If the journal receives a letter raising concerns about any scientific misconduct, such as plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, copyright or intellectual property violation, break of research ethics, authorship disagreements, conflicts of interest, or any other problematic conduct that happens either pre- or post-publication, it will be discussed in the Editorial Board forum. If this misconduct is confirmed, the editor will communicate in writing with the authors stating the details of misconduct that have been claimed against the paper. The authors are given a specified period of time to respond in writing to the allegation.
If the corresponding author does not respond and/or provide sufficient rationale for the raised concern, or if established evidence is provided to the Editor that proves an ethical or scientific violation, regardless of its severity, several corrective actions according to the Editorial Board decision will make, such as publishing an erratum, expression of concern, or retraction of the article.
The authors will be notified of the Editorial Board’s decision and they may appeal the decision by sending an appeal letter to the Editorial office through tipps@sbmu.ac.ir.