General Provisions

1.1. This policy regulates the procedure for withdrawing manuscripts that are under peer review in the scientific journal.

1.2. The purpose of this policy is to ensure transparency and fairness in the manuscript withdrawal process, as well as to protect the interests of all participants in the process: authors, reviewers, and editors.

Right to Withdraw a Manuscript

2.1. The author or group of authors (hereinafter referred to as the author) has the right to withdraw their manuscript in the presence of a valid reason at any point before it is accepted for publication. Valid reasons for manuscript withdrawal may include the following circumstances: (1) Discovery of significant errors or inaccuracies: If the authors find substantial errors or flaws in the data, methodology, analysis, or interpretation of results that could affect the validity of the study's conclusions. (2) Detection of plagiarism or copyright infringement: If the authors discover that their manuscript contains elements of plagiarism or copyright infringement, they are obliged to withdraw the work to address these issues. (3) Conflict of interest: If the authors identify a conflict of interest that could compromise the objectivity of the research and its conclusions, and it cannot be resolved in any other way. (4) Ethical reasons: If the work violates ethical standards and principles, such as the absence of proper consent from study participants or violation of participants' rights. (5) Financial or legal circumstances: If circumstances arise related to the funding of the research or legal issues that prevent the publication of the work in its current form. (6) Each of these reasons requires confirmation and justification from the authors. The journal's editorial office reserves the right to request additional information and materials to assess the validity of the manuscript withdrawal.

2.2. In the case of multiple authors, the decision to withdraw the manuscript must be made by all co-authors. Written consent from all co-authors is required to confirm the withdrawal.

Manuscript Withdrawal Procedure

3.1. To withdraw a manuscript, the author must submit a written request to the editor-in-chief of the journal. The request may be submitted via email specified on the journal's website or through the manuscript submission system.

3.2. The request must include:

• The title of the manuscript;
• The reason for withdrawal;
• Signatures of all authors or digital signatures in the case of electronic submission. 3.3. The editor-in-chief must confirm receipt of the request within five working days from the date of its submission. 3.4. Upon receiving the request, the editor-in-chief notifies the reviewers about the termination of the review process.

Consequences of Manuscript Withdrawal

4.1. A manuscript withdrawn at the author's initiative is considered not submitted for publication and is removed from consideration if a valid reason is provided.

4.2. The submission of a manuscript to the journal's editorial office is considered as the author's intention to enter into a license agreement with the journal's editorial office, which implies obligations for both parties, including the impossibility of withdrawing the manuscript without a valid reason. Once a manuscript is sent for review, the editorial office and reviewers invest significant time and effort in its processing. Withdrawing a manuscript after the review process has begun is considered disrespectful to the work of the editorial team and reviewers and violates publication ethics. If authors cease work on the article without a valid reason, the journal considers this a breach of publication ethics. In such cases, the editorial office reserves the right to report the incident to the Ethics Committee of the Association of Science Editors and Publishers (ASEP) and to include the authors and their co-authors in a list of unreliable authors, which may be accessible to the editorial offices of other journals. This could impact the authors' ability to collaborate with other publications in the future.

4.3. If a manuscript was withdrawn due to the discovery of errors, flaws, or other reasons related to scientific ethics, the journal reserves the right to conduct an internal investigation and take appropriate measures, up to and including notifying the relevant institutions and organizations.

4.4. In the case of manuscript withdrawal due to unethical actions, such as plagiarism or data falsification, the journal may impose a temporary or permanent ban on the publication of works by the authors involved in the case.

Confidentiality

5.1. All information regarding the manuscript withdrawal process and its reasons is confidential and shall not be disclosed without the author's consent, except in cases provided for in Section 4.2 of this policy.

Final Provisions

6.1. The manuscript withdrawal policy may be revised and amended by decision of the journal's editorial board. 6.2. Any changes to this policy come into effect upon their publication on the official journal website.