Manuscript Withdrawal

We are very saddened to hear that you are facing such a situation.  Dealing with journals that employ predatory practices can be a highly tricky issue. While more details would be needed to provide you better guidance, let’s do a step-wise analysis to understand this case better and consider your options.  First, a retraction is the public removal of a “published” paper from the literature because of serious flaws or fraud. Based on what you’ve mentioned, it does not seem like your paper has even been published yet. So, the threat of retraction may not hold much weight, unless they decide to go ahead and publish your paper first and then retract it.  Second, you have said that you did not sign the copyright transfer form, so technically you still own the rights to your work and the journal cannot legitimately publish your work in the first place. You can mention this to the journal and threaten action against it for copyright infringement if it says it will publish your paper.  Third, even if it does not publish your paper but is refusing to withdraw it until you pay withdrawal fees, you will be unable to submit your manuscript elsewhere....

Dear Author,Thank you for writing to us.Based on the information you provided us there is no need to email the journal since the journal has confirmed that they have not received your paper for consideration. 

Thank you for sending in your query. I understand that an extended waiting period can be quite stressful. However, if the journal is a reputable one, you can consider waiting a while longer before you decide to withdraw. Some journal editors are not very responsive to emails, possibly because they are very busy. I would suggest that you send emails more frequently, maybe once every week for the next 3-4 weeks. Be very polite in your emails and explain your situation and that you are anxious about your submission and a reply from their end would be appreciated. If there is still no response nor a status change by the end of this month, you can consider withdrawing your manuscript.However, please note that you cannot submit your paper to another journal until the withdrawal process is complete as this could be considered as duplicate or concurrent submission. The withdrawal process for the manuscript will be complete only when you receive a confirmation email from the journal editor. In case the editor does not reply even to your withdrawal request, you will have to send multiple reminders and wait till you receive a reply. If there is still no reply, you...

Thank you for your query! You are very right to place emphasis on officially withdrawing a submission from one journal before sending it for consideration to another, as simultaneous submission to multiple journals is an ethical breach in the publication process. That said, it is of course not feasible to wait indefinitely for an acknowledgement of the withdrawal as this will delay subsequent submissions. As multiple communications have not received a response, in this case, you may consider a fresh submission to a new journal, but it is of utmost importance that you communicate the fact that you have withdrawn the earlier submission, though you have not received a response. We hope this is helpful. All the best!

Thank you for your query! You are very right to place emphasis on officially withdrawing a submission from one journal before sending it for consideration to another, as simultaneous submission to multiple journals is an ethical breach in the publication process. That said, it is of course not feasible to wait indefinitely for an acknowledgement of the withdrawal as this will delay subsequent submissions. As multiple communications have not received a response, in this case, you may consider a fresh submission to a new journal, but it is of utmost importance that you communicate the fact that you have withdrawn the earlier submission, though you have not received a response. We hope this is helpful. All the best!

Thank you for your query! You are very right to place emphasis on officially withdrawing a submission from one journal before sending it for consideration to another, as simultaneous submission to multiple journals is an ethical breach in the publication process. That said, it is of course not feasible to wait indefinitely for an acknowledgement of the withdrawal as this will delay subsequent submissions. As multiple communications have not received a response, in this case, you may consider a fresh submission to a new journal, but it is of utmost importance that you communicate the fact that you have withdrawn the earlier submission, though you have not received a response. We hope this is helpful. All the best!

Thank you for your query. If you need to withdraw an accepted paper, the procedure for doing so is that you need to write to the journal and request permission to withdraw your paper. Note that while there are no legal implications of doing this as such, withdrawing a paper that has been accepted is sometimes not perceived as good practice given the time and effort invested by the journal in peer review. It is therefore recommended that you explain your reason for withdrawal clearly. I would recommend writing to the journal editor directly and explaining the situation. As long as you can provide a suitable justification for withdrawal, it should be okay. Remember to mention the manuscript title and ID in your request.You may also find a few of these resources helpful:What is the procedure to withdraw an accepted article from a journal?How to write a withdrawal letter to the journalWe wish you all the very best!

A journal editor reserves right to withdraw a manuscript at any stage of article processing as they are solely responsible for the content that would be published in the journal. Even if the paper reaches the publication stage, and the editor finds that it is non-compliant with ICMJE guidelines or that there is any other ethical misconduct—duplication of result, salami slicing, etc., the editor has the authority to withdraw the paper from further processing.Nevertheless, you should consider writing to the Editor-in-Chief requesting them for a reason for withdrawal as you have the right to question them for such an abrupt action. It is also possible that there was some mistake or a system error. You should immediately write to the editor inquiring about this. Make sure to make it very clear in your email that you have not sent a withdrawal request.

Authors may choose to withdraw a manuscript at any time during or even after peer review, but given that the journal has spent considerable time and resources on the review of the manuscript already, this is usually subject to acceptance of withdrawal request by the journal editor. The request should also set out very clearly the reasons for withdrawal. In this specific case, the journal may suggest resubmission after incorporation of the information requested by the peer reviewer, so the request should ideally explain why this is not feasible (in terms of time, resources, etc.).This said, withdrawal of a paper is relatively uncommon and may, in some circumstances, not reflect well on the author, so most publishers emphasize the need to take this decision only if unavoidable. You might consider a rebuttal, rather than a withdrawal, explaining your reasoning for not simply revising the manuscript per reviewer comments. This would allow the journal editor to make an informed decision.You might also find these related resources helpful:INFOGRAPHIC: 4 Common reasons for manuscript withdrawalShould I withdraw my paper if the journal is taking unusually long to process?Can I withdraw my paper after reviewers have been assigned?Hope this helps you in arriving at...

Authors may choose to withdraw a manuscript at any time during or even after peer review, but given that the journal has spent considerable time and resources on the review of the manuscript already, this is usually subject to acceptance of withdrawal request by the journal editor. The request should also set out very clearly the reasons for withdrawal. In this specific case, the journal may suggest resubmission after incorporation of the information requested by the peer reviewer, so the request should ideally explain why this is not feasible (in terms of time, resources, etc.).This said, withdrawal of a paper is relatively uncommon and may, in some circumstances, not reflect well on the author, so most publishers emphasize the need to take this decision only if unavoidable. You might consider a rebuttal, rather than a withdrawal, explaining your reasoning for not simply revising the manuscript per reviewer comments. This would allow the journal editor to make an informed decision.You might also find these related resources helpful:INFOGRAPHIC: 4 Common reasons for manuscript withdrawalShould I withdraw my paper if the journal is taking unusually long to process?Can I withdraw my paper after reviewers have been assigned?Hope this helps you in arriving at...