Withdrawal of Manuscript Policy

Help: Journal of Community Service (HJCS) is committed to maintaining a transparent, fair, and ethical scholarly publishing process. This Withdrawal of Manuscript Policy establishes the procedures and conditions under which authors may request the withdrawal of a manuscript submitted to HJCS.

Manuscript withdrawal refers to the formal removal of a manuscript from the journal's editorial process before it has been officially published. Withdrawal should not be confused with retraction, which applies to an article that has already been published and requires a formal correction of the scholarly record.

HJCS recognizes that authors may occasionally have legitimate reasons for withdrawing a manuscript. However, withdrawal requests must be handled responsibly to protect the time and effort of editors and reviewers and to prevent duplicate or simultaneous submissions to other journals. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously is considered an unethical publication practice.

1. Withdrawal Before Peer Review

Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript before the external peer-review process has begun.

The corresponding author should submit a formal withdrawal request through the journal's official editorial communication channel or OJS system.

The request should include:

• Manuscript title;
• Manuscript ID;
• Names of all authors;
• Name and affiliation of the corresponding author;
• Clear reason for withdrawal; and
• Confirmation that all co-authors are aware of and agree with the withdrawal request.

Where the request is submitted before peer review begins, HJCS will normally process the withdrawal without penalty, provided that the manuscript has not been simultaneously submitted to another journal.

2. Withdrawal During Peer Review

Authors may request withdrawal while a manuscript is undergoing peer review. However, authors should carefully consider the implications of withdrawing a manuscript after reviewers have already been invited or have invested time in evaluating the work.

A withdrawal request during peer review should include a valid reason and confirmation that all co-authors agree with the request.

The Editorial Office may temporarily suspend the review process while evaluating the withdrawal request.

HJCS encourages authors to communicate promptly with the Editorial Office rather than allowing a manuscript to remain inactive in the review system.

3. Withdrawal After Revision

If a manuscript has been returned to the authors for minor revision or major revision, the authors may request withdrawal before the manuscript is formally accepted for publication.

The corresponding author must provide a written request explaining the reason for withdrawal and confirming agreement among all authors.

Where substantial editorial or reviewer resources have already been invested, the Editor may request clarification before approving the withdrawal.

4. Withdrawal After Acceptance

Once a manuscript has been formally accepted for publication, withdrawal is subject to editorial approval.

At this stage, the manuscript may already have undergone significant editorial work, including copyediting, formatting, metadata preparation, DOI processing, or production preparation.

Therefore, authors should not assume that an accepted manuscript can be withdrawn automatically.

A withdrawal request after acceptance must:

1. Be submitted in writing;
2. Explain the reason for withdrawal;
3. Be submitted by the corresponding author;
4. Confirm that all authors agree to the withdrawal; and
5. Be approved by the Editor-in-Chief or designated editor.

Where a serious ethical, legal, authorship, or research-integrity issue is identified, the Editor may investigate the matter before making a final decision.

5. Withdrawal During Production

Once an accepted manuscript has entered the production or publication stage, withdrawal is generally discouraged and will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Examples of exceptional circumstances may include:

• Serious errors that substantially invalidate the manuscript;
• Ethical concerns;
• Authorship disputes;
• Legal concerns;
• Significant problems with research data;
• Serious violations of publication ethics; or
• Other circumstances that make publication inappropriate.

The final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

6. Withdrawal Requests Must Be Approved

A manuscript is not considered officially withdrawn merely because an author sends an email requesting withdrawal.

The withdrawal becomes effective only after the Editorial Office formally confirms the withdrawal.

Until confirmation is received, the manuscript remains under the journal's editorial process.

Authors should therefore not submit the manuscript to another journal while the withdrawal is still being processed or before receiving formal confirmation from HJCS.

7. Agreement of Co-Authors

For manuscripts with multiple authors, the corresponding author is expected to confirm that all co-authors have been informed of and agree to the withdrawal.

If a disagreement occurs among authors, HJCS may suspend the withdrawal decision until the dispute is appropriately resolved.

The journal may request written confirmation from the authors or refer authorship disputes to the relevant institution where necessary.

This approach is consistent with publication-ethics practice that authorship-related changes should not be handled unilaterally and that disputes may require institutional resolution.

8. Withdrawal Due to Ethical or Research Concerns

If an author requests withdrawal because of suspected:

• Fabrication;
• Falsification;
• Plagiarism;
• Duplicate publication;
• Data manipulation;
• Authorship misconduct;
• Ethical approval problems;
• Inappropriate use of participant or community data; or
• Other research-integrity concerns,

the Editor may initiate an appropriate research-integrity assessment before approving the withdrawal.

Withdrawal does not necessarily terminate an investigation into suspected misconduct.

