The Editorial considers retracting a publication if:

1. They have clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g. data fabrication) or honest error (e.g. miscalculation or experimental error).
2. The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper crossreferencing, permission, or justification (i.e. cases of redundant publication).
3. It constitutes plagiarism (high similarity with other published items).
4. It reports unethical research.

The mechanism of retraction follows the Retraction Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Authors are not allowed to withdraw submitted manuscripts, because the withdrawals are a waste of valuable resources that editors and referees spent a great deal of time processing submitted manuscript, money, and works invested by the publisher.