R-W-C-R-R Policy

Retraction, Withdrawal, Correction, Removal, and Replacement Policy

 

Article Retraction

At Rizq: Journal of Islamic Economics and Finance, we are committed to maintaining the academic record's integrity; consequently, there are times when articles must be retracted. Retraction of an article would occur for the following reasons:

  • If there are significant scientific errors that invalidate the article's conclusion. For instance, when there is evidence that the article's findings are unreliable due to an honest error – a miscalculation or experimental error – or due to misconduct – data fabrication or falsification.
  • If the research and subsequent findings have been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, justification, or permission – this is referred to as redundant publication or duplicate submission.
  • If there are concerns about plagiarism – the use of words or ideas from another publication without giving proper credit – or improper authorship (e.g., ghostwriting, gift authorship, or denial of deserving authors).
  • If the article violates Islamic ethical principles or contains content that is blasphemous, defamatory, or harmful to public interest.

To ensure that retractions are handled in accordance with accepted publishing practices and also with COPE guidelines, Rizq: Journal of Islamic Economics and Finance employs the following retraction process:

  1. Any article that may require retraction should be brought to the editor's attention by readers, reviewers, or authors themselves.
  2. Once this is completed, the journal editor will follow the guidelines outlined in the COPE flow chart – this includes evaluating the author's responses to specific questions and gathering evidence.
  3. The editor's findings are then forwarded to the Editorial Board for review and approval before any action is taken. This step is taken to ensure that these situations are handled consistently and in accordance with industry best practices.
  4. The decision on whether or not to retract the publication is communicated to the author and, if necessary, to other relevant bodies such as the author's institution.
  5. Once all of this is complete, a retraction statement is posted online and then published in the journal's next available issue – we will go into greater detail about this step as we proceed.

Nota bene: even if an author retains copyright for an article, this does not entitle them to retract it following publication. The integrity of the public scientific record is critical, and in such cases, COPE's Retraction Guidelines apply.

Article Withdrawal

An author does not have the automatic right to withdraw a submitted manuscript without consequences. This is because reviewers, editors, and publishers have invested significant time in editing and processing the submitted manuscript, rendering abrupt withdrawal a waste of valuable resources. Before an author submits a manuscript via our Open Journal System (OJS), the author must understand the following withdrawal policy:

  • If an author requests the removal or withdrawal of their manuscript while it is still in the peer-review process, the author will be banned from submitting to Rizq: Journal of Islamic Economics and Finance for one year. The author will be subject to a withdrawal penalty of Rp 2.000.000 / USD 120 per paper to the Publisher. However, it is unethical to withdraw a submitted manuscript from one journal if it has already been accepted by another journal.
  • If an author wishes to withdraw an article after it has been accepted for publication (but not yet published online), the author will be blacklisted for two years in Rizq. The author will be punished by paying Rp 3.500.000 / USD 220 per manuscript.
  • If the article was published as an "Article in Press" – articles that have been accepted and published online but not yet assigned to a final volume/issue – and contains errors, violates the Journal's publishing ethics guidelines as viewed by editors, or is discovered to be a duplicate of another published article, the author will be blacklisted for three years in Rizq. The author will be punished by paying Rp 5.000.000 / USD 310 per manuscript. The term "Withdrawn" indicates that the article's content has been replaced by a PDF or HTML page announcing the article's withdrawal.
  • If an author requests to withdraw a manuscript, the Editor-in-Chief must receive an official letter signed by the corresponding author and all co-authors (or by the author's institutional head if applicable).

Nota bene: Withdrawal requests due to honest, major errors discovered before publication (e.g., fatal calculation mistakes) may be considered without penalty at the editor's discretion, provided the author submits a written explanation and has not acted in bad faith.

Article Correction

Rizq: Journal of Islamic Economics and Finance will consider issuing a correction if the following occurs:

  • A small section of a published article contains erroneous data that misleads readers as a result of an honest error (not misconduct).
  • The contributor list or authorship is incorrect (e.g., a deserving author has been omitted, or an individual who does not meet the criteria for authorship has been included).
  • There is a typographical or formatting error that affects the interpretation of the findings.
  • A funding acknowledgment or affiliation is missing or incorrect.

Corrections to peer-reviewed content are classified into three types:

  1. Publisher correction (erratum): This serves to inform readers of a significant error made by the publishing staff that has a detrimental effect on the publication record, the scientific veracity of the article, or the Journal's or authors' reputation.
  2. Author correction (corrigendum): This also serves to notify a reader of an author error that jeopardizes the scientific integrity of a publication record or the author's reputation.
  3. Addendum: This is where the author adds to the article to clarify inconsistencies and expand on the existing work or to explain or update the information contained in the main work (without changing original conclusions).

The editor of the journal makes the decision whether to issue a correction, sometimes with the assistance of reviewers or Editorial Board Members. Handling Editors will contact the authors of the relevant paper to request clarification, but the final decision on whether a correction is required and, if so, what type of correction is required rests with the editors. All corrections are published in the next available issue and linked bidirectionally to the original article.

Article Removal

In a small number of instances, it may be necessary to remove a published article from an online platform. This would occur only if:

  • The article is defamatory or violates the legal rights of others (e.g., court order).
  • The article contains content that poses a serious privacy breach (e.g., disclosure of confidential data without consent).
  • We have reasonable grounds to believe that publication would result in certain court orders or legal liabilities.

While the article's metadata (title, authors, abstract, DOI) is retained, the full text is replaced with a screen indicating that the article has been removed to avoid legal complications. A Removal Notice is published explaining the reason for removal. Rizq prioritizes retraction over removal whenever possible, as removal breaks the permanent scholarly record.

Article Replacement

At some point, the author of a flawed original paper may wish to withdraw or retract it and replace it with a corrected version. Under these circumstances, the retraction procedure would be followed, with the exception that the retraction notice for the article would include a link to the corrected re-published article alongside the document's history.

Replacement is permitted only when:

  • The errors are significant (e.g., major data table errors, corrupted PDF, missing equations).
  • The core findings and conclusions of the article remain valid after correction.
  • The author has acted in good faith (no misconduct or fraud involved).

After replacement, the original PDF is removed, a corrected PDF is uploaded, and a Replacement Notice is published in the next issue explaining what was changed and why. The original DOI remains the same.