Retraction Policy

The journal “Agricultural Machinery” adheres to the highest standards of academic integrity and maintains strict publication ethics in the fields of agricultural science and engineering.

The Editorial Board does not tolerate plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, citation manipulation, improper authorship, or any other form of publication misconduct.

All cases of suspected misconduct are handled in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

 1. Duplicate Submission and Redundant Publication

Authors must submit original manuscripts that are not under consideration by another journal.

The following are considered violations:

·                     literal copying of previously published material;

·                     substantial partial duplication;

·                     paraphrased duplication without proper citation;

·                     submission of multiple manuscripts based on the same dataset without proper disclosure.

In such cases, the manuscript will be rejected, and appropriate sanctions may be applied.

 2. Citation Manipulation

Any attempt to artificially increase citation counts — including excessive self-citation, coercive citation, or coordinated citation schemes — constitutes a violation of publication ethics.

Confirmed citation manipulation may result in rejection or retraction.

 3. Fabrication and Falsification of Data

Serious misconduct includes:

·                     fabrication of experimental results;

·                     manipulation of images, figures, or graphical data;

·                     falsification of engineering calculations;

·                     intentional misrepresentation of methodologies or test results.

If confirmed, the manuscript will be rejected or, if already published, retracted.

 4. Investigation Procedure

In cases of suspected misconduct, the Editorial Board will:

1.                  conduct a preliminary assessment;

2.                  request explanations from the authors;

3.                  consult independent experts when necessary;

4.                  make a decision in accordance with COPE recommendations.

Possible outcomes include:

·                     rejection of the manuscript;

·                     publication of a correction;

·                     publication of an Expression of Concern;

·                     retraction of the article.

 5. Corrections

If errors are identified that do not invalidate the scientific conclusions, the journal may publish:

·                     Erratum — for errors introduced by the publisher;

·                     Corrigendum — for errors introduced by the authors.

Corrections are published as separate documents linked to the original article.

 6. Retraction of an Article

Retraction is considered in cases of:

·                     proven fabrication or falsification of data;

·                     plagiarism;

·                     duplicate publication;

·                     serious ethical violations;

·                     unreliable research findings.

Retraction decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief after completion of the investigation.

Retracted articles remain accessible in the archive with clear labeling as “Retraction.”

 7. Publication Manipulation

Paper Mills

If an article is identified as part of organized fraudulent publication practices (e.g., “paper mills”), the Editorial Board may retract the affected publications.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Undisclosed use of generative artificial intelligence tools to produce text, images, or data is considered misconduct.

Authors must explicitly declare the use of AI tools in manuscript preparation.

Failure to disclose such use may result in rejection or retraction.

The Editorial Office reserves the right to screen submissions for AI-generated content using automated detection tools, peer review expertise, and additional author inquiries.

Authorship Fraud

Confirmed cases of false authorship, identity misuse, or fraudulent use of personal identifiers (including ORCID) may lead to retraction.

8. Expression of Concern

If serious doubts arise regarding the integrity of a published article but evidence is insufficient for immediate retraction, the journal may issue an Expression of Concern.

This notice receives its own DOI and is permanently linked to the original article until the investigation is completed.

9. Availability of Retracted Articles

All retracted articles remain publicly accessible with clear retraction labeling to preserve the scholarly record.

Complete removal of an article is permitted only in exceptional cases required by law (e.g., data protection, copyright infringement, or court order).