Article Withdrawal Policy

JSMS is committed to maintaining the integrity, quality, and permanence of the scholarly record. Authors are expected to comply with the highest standards of publication ethics and ensure the accuracy and originality of their work before submission. All authors should finalise the list of authors, their order, and individual contributions before submitting a manuscript. Manuscripts must be submitted to only one journal at a time, and duplicate submissions are strictly prohibited. Authors must ensure that all data, facts, and materials presented are accurate, ethically obtained, and used with appropriate permissions.

Withdrawal of a manuscript before acceptance is permitted only under exceptional circumstances, such as unavoidable authorship disputes, serious errors, or ethical concerns. Withdrawal requests must be submitted in writing and signed by all listed authors. The Editorial Board evaluates all requests and reserves the right to approve or deny withdrawal based on ethical considerations and the stage of peer review. Manuscripts found to violate publication ethics, including plagiarism & AI usage, duplicate submission, data falsification, or unauthorised use of data, may be withdrawn by the journal at any stage.

Post-publication withdrawal is not permitted. Once published, any issues are addressed through corrections, retractions, removals, or replacements. Retractions are issued in cases of legal disputes, copyright violations, ethical breaches, or evidence that the findings are unreliable. Retracted articles remain online with a clear notice and link explaining the reason for retraction. Article removal may occur in response to legal limitations, ethical violations, or if continued publication poses significant health, safety, or scientific risks. Replacement of a published article is allowed only when the original is flawed and may pose serious risks; in such cases, the original article is retracted, and the replacement is clearly linked through an editorial notice.

Authors are expected to finalise manuscript accuracy, authorship, and ethical compliance before submission to minimise the need for withdrawal. The decision to approve or deny withdrawal rests solely with the Editorial Board of JSMS. Editorial independence is maintained at all times, and withdrawal requests do not influence the peer-review process or editorial decisions. Written requests for withdrawal should be sent via the official journal email address and must include justification and signatures from all authors. All actions under this policy are conducted to ensure transparency, accountability, and preservation of the scholarly record.