Where necessary, HJCS may contact the relevant institution, research organization, ethics committee, or other competent authority.

9. Withdrawal and Duplicate Submission

Authors must not withdraw a manuscript from HJCS and simultaneously submit substantially the same manuscript to another journal before receiving formal confirmation of withdrawal.

Likewise, authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to HJCS and another journal.

Concurrent or duplicate submission is considered an unacceptable publication practice because it unnecessarily duplicates editorial and peer-review resources and may create problems in the scholarly record.

10. Withdrawal by the Journal

HJCS may withdraw a manuscript from consideration when serious problems are identified before publication.

The journal may initiate withdrawal or terminate the editorial process in cases such as:

• Major plagiarism;
• Fabrication or falsification;
• Duplicate submission;
• Serious ethical violations;
• Fraudulent or manipulated reviewer information;
• Inability to verify essential research information;
• Serious authorship problems;
• Manuscript content that falls fundamentally outside the journal's scope; or
• Other circumstances that compromise the integrity of the editorial process.

Where appropriate, the authors will be informed of the reason for the decision.

11. Withdrawal Notice

For manuscripts that have not been published, HJCS will normally remove the manuscript from the active editorial workflow following an approved withdrawal.

If a manuscript has already been publicly posted online or assigned a DOI before the withdrawal request is processed, the journal will not simply delete the scholarly record without appropriate documentation.

Instead, the journal may issue an appropriate withdrawal or editorial notice explaining the status of the manuscript.

This distinction is important because post-publication changes should preserve transparency and the integrity of the scholarly record.

12. Withdrawal Does Not Equal Retraction

HJCS makes a clear distinction between:

An article that has already been formally published should normally be addressed through the journal's Retraction and Correction Policy, rather than through a standard manuscript-withdrawal request.

13. Withdrawal for Personal or Institutional Reasons

HJCS may consider legitimate withdrawal requests arising from circumstances such as:

• Major changes to the research;
• Discovery of a substantive error;
• Authorship disagreement;
• Institutional requirements;
• Legal or ethical concerns;
• Inability to verify research data; or
• Other reasonable circumstances affecting the manuscript.

However, the journal evaluates withdrawal requests individually and reserves the right to request additional information when necessary.

14. Withdrawal and Publication Charges

HJCS does not charge authors a fee merely for requesting withdrawal before publication, unless a specific and transparently stated journal policy applies.

Authors should not assume that withdrawal automatically eliminates any financial obligations that may have been separately agreed upon for services already rendered. Any applicable publication or processing charges must be clearly communicated by the journal in advance.

For HJCS, the withdrawal policy should always be read together with the journal's Article Processing Charge (APC) Policy.

15. Withdrawal Request Procedure

Authors wishing to withdraw a manuscript should follow these steps:

Step 1 — Submit a Formal Request
The corresponding author contacts the Editorial Office through the official journal channel.

Step 2 — Identify the Manuscript
The request must include the manuscript title and manuscript ID.

Step 3 — State the Reason
The author provides a clear explanation for the withdrawal.

Step 4 — Confirm Co-Author Agreement
The corresponding author confirms that all co-authors have agreed to the withdrawal.

Step 5 — Editorial Assessment
The editor evaluates the request according to the manuscript's current publication stage.

Step 6 — Editorial Confirmation
The Editorial Office formally confirms whether the withdrawal has been approved.

Step 7 — Update the OJS Record
The manuscript status is updated in the journal's editorial management system.

16. Author Responsibility

By submitting a manuscript to HJCS, authors acknowledge that they are responsible for:

• Ensuring that the manuscript is not simultaneously submitted elsewhere;
• Communicating honestly with the Editorial Office;
• Informing all co-authors about significant editorial decisions;
• Providing accurate information during the withdrawal process; and
• Respecting the time and professional contributions of editors and reviewers.

17. Editorial Discretion

HJCS reserves the right to evaluate each withdrawal request according to the specific circumstances of the manuscript.

The Editor-in-Chief may seek additional information from the authors, reviewers, editorial board members, or relevant institutions when necessary to protect the integrity of the publication process.

Editorial decisions will be based on academic integrity, publication ethics, fairness, and protection of the scholarly record.

18. Commitment to Ethical Publishing

HJCS recognizes that withdrawal is sometimes necessary, but it should be undertaken transparently and responsibly.

The journal therefore encourages authors to communicate openly with the Editorial Office whenever they encounter problems affecting their manuscript.

A responsible withdrawal process protects not only the interests of authors but also the time of reviewers, the integrity of editorial processes, and the credibility of the scholarly record.

HJCS is committed to handling manuscript withdrawal requests fairly, transparently, and ethically, while protecting the integrity of the publication process and the scholarly community.