Retraction Policy

Islamicate Futures: Knowledge, Ethics, and Muslim Societies is committed to maintaining the integrity, accuracy, and credibility of the scholarly record. The journal may issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions when necessary to address significant errors, ethical violations, or publication misconduct in published articles.

Grounds for Retraction

An article may be retracted if there is clear evidence that the published work contains serious problems that affect the reliability, originality, or ethical integrity of the publication. Grounds for retraction may include:

plagiarism or serious textual overlap;

duplicate or redundant publication;

fabricated, falsified, or manipulated data;

false citations or fabricated references;

serious methodological or analytical errors that invalidate the findings;

unethical research involving human participants or sensitive communities;

undisclosed conflict of interest that compromises the article;

authorship manipulation, ghost authorship, guest authorship, or false authorship;

peer review manipulation or fraudulent submission practices;

or any other serious violation of publication ethics.

Corrections and Expressions of Concern

A correction may be issued when an honest error is found in a published article but the main findings, arguments, and conclusions remain valid. Corrections may address errors in author information, metadata, tables, figures, references, wording, or other factual details.

An expression of concern may be issued when serious concerns are raised about a published article, but the investigation is still ongoing or the available evidence is not yet conclusive. The expression of concern will remain linked to the article until a final editorial decision is made.

Retraction Procedure

When a potential issue is identified, the editorial team will conduct a careful investigation. The investigation may involve reviewing the article, checking similarity reports, examining source materials, consulting reviewers or editorial board members, and requesting clarification from the author(s).

Authors will be given an opportunity to respond to the concerns raised. If the evidence confirms serious error or misconduct, the Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the editorial board where necessary, may decide to retract the article.

The journal may also consider requests for retraction submitted by authors, readers, reviewers, institutions, or other relevant parties. All requests must be supported by clear explanation and evidence.

Retraction Notice

If an article is retracted, the journal will publish a retraction notice. The notice will clearly state that the article has been retracted and explain the reason for retraction. The retraction notice will be linked to the original article to preserve the transparency and integrity of the scholarly record.

The original article may remain available on the journal website with a clear watermark or label indicating that it has been retracted. This is done to maintain the publication record and prevent confusion among readers.

Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for promptly notifying the journal if they discover significant errors, inaccuracies, or ethical problems in their published work. Authors are expected to cooperate with the editorial team during any investigation and provide relevant information, source materials, or clarification when requested.

Failure to cooperate in an investigation may be considered a violation of publication ethics.

Editorial Responsibility

The editorial team is responsible for handling retraction cases fairly, transparently, and confidentially. Decisions regarding retractions will be based on evidence, publication ethics standards, and the need to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

The journal will not retract an article solely because of a change in interpretation, academic disagreement, or post-publication debate, unless the article contains serious errors or ethical violations that invalidate the work.

Post-Retraction Status

A retracted article should not be cited as valid scholarly evidence. If a retracted article must be cited for historical, methodological, or critical discussion, the citation must clearly indicate that the article has been retracted.

Appeals

Authors may submit an appeal if they believe that a retraction decision was based on factual error, misunderstanding, or procedural irregularity. Appeals must be submitted in writing with clear explanation and supporting evidence. The final decision after appeal rests with the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board.

Commitment to Scholarly Integrity

Islamicate Futures: Knowledge, Ethics, and Muslim Societies upholds retraction as an important mechanism for correcting the scholarly record, protecting academic integrity, and maintaining public trust in research on Islamic knowledge traditions, ethics, digital transformation, and Muslim societies.