Journal “Transport Technologies” stands for the following COPE principles against any possible violations. Special attention is paid to checking submissions for originality and avoiding any cases of plagiarism.
In cases of suspected misconduct or fraud, the journal will conduct an investigation in accordance with COPE guidelines. If, following the investigation, there are reasonable concerns about misconduct or fraud, the authors involved in such misconduct will be contacted via their email addresses and given the opportunity to resolve the issue. Depending on the situation, it may result in the journal taking specific measures. If the manuscript is still under review, it may be rejected. If the article has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, the editorial board will immediately decide to retract the article.
Retraction may take the form of a correction if the authors or editorial board have made a fundamental error (experimental error or miscalculation) or other significant error that affects the scientific record, the scientific integrity of the article, or the reputation of the authors or the journal.
Correction procedure
- Corrections may be initiated by authors, reviewers, editors, or readers.
- The editorial staff evaluates the request and, if necessary, consults with the authors.
- Once approved, corrections are published as a separate document linked to the original article, marked “Correction.”
Retraction
In some cases, the editorial board may decide to retract an article. Reasons for potential retraction include:
- there is clear evidence that the results are not reliable, regardless of whether they are the result of misconduct (e.g., fabricated data and image manipulation) or not;
- the research results have been published previously elsewhere without proper references, licenses, or justification (e.g., duplicate publication);
- the research is plagiarized;
- there is evidence of fraudulent authorship, use of someone else's personal data (name, ORCID, etc.), as well as hidden or forced authorship;
- it has been proven that the review process was compromised;
- there is evidence of unethical research and violations of professional codes of ethics;
- there is evidence that the article is part of a group of publications compromised by paper mills or other systematic fraudulent practices;
- concealment of the use of artificial intelligence contrary to the journal's policy has been detected.
Requests for retraction may be submitted by authors, editors, or third parties. The editorial team conducts investigations with the help of authors and, if necessary, external experts. The author(s) have the right to provide a written explanation. The decision is made by the editor-in-chief of the journal or the executive secretary. After analysis, the editorial board makes one of the following decisions:
- dismiss the complaint as unsubstantiated;
- correct the article by publishing a corrective note;
- officially retract the article with a published notice.
If a decision has been made to retract the article:
- a watermark reading “Retracted” will be added to the published version of the article;
- the title of the article will be “Retract: [Article title]”;
- a separate retraction statement will be published under the title “Retraction: [Article Title].”
The editors of the journal shall sign this notice; the retraction statement shall be numbered and assigned a DOI.
The author(s) shall receive written notification of the reasons for and consequences of the retraction. The applicant (if not the author) shall receive information about the editorial decision.
The author(s) have the right to appeal within 30 days of notification of the retraction. The appeal will be reviewed by the editor-in-chief and independent experts, whose decision is final.
In some cases, authors of a scientific article under consideration by the journal may request to retract their manuscript. Such a request can only be made before the article is published. To withdraw a manuscript, authors must contact the journal's editorial office with a letter containing a clear and understandable explanation of the reasons for the withdrawal. The letter must be concise and signed by all authors of the article. The withdrawn manuscript will be completely removed from the publisher's database, and the copyright remains with the authors of the article.
Additional terms
Procedural Principles
Transparency – retraction notices are public and accessible.
Impartiality – all decisions are based on evidence and expert judgment.
Accountability – authors are fully responsible for the accuracy and quality of the results presented.
Expression of Concern
In cases where there are serious concerns about the integrity of an article or a breach of academic integrity, but there is insufficient evidence for immediate retraction, the editorial board may publish an expression of concern. Such a statement has its own DOI, is linked to the original article, and contains a brief explanation of the reasons for publication. The expression of concern remains available until the editorial investigation is complete.
Promptness of procedures
The decision to publish corrections, statements of concern, or retractions is made by the editorial board and implemented as soon as possible after significant violations are identified. In cases where final agreement on the text with the authors is not possible, the editorial board reserves the right to publish the statement without delay in order to preserve scientific integrity.
Availability of retracted articles
Retracted articles remain openly accessible in the journal's archives and databases with a clear indication of “Retraction”. Complete removal is possible only in exceptional cases when required by applicable legal regulations (in particular, personal data protection, copyright infringement, enforcement of court decisions, or security considerations).