Manuscript Withdrawal Policy

Editorial Policy

Manuscript Withdrawal Policy

Social Sciences Journal (SSJ) | e-ISSN 3047-7646

Social Sciences Journal (SSJ) recognizes that authors may need to withdraw a manuscript for legitimate scholarly, ethical, legal, or personal reasons. This policy establishes a fair and transparent procedure that respects author autonomy while protecting the integrity of peer review, editorial records, and the scholarly publication process. Withdrawal applies only before formal publication. After publication, concerns are handled under the journal's Article Retraction, Correction, and Removal Policy.

Written Request Submitted by the corresponding author through OJS or the official contact channel.

Author Agreement Confirmation from all listed authors is normally required.

Official Confirmation The manuscript remains active until the journal confirms withdrawal in writing.

No Withdrawal Penalty Withdrawal is not conditional on payment of a punitive fee.

1. General Principles

Authors may request withdrawal at any stage before formal publication.
The request must be voluntary, informed, documented, and communicated through an official journal channel.
The journal will not use withdrawal restrictions or financial penalties to compel authors to continue publication.
Withdrawal does not erase evidence of a possible ethics concern. The journal may continue a proportionate research-integrity assessment when credible evidence of misconduct exists.
Editorial decisions concerning withdrawal are independent of article processing charges, waivers, sponsorship, institutional status, or other commercial considerations.
A manuscript must not be submitted to another journal until the author has received written confirmation that withdrawal is complete.

2. Withdrawal According to Editorial Stage

Editorial Stage	Journal Response	Important Conditions
Before editorial screening	Normally processed promptly after verification.	The corresponding author submits the request and confirms the agreement of all authors.
During editorial screening or peer review	The journal verifies the request, informs assigned editors and reviewers, and closes the review process.	Authors should provide a clear reason because editorial and reviewer work may already have commenced.
During revision	The request is assessed and the editorial workflow is closed after author verification.	Reviewer reports remain confidential and may not be republished or used as endorsements without authorization.
After acceptance, before publication	The request will be honored after confirmation and an assessment of any integrity or record-management implications.	The reason must be explained. If a DOI, advance version, or public record already exists, a withdrawal notice or another transparent amendment may be required.
After formal publication	Withdrawal is no longer available.	Any change must follow the Article Retraction, Correction, and Removal Policy so the scholarly record remains transparent.

3. Legitimate Reasons for Withdrawal

A withdrawal request may be based on circumstances including, but not limited to:

discovery of a substantial error in data, analysis, methods, results, authorship, or ethical documentation;
a credible concern about research integrity, participant protection, privacy, confidentiality, copyright, or legal compliance;
an unresolved authorship or contributor dispute that requires institutional or independent resolution;
a material conflict of interest or funding issue that was not known at submission;
serious personal, medical, institutional, or professional circumstances that make continued publication impracticable;
a substantial editorial delay, provided that the author first requests a status update and gives the journal a reasonable opportunity to respond; or
another reason that the editor considers legitimate and consistent with publication ethics.

4. Withdrawal Procedure

Submit the RequestThe corresponding author submits the request through the OJS discussion function or official journal contact page. A request sent through an unofficial personal account may require additional verification.

Provide Required InformationThe request must state the manuscript title, submission identification number, corresponding author's name and contact information, current editorial stage, specific reason for withdrawal, and whether all authors agree.

Verify Author AgreementThe journal normally requires written agreement from all listed authors. When agreement cannot be obtained, the editor may request evidence, contact the authors separately, or refer an authorship dispute to the relevant institution.

Editorial AssessmentThe editor checks whether the request is genuine, whether any public publication record exists, and whether the circumstances raise a research-integrity, legal, authorship, or duplicate-submission concern that requires further action.

Close the WorkflowWhen the request is approved, the editorial office changes the manuscript status, closes active review assignments, preserves the required internal record, and informs the authors.

Issue Written ConfirmationThe journal sends an official confirmation stating that the manuscript has been withdrawn. Only after receiving this confirmation may the authors submit the manuscript elsewhere.

5. Duplicate Submission and Misuse of Withdrawal

Submitting the same or substantially similar manuscript to more than one journal during overlapping review periods without disclosure is unethical. Withdrawal does not retroactively legitimize a simultaneous submission. Authors must disclose immediately if a duplicate submission occurred, whether intentionally or inadvertently.

Proportionate response and due process
A verified pattern of simultaneous submission, deceptive withdrawal, fabricated correspondence, or other serious misuse may lead to rejection or closure of the submission, notification of another journal, or referral to the relevant institution. Such action will be based on evidence, author response, proportionality, and the journal's Publication Ethics and Research Integrity Policy. The journal does not automatically blacklist an author's institution or impose collective punishment on uninvolved researchers.

6. Withdrawal Fees and Refunds

No withdrawal penalty is charged.
The journal will not make confirmation of withdrawal conditional on payment of any punitive withdrawal fee.

Any submission fee, article processing charge, or other payment already made is governed exclusively by the journal's publicly available Article Processing Charge and Refund Policy. The refundable or non-refundable status of a legitimate, previously disclosed service charge must be stated before submission and must not influence the scholarly assessment, peer-review outcome, or decision on a withdrawal request.

A financial disagreement may be reviewed separately through the Appeals and Complaints procedure, but it must not be used to keep a manuscript under editorial consideration against the authors' documented request.

7. Journal-Initiated Closure or Withdrawal

Before publication, the journal may close or withdraw a manuscript from consideration when:

credible evidence indicates plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate submission, manipulated peer review, false authorship information, or another serious ethical breach;
the manuscript contains unlawful, defamatory, confidential, or seriously harmful material;
required author or ethics documentation cannot be verified;
all authors confirm that they no longer wish to proceed; or
the corresponding author remains unresponsive after reasonable documented attempts to obtain information essential to continued processing.

Where the matter involves suspected misconduct, the journal may preserve records and refer the concern to an institution or competent authority. Journal-initiated closure is not a substitute for a retraction when an article has already been formally published.

8. Records, Confidentiality, and Reviewer Work

The journal retains a confidential administrative record of the withdrawal request, author confirmations, editorial actions, and relevant correspondence for accountability and research-integrity purposes. Withdrawal does not authorize public disclosure of confidential reviewer identities or reports. Reviewers will be informed that the assessment has ended when appropriate, but the journal will not disclose unnecessary personal or sensitive information.

A withdrawn manuscript will not be published or represented as accepted. Its content will not be used by editors or reviewers for personal advantage. Any data processing and record retention will follow the journal's privacy and confidentiality policies.

9. Appeals and Complaints

Authors may submit a complaint about the handling of a withdrawal request through the journal's official Appeals and Complaints procedure. The complaint should identify the manuscript, disputed action, relevant correspondence, and the remedy requested. Whenever feasible, the review will be conducted by a senior editor or publisher representative who was not materially involved in the original handling.

10. Withdrawal Request Checklist

Manuscript title and OJS submission identification number
Full name and registered email address of the corresponding author
Current editorial stage, if known
Clear and specific reason for withdrawal
Statement confirming whether the manuscript has been submitted elsewhere
Written agreement of all authors, or an explanation when agreement cannot be obtained
Supporting evidence when the request involves an ethical, legal, authorship, or data-integrity concern

Submit a Withdrawal Request Social Sciences Journal — Universitas Dehasen Bengkulu Journal Contact Page

Reference frameworks: COPE discussion on withdrawal at proof stage; Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. Policy version: August 2026.