend it for the review process.

They request some experts (3-5) to review the articles, some agree some do not. So, again they request other experts and take at least two referees’ consent to review the article within a defined time limit, min one month to three.

The referee sent their comments to the editor and a further editor checks the quality and language of the comments. Then it is sent to the author by asking them to respond in a defined time duration.  So by this way editor, send the response of the author(s) to the referees and takes their responses,  on that basis editor takes the decision on any manuscript.

It is a time consumable process and many researchers are involved on a volunteer base and don’t charge to review the articles.

 Publication Ethics

It is very important to be aware of the research and publications’ ethics practices.  Recently, UGC has made it a mandatory course for all researchers. There are many external agencies that deal legally with research and publication ethics-related issues.

Solutions for Research Paper Withdrawn

Do you have a reason why you are withdrawing the research paper? and at what stage is this? If it is a case of the cloned and fake metrics then it’s fine, APCs up to some extent. An example is given below;

In this case or such cases;

1. Request to the editor/managing editor/publisher to remove their paper from the list
2. If not check these points;

1. Obviously, the paper was not gone through the peer review process,
2. It means they didn’t communicate with you about the review process, means no reviewers were involved, and no expert comments you had received. So in such a case, you can inform the editor about the potential practices they followed, and say you are putting the case (means you will inform) to the COPE. And do the same if they don’t accept your request.

Also, be aware when you signed the copyright transfer agreement with such journals. If you have signed it then this paper now is not your property, technically. Because you have transferred your copyrights to the publisher.  One thing I want to clarify is that retraction of the research paper and asking for withdrawal of the paper totally different points.

Questions Withdraw Papers

1. “I submit a research paper for publication in Scopus Indexing journal. But after 10 days, such a journal is removed from Scopus Indexing. In this case, can I withdraw my research paper from the journal?”

No, you can’t, you have already transferred your copyrights to the publisher through a copyright transfer agreement. Neither publisher was aware of it.

2. Q “Could you please tell me, is it possible to retract/ withdraw a paper after published?”

Retraction and withdrawal of the research paper in certain conditions, actually both are different points.

Conclusion

With all the above basic information, you may have an idea about publishing the journal and articles. Along with it, there are early-stage genuine journals also, which are following best publications practices. When an author withdrew the paper because of the referee’s comments it is really very bad practice. Because many people were involved in the editorial workflow. The referee did a study and give suggestions for the quality purpose only.

If you have any other questions or need more information on any such related issues, let me know by commenting below this article.