Withdrawal Policy

The Journal of Design, Management and Sciences follows strict ethical standards to maintain transparency and integrity in scholarly publishing. Authors are discouraged from withdrawing manuscripts after submission, as such actions waste valuable editorial and reviewer resources. This Withdrawal Policy outlines the acceptable grounds, process, and consequences for article withdrawal.

1. Withdrawal Before Review

Authors may withdraw their manuscript before peer review begins without penalty.

The author must send a formal withdrawal request to the journal’s official email, clearly mentioning:

  • Manuscript title

  • Author(s) name(s)

  • Submission ID

  • Reason for withdrawal

The editorial team will confirm the withdrawal within 3–5 working days.

2. Withdrawal During Peer Review

Withdrawal during peer review is discouraged, as reviewers invest significant effort.

The manuscript may be withdrawn only under justified circumstances such as:

  • Major errors in data or analysis

  • Ethical concerns

  • Duplicate submission made unintentionally

In such cases, authors must:

  • Provide a detailed explanation

  • Sign a Withdrawal Request Letter

  • Ensure that the manuscript is not under review in another journal

If the journal discovers a simultaneous submission elsewhere, sanctions may be applied.

3. Withdrawal After Acceptance

Withdrawal after acceptance is allowed in highly exceptional situations, such as:

  • Serious methodological errors

  • Ethical violations (plagiarism, data fabrication, authorship disputes)

  • Legal concerns

Once accepted, withdrawal requires:

  • A written request signed by all authors

  • A clear explanation of the issue

  • Editorial board approval

The journal has full discretion to accept or reject the request.

4. Withdrawal After Online Publication

After the article has been published online (ahead-of-print or final issue):

  • Withdrawal is not permitted

  • Instead, a formal retraction is issued if serious issues are identified

  • Retraction notices follow COPE guidelines and remain permanently accessible

Authors cannot request withdrawal to publish elsewhere.

5. Unethical Withdrawal & Penalties

Manuscript withdrawal is considered unethical if:

  • The authors submit the same manuscript to another journal without informing JDMS

  • Withdrawal is requested simply due to publication delay

  • Authors fail to respond during review and then request withdrawal

Penalties may include:

  • Blacklisting all authors for 2–3 years

  • Informing the authors’ institutions (in severe cases)

  • Rejection of all future submissions

  • COPE-recommended actions for serious ethical breaches

6. Editorial Withdrawal

The Editorial Board may withdraw a manuscript at any stage if:

  • The authors fail to respond to editorial communication

  • The manuscript contains plagiarism, copyright violations, or misleading data

  • There are unresolved authorship or ethical disputes

  • The authors do not comply with journal policies after repeated reminders

The editors are not obliged to provide further processing or resubmission options in such cases.

7. Withdrawal Procedure

To withdraw a manuscript, authors must:

  1. Email the Editorial Office with a subject line: “Manuscript Withdrawal Request – JDMS”

  2. Attach a signed Withdrawal Letter (all authors must sign)

  3. Provide:

    • Title of manuscript

    • Submission ID

    • Names of all authors

    • Detailed reason for withdrawal

  4. Await confirmation from the journal (response usually within 3–7 days)

No manuscript is considered withdrawn until the Editorial Office issues a formal confirmation email.

8. Policy Updates

JDMS reserves the right to update the Withdrawal Policy at any time to ensure ethical and efficient journal operations. All updates will be publicly listed on the journal website.