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Anatomica Medical Journal (AMJ) is committed to safeguarding the accuracy, transparency, and integrity of the published scientific record. This policy establishes how AMJ handles corrections, Expressions of Concern, retractions, article removal, and manuscript withdrawal when errors, ethical issues, or other circumstances affect the reliability of a publication.

1. General Policy

AMJ evaluates post-publication concerns according to the seriousness and potential effect of the identified problem. Editorial decisions are made independently and fairly, with the primary objective of maintaining a trustworthy scholarly record.

Where possible, the original publication record will remain traceable, and any subsequent editorial notice will be clearly connected to the affected article.

2. Correction

AMJ may publish a Correction when a published article remains scientifically reliable but contains an error or omission that should be amended and does not invalidate its principal findings or conclusions.

• Incorrect author names, affiliations, or bibliographic information;
• Minor inaccuracies in data, tables, figures, or captions;
• Errors or omissions in acknowledgements;
• Incorrect or incomplete references;
• Editorial or production errors; and
• Other factual or typographical inaccuracies that do not compromise the scientific validity of the article.

A correction notice will identify the article, explain the amendment, and be linked to the original publication whenever technically possible.

3. Retraction

AMJ may retract a published article when substantial evidence demonstrates that the publication is unreliable or that a serious breach of research or publication ethics has occurred.

Potential grounds include, but are not limited to:

• Fabrication or falsification of data or results;
• Major errors that materially invalidate the findings or conclusions;
• Plagiarism or substantial unattributed use of previously published material;
• Duplicate or redundant publication;
• Manipulation or fabrication of figures, images, or research results;
• Fictitious, manipulated, or materially inaccurate references;
• Research conducted without required ethical approval or with serious misrepresentation of ethical compliance;
• Serious violations involving informed consent or participant confidentiality;
• Manipulation of peer review or editorial processes;
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest that materially affect interpretation or reliability;
• Improper use of AI that results in fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other serious integrity violations;
• Copyright or other significant legal violations; and
• Other serious forms of research or publication misconduct.

Retraction is undertaken to correct the scholarly record and protect readers and the research community; it is not intended primarily as a punitive measure.

4. Retraction Notice

When AMJ retracts an article, it will publish a separate Retraction Notice that identifies the article and provides the publication details and DOI, where available. The notice will clearly state that the article has been retracted and will provide the reason(s) for the action. Where the available evidence permits, the notice will distinguish an honest error from misconduct and identify the initiator of the retraction when appropriate.

The original article will remain identifiable in the journal archive and will be prominently marked as RETRACTED. Its bibliographic information and DOI will normally be retained.

5. Expression of Concern

AMJ may issue an Expression of Concern when a significant question has been raised about a publication but the evidence is not yet sufficient for a correction or retraction. This may occur while an institutional investigation is underway, when evidence is inconclusive, or when concerns about the reliability of findings remain unresolved.

An Expression of Concern is an interim editorial notice and may later be followed by correction, retraction, or another appropriate action.

6. Removal of a Published Article

Removal of a published article from the journal website is reserved for exceptional situations, such as serious legal violations, inappropriate disclosure of confidential or personally identifiable information, an immediate and serious risk to public safety, or a valid legal or regulatory requirement.

When removal is necessary, AMJ will retain bibliographic metadata whenever legally and technically feasible and will provide an explanatory notice.

7. Withdrawal Before Publication

An author may request withdrawal of a manuscript before formal publication by submitting a written request and an explanation to the editorial office. AMJ will assess the request before approving withdrawal.

The journal may also withdraw a manuscript before publication when serious concerns are identified, including duplicate submission, plagiarism, fabrication or falsification, unauthorized submission, unresolved serious authorship concerns, ethical violations, or peer-review manipulation.

After formal publication, issues affecting validity or integrity will normally be managed through correction, Expression of Concern, or retraction rather than withdrawal.

8. Reporting Concerns and Editorial Investigation

Concerns about a published article may be raised by authors, readers, reviewers, editors, institutions, research-integrity personnel, or other relevant parties.

When a credible concern is received, AMJ may:

• Conduct an initial editorial assessment;
• Request explanations or supporting documentation from the authors;
• Seek advice from Editorial Board members, reviewers, or independent experts;
• Contact the authors' institution, ethics committee, or other competent authority when appropriate;
• Assess the available evidence against applicable publication-ethics principles; and
• Determine whether correction, Expression of Concern, retraction, removal, or no further action is appropriate.

Authors will normally be given an opportunity to respond before a final decision. Immediate editorial action may be taken when necessary to address legal, ethical, confidentiality, or public-safety concerns.

9. Author Agreement

A retraction may proceed even when one or more authors disagree, provided that the Editor-in-Chief determines that sufficient evidence supports the action. The journal will document relevant correspondence, evidence, and editorial reasoning.

10. Authorship Concerns

An authorship dispute that does not affect the reliability of the published research will not ordinarily justify retraction. Documented authorship errors may be addressed through a correction after appropriate verification and, where necessary, consultation with the relevant institution.

11. Artificial Intelligence and Retraction

Use of AI or AI-assisted tools is not, by itself, grounds for retraction when it complies with AMJ's AI policy. Retraction may be considered if AI use contributes to fabricated or falsified data, fictitious references, misleading scientific content, concealed plagiarism, material unreliability of conclusions, breaches of confidentiality, or other serious violations of research integrity.

Human authors remain responsible for all content submitted and published under their names.

12. Post-Retraction Access and Metadata

Except where legal removal is required, a retracted article will normally remain accessible for transparency and preservation of the scholarly record. The article will be clearly marked RETRACTED, and the original DOI and bibliographic information will be retained.

AMJ will make reasonable efforts to ensure that corrections, Expressions of Concern, and retractions are accurately reflected in journal metadata and, where applicable, communicated to relevant DOI, indexing, abstracting, and preservation services.

13. Editorial Independence

The Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the Editorial Board and independent experts where appropriate, has final editorial responsibility for post-publication decisions. Such decisions are based on the integrity and reliability of the scholarly record and are not determined by commercial interests, institutional status, author affiliation, or other inappropriate considerations.

14. Appeals

Authors may submit a reasoned appeal supported by relevant evidence. An appeal may be reviewed by an editor or independent expert who was not substantially involved in the original decision. Filing an appeal does not automatically suspend an editorial action when continuation is necessary to protect the scholarly record.

15. Policy References

This policy is informed by internationally recognized principles of publication ethics, including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Retraction Guidelines, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations, and principles of transparency and responsible scholarly publishing.

AMJ may revise this policy periodically to reflect developments in publication ethics, research integrity, artificial intelligence, and scholarly publishing.