Preprints, Related Work and Withdrawal

Authors must disclose a public preprint, thesis, conference version, working paper or related manuscript at submission, provide its link where available and explain the overlap. Editors assess whether the submitted article makes a distinct and suitable contribution.

A disclosed preprint does not automatically prevent consideration, but it can make author anonymity easier to infer. Authors should not use the review process to seek parallel decisions from multiple journals.

The corresponding author may request withdrawal before publication, giving the manuscript identifier and reason and confirming that co-authors have been informed. The editorial office records the request and confirms the status. Withdrawal does not erase a substantiated integrity concern or prevent necessary record retention.

After publication, errors and concerns are addressed through correction, retraction or another appropriate notice. Published work is not simply replaced with an unrelated manuscript.

Translations and secondary publications require disclosure, an appropriate scholarly purpose, permission where needed, and a clear link to the original.