Q: Can I retract my articles published in poor quality journals and republish them in reputed journals?
I sent 3 manuscripts to 3 different journals that claimed to be reputable and peer-reviewed. However, their performance is so poor that my institute refuses to accept these manuscripts for my promotion. The work is excellent and I really want to retract them and re-publish them. The journals have not replied of course. What could I do? Is there any entity that can help?
Unfortunately, once a paper is published, there is no way you can republish it in any other journal. Generally speaking, papers are retracted only if there is some major error in them or if the journal has detected some form of misconduct. Neither is applicable n you case, so you will not have a strong enough reason for retraction.
Moreover, retraction will not help, as retracted papers are not pulled down from the journal site. Even after retraction, the papers will still be available with a retraction notice explaining the reason for retraction. Since they will still be available publicly, you will not be able to submit them to any other journal as this will mean duplicate submission. Thus, unfortunately, these articles cannot be republished.
Having said that, you need to first check whether the journals you have submitted to are known in your circles as predatory journals or if they are just poor quality journals that don't meet the expected standards of your university. If they are recognized as predatory journals, you might not be able to promote these publications anywhere since you would not want to be associated with predatory journals.
However, if the journals do not meet your university's standards, but are not really known in scholarly circles as predatory, you still have some hope. If they are just new journals, or journals that are not well-known or do not have an impact factor, you can still promote your articles. Even if your university doesn't accept them for career advancement, you can still use them in your publications list or promote them elsewhere.
It is really sad that quality work loses its value by being published in bogus journals. However, that is a fact that cannot be ignored. Therefore, take this as a learning experience and be very careful when you select a target journal for your future submissions.
Do go through these posts as they will help you understand how to select reputable journals for your paper:
This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage