Article Retraction & Withdrawal

Proceedings of International Conference on Islamic Counseling Studies (ICONICS) is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. The editorial board follows best practices in accordance with the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding article retraction and withdrawal.

1. Article Retraction

An article may be retracted under the following circumstances:

  • Clear evidence of research misconduct, such as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism.

  • Redundant or duplicate publication without proper cross-referencing or justification.

  • Serious errors that invalidate the findings and conclusions.

  • Ethical issues such as unauthorized use of data, lack of informed consent, or undeclared conflicts of interest.

Retraction process:

  • The decision to retract an article is made by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the editorial board.

  • A retraction notice will be published in the proceeding’s online platform, clearly stating the reason for retraction.

  • The original article will remain accessible but will be marked as “Retracted” on every page.

2. Article Withdrawal

Authors may request to withdraw their manuscript under reasonable circumstances:

  • Before peer review begins, authors may withdraw their submission by sending a formal request to the editor.

  • Withdrawal after the review process is discouraged unless there are strong ethical or academic justifications.

  • Authors who attempt to withdraw a manuscript without proper reason after acceptance or delay the process with non-responsiveness may be blacklisted from future submissions.

3. Editor-Initiated Withdrawal

The editorial team reserves the right to withdraw a manuscript from consideration at any stage of the process if:

  • The manuscript is found to violate ethical standards.

  • The authors fail to respond to correspondence within a reasonable time frame.

  • False information is provided during submission.

ICONICS upholds transparency, fairness, and academic responsibility in all publication processes and encourages authors to maintain the same ethical standards.