Article Retraction & Withdrawal

The Journal of Sports Coaching and Performance Education (JSCPE) recognizes that maintaining the integrity, accuracy, and reliability of the scholarly record is an essential responsibility of academic publishing. The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for making decisions regarding the publication, correction, retraction, withdrawal, or removal of articles in accordance with the journal's editorial policies, publication ethics, and applicable legal requirements.

Published articles constitute part of the permanent scholarly record and should remain accessible, accurate, and unaltered whenever possible. However, exceptional circumstances may require an article to be retracted, withdrawn, removed, or replaced. Such actions will only be taken after careful consideration and when there is sufficient evidence that the integrity of the scholarly record has been compromised.

JSCPE will maintain an appropriate publication record of articles that have been retracted, withdrawn, removed, or replaced and will provide clear notices explaining any such action.

Article Retraction

An article may be retracted when substantial problems are identified after publication that affect the reliability, integrity, or validity of the published work. Reasons for retraction may include, but are not limited to:

Significant errors in research methods, data, analysis, or interpretation.
Plagiarism or substantial duplication of previously published material.
Fabrication or falsification of data or research results.
Duplicate or multiple publication.
False or inappropriate authorship claims.
Serious violations of research or publication ethics.
Improper or unauthorized use of data.
Undisclosed conflicts of interest that significantly affect the integrity of the article.
Other circumstances that substantially undermine the reliability of the published research.

A retraction decision may be initiated by the Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board, authors, reviewers, readers, or other relevant parties when credible evidence is provided. JSCPE will evaluate the circumstances carefully before making a final decision.

When an article is retracted, a Retraction Notice will be published and clearly linked to the original article. The notice will provide the reason for retraction and other relevant information concerning the retraction decision.

The original article will generally remain available in the journal's online archive, but it will be clearly marked as “Retracted.” The retraction status will also be indicated in the table of contents and other relevant bibliographic information.

Retraction is intended to correct the scholarly record and does not necessarily imply misconduct by the authors, as articles may also be retracted because of serious honest errors.

Article Withdrawal

Article withdrawal applies primarily to manuscripts that have been accepted for publication but have not yet been formally published as part of the journal's permanent scholarly record.

Withdrawal is strongly discouraged and will only be considered in exceptional circumstances, such as:

Significant errors that cannot reasonably be corrected before publication.
Accidental duplicate submission or publication.
Simultaneous submission to another journal.
Plagiarism or substantial overlap with previously published work.
False or inappropriate authorship claims.
Fabrication or falsification of data.
Serious violations of publication or research ethics.
Legal or ethical issues that prevent publication.
Other circumstances that could seriously compromise the integrity of the publication process.

Authors requesting withdrawal should submit a formal written request to the Editor-in-Chief explaining the reason for withdrawal. The Editorial Board will review the request and determine whether the withdrawal is justified.

If an article has already been formally published and has become part of the permanent scholarly record, the case will generally be handled according to the Article Retraction policy rather than the withdrawal policy.

Where an article is withdrawn before formal publication, JSCPE may remove the manuscript files from public access where appropriate and replace them with a withdrawal notice indicating that the manuscript has been withdrawn. The journal will retain sufficient metadata and records to maintain transparency of the editorial process.

Authors' ownership or retention of copyright does not provide an unrestricted right to withdraw a formally published article. The integrity and permanence of the scholarly record remain the primary considerations in decisions concerning withdrawal and retraction.

Article Removal

In extremely limited circumstances, a published article may need to be removed from the journal's online platform. Article removal will only be considered in exceptional cases, such as when:

The article contains defamatory or unlawful material.
The article infringes the legal rights of another person or organization.
The article is subject to a valid court or legal order.
The article contains information that may create a serious and immediate risk to public health or safety.
Continued public access to the article would create significant legal or ethical concerns.

When an article is removed, JSCPE will retain the article's bibliographic metadata, including the title, author information, publication details, and DOI where applicable.

The full text will be replaced with a notice stating that the article has been removed and, where appropriate, explaining the general reason for the removal. Article removal will only be used as a last resort to protect the integrity of the journal and its scholarly record.

Article Replacement

In exceptional cases, an article may be replaced with a corrected version when the published content contains information that could pose a serious risk if used or applied without correction.

The decision to replace an article will be made by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the Editorial Board and, where appropriate, the authors. The original article will not be silently deleted or replaced.

A Replacement or Retraction Notice will be published and clearly linked to the corrected article. The notice will explain the reason for the replacement and provide appropriate links to the revised version.

The publication history of the article will be preserved to ensure transparency and maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.