Dealing with Retraction

Thank you for your question. There can be two scenarios—you identified errors in your figure and would like to retract OR another research group/journal editor noticed errors after the manuscript was published. In any case, if the journal has decisioned retraction, the authors will need to obey that. There is no other way out as it is journal’s informed decision reached after discussions with the ethics committee. Challenging this decision despite of having errors in your figures, could hamper your reputation. This might even include banning from future submissions to that publisher. Therefore, we strongly recommend you accept the journal’s decision.Related readingWhat legal redress (if any), does the author of a peer reviewed scientific paper published in a respected journal, have against an editor for unilaterally retracting the article?How To Avoid Retractions And Publish Ethically?What every researcher should know about retraction

We do not think the author has any legal redress against an editor for unilaterally retracting an article. The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines say the following: “Who should issue the retraction? In some cases, retractions are issued jointly or on behalf of the journal’s owner (for e.g. a learned society or publisher). However, since responsibility for the journal’s content rests with the editor, they should always have the final decision about retracting material. Editors may retract publications (or issue expressions of concern) even if all or some of the authors do not agree. Who is retracting the article should be clearly identified within the retraction notice."

If I have understood this situation correctly, the article was accepted by the first journal but not published there and it was both accepted and published later in a second journal. I am assuming that in the second journal, the errors concerning important data were corrected, and thus, the article was accepted for publishing.There are several points in this entire situation that are matters of concern and could even be considered unethical. The first is your initial fear in letting the journal know about the errors in the data. Perhaps you were afraid they would reject your article. But as a matter of ethics and integrity, if you detect such slips and errors, you should inform the journal and make the correction at the earliest. Even if the article was published by the time you noticed the errors, you need to inform the journal. They can decide if they wish to issue an erratum in the next edition of the journal or, in an extreme case, retract the article. However, it is appreciable that you later decided to inform them of this error. This shows academic honesty on your part, even if somewhat delayed.On the part of the first journal,...

This would be either a case of duplicate submission or self-plagiarism depending on the extent of content similarity. Also, since the English journal included some photos without permissions, this could also be a copyright breach. What makes the matter more complicated is that this seems to have come to your notice several years after being published.  You can request a withdrawal before a paper gets published; once it is published, corrective measures would mean either of the following:Corrigendum or erratumExpression of concernRetractionYour best course of action would be as follows:Write to the Japanese journal first and seek permission for reuse the photos. Write to the English journal explaining the entire situation clearly, mentioning that you just came to know of these regulations. Explain that you have retrospectively taken permission from the Japanese journal to reuse the pictures. Ask the journal editor what would be the best course of action: a self-retraction or a corrigendum citing the Japanese article.As it has been a considerable amount of time since both the papers were published, do expect that the correspondence and corrective steps may take some time (perhaps months).  Related reading:Can I reuse a figure from a past Japanese case report in a current English paper?How...

The COPE retraction guidelines explain in detail when to issue a retraction: Journal editors should consider retracting a publication in the following cases: If there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g. data fabrication) or honest error (e.g. miscalculation or experimental error) If the findings have previously been published elsewhere without cross-referencing, permission, or justification (i.e. cases of redundant publication) If the paper contains plagiarized content If the article reports unethical research As per these instructions, the article should ideally be retracted since it contains plagiarized content.  However, the same guidelines also make the following observation about the purpose of retraction: Retractions are also used to alert readers to cases of redundant publication (i.e. when authors present the same data in several publications), plagiarism, and failure to disclose a major competing interest likely to influence interpretations or recommendations. The main purpose of retractions is to correct the literature and ensure its integrity rather than to punish authors who misbehave. In this case, the study results are reliable and authentic and there is no duplication of data. Therefore, the journal editors should carefully evaluate whether the article should be allowed to be corrected and republished in the interests of science...

There have been instances of retracted papers being republished after revision.  If you feel you have successfully corrected all the problems because of which the paper was retracted, there is no reason why you should not resubmit it. However, it would be unethical to do this without informing the journal editor. I think it would be best to be honest about it and explain to the editor at the time of submission that this paper is based on an earlier retracted paper. Ideally, you should also cite the retracted paper and mention in the introduction that you are publishing a revised version of the study to correct the scientific record. However, if you are unsure about this, you can ask the editor. If the editor is taken into confidence, he/she will not mistrust your intentions; rather, he/she will be able to guide you. Additionally, wherever there is an overlap with the retracted paper, try to rephrase the text so that you can clear plagiarism check at the journal end.

It is unfortunate that the journal has requested retraction of your paper. I would encourage you to respond positively to the journal editor’s request and offer to have your paper retracted. If you do so, the journal’s retraction notice will inform readers that the paper has been retracted by agreement among the authors and the journal editor, owing to errors in data.Although retraction in itself is not favorable and can have a negative impact on your standing as a researcher, retraction due to honest error may not severely affect your reputation and eligibility for future grants, especially if you acknowledge the errors and act in the interest of science.There are two broad reasons for retraction: (1) honest human error, for example, an error in the experimental data or statistical analysis, or (2) academic misconduct, for example data fabrication, failure to disclose conflicts of interest, lack of adherence to ethical protocols, and plagiarism. As you can expect, the latter cases, which are unfortunately increasing in incidence, are more grave than the former. Cases of misconduct not only severely compromise the value of scientific literature but also adversely affect the concerned researchers’ academic standing and career advancement prospects. Such cases are made...