RETRACTION, WITHDRAWAL, AND CORRECTION POLICY

The International Journal of Counseling and Psychotherapy (IJCP) is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of scientific integrity, accountability, and credibility across all published works. In upholding these standards, we strictly adhere to internationally recognized guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). These guidelines ensure that the articles we publish reflect rigorous accuracy, ethical conduct, and reliable data.
We acknowledge that errors or ethical violations may occasionally be identified post-publication. To address this, we have established this comprehensive policy outlining the explicit protocols for handling manuscript withdrawals, article retractions, corrections, expressions of concern, and addenda. All actions taken by IJCP are grounded in the following institutional policies:

Policy Statements and Procedures
1. Withdrawal of Manuscripts (Pre-Publication)
Authors may request to halt the evaluation of their work at any stage prior to formal release. Manuscript withdrawal refers to the removal of a submission from the editorial and publication workflow before it is officially published.
Grounds for Withdrawal:
Substantial errors that compromise the study's validity; identification of simultaneous submissions to multiple journals (violating exclusive submission policies); unresolved authorship disputes; or formal author requests due to career/focus shifts.
Procedure:
Authors must submit a formal written request to the Editor-in-Chief via email explaining the reason for withdrawal. The Editor-in-Chief will review the request and issue a decision within 7 business days. Once approved, the manuscript will be permanently removed from the OJS process. Withdrawn manuscripts are kept in internal editorial logs for transparency but are never made publicly available.

2. Retraction of Articles (Post-Publication)
To preserve the reliability of literature, the journal will issue a formal public notice if a published work is found to contain fatal flaws. Retraction occurs after an article has been published, under circumstances where severe ethical violations or catastrophic scientific errors render the research entirely invalid.
Grounds for Retraction:
Confirmed data fabrication or falsification; unambiguous plagiarism or self-plagiarism; redundant/duplicate publication without proper citation; or severe violations of institutional ethical standards.
Procedure:
The Editor-in-Chief will launch a formal investigation upon receiving a credible allegation. If a retraction is warranted, a formal Retraction Notice detailing the reasons will be published. In compliance with COPE standards, the original article will not be removed from the journal's platform. Instead, the HTML page and the original PDF will be retained but prominently watermarked as "RETRACTED" on every page to preserve the permanent scholarly record.

3. Correction of Articles (Post-Publication)
The journal provides a formal mechanism to update and rectify small inadvertent mistakes discovered after an article has been released. Corrections are issued to amend minor, non-fatal errors in published articles that do not compromise the overarching scientific conclusions of the study.
Grounds for Correction:
Typographical errors in text or mathematical formulas; minor citation/reference mistakes; or minor misidentifications of figures or tables that do not alter the scientific message.
Procedure:
Errors may be flagged by authors, readers, or reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief evaluates the impact of the error. Approved corrections are published as a separate, formal amendment note that is digitally linked to the original article. The original article will remain accessible and will be clearly labeled as a "Corrected Version."

4. Expressions of Concern and Addenda
Additional editorial notices may be issued post-publication to address ongoing investigations or to provide further scientific context without invalidating the original research. These notices include:
Expression of Concern:
Issued when substantial allegations of misconduct or severe scientific inaccuracies arise, requiring extensive investigation, but where definitive proof is not yet established. The Editor-in-Chief will publish a notice stating that the article is under active investigation to alert the academic community.
Addendum:
Issued when crucial, newly emerged data complements the published work. An addendum adds critical clarification or contextual data that enhances reader understanding without altering any of the original conclusions of the study. It will be published separately and digitally linked to the parent article.

Transparency, Communication, and Compliance
All corrective actions, including corrections, retractions, addenda, and expressions of concern, will be transparently documented, assigned a unique DOI, and clearly communicated to readers, authors, and indexing databases to ensure absolute accountability.
All editorial interventions are carried out in full compliance with global publication ethics, legal provisions, and intellectual property rights. IJCP takes its responsibility to safeguard the completeness and permanent integrity of the scholarly record with the utmost seriousness, adhering firmly to international publishing best practices."