ISPEC Journal of Agricultural Sciences defines three withdrawal categories based on the stage of the submission. All withdrawal requests must be made in writing and signed by all co-authors.

Stage 1: Pre-Review (editorial screening)

-Process: The corresponding author sends a letter signed by all authors to ethics@ispecjournal.com.

-Timeframe: Approved within 3 working days.

-Outcome: Manuscript is withdrawn; authors may submit elsewhere.

Stage 2: During Review (reviewers assigned but no decision yet)

-Process: Same signed letter plus mandatory reason.

-Timeframe: 7 working days; the Editor-in-Chief reviews the reason.

-Outcome: Review process is terminated; withdrawal is approved. Conditions: (a) the reason is not that the paper is being submitted to another journal; (b) otherwise this constitutes an ethical breach.

-Sanction: Improper withdrawal at this stage bars the author(s) from submitting to the journal for 12 months.

Stage 3: Post-Acceptance (accepted but not yet published)

-Process: Signed letter plus a substantive scientific reason.

-Timeframe: 14 working days; the Publication Board decides.

-Outcome: Approved only in highly exceptional cases (e.g. discovery of a major data error, late revelation of missing ethical approval).

-Sanction: Unreasoned withdrawal after acceptance bars the author(s) from the journal for 24 months and triggers a notification to their institution.

For already-published articles the relevant category is retraction; 

Retraction

-Use: confirmed serious errors or ethical breaches.

-Example: proven plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate publication, broad erroneous analysis.

-Outcome: a 'RETRACTED' watermark is added to the cover page; the original PDF remains accessible (for archival integrity) but carries a usage warning. A Retraction Notice is published as a separate item with its own DOI.

Last update time: 04.04.2026