Withdrawal Policy

The Historian, published by the Department of History, Government College University (GCU) Lahore, recognizes that authors may occasionally need to withdraw a manuscript. However, withdrawal, particularly at late stages, wastes valuable editorial and peer-reviewer resources. This policy adheres to COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines to ensure transparency and integrity.

1. General Withdrawal Guidelines
2. Withdrawal Before Acceptance

Authors may request to withdraw their manuscript at any time prior to formal acceptance.

• Procedure: The corresponding author must submit a formal request via email to the Editor-in-Chief (historian@gcu.edu.pk).
• Reviewer Consideration: If the manuscript is currently under triple-blind peer review, authors should request withdrawal immediately to avoid wasting the time of the national and international experts.

1. Withdrawal After Acceptance

Once a manuscript has been formally accepted for publication, withdrawal is strongly discouraged and permitted only under exceptional circumstances.

• Justification: A written explanation is required.
• Approval: The Editorial Board reserves the right to approve or decline the request based on the validity of the reasons provided.

2. Financial Implications

This section strictly aligns with the journal’s Refund Policy:

• Pre-Payment Withdrawal: If a manuscript is withdrawn before the Article Processing Charge (APC) is paid, no fees are owed.
• Post-Payment Withdrawal: If a manuscript is withdrawn after the manuscript has been accepted and the APC (PKR 15,000 / USD 60) has been paid, the fee is non-refundable. This covers the costs already incurred for editorial management, peer review coordination, and typesetting.

3. Valid Reasons for Withdrawal

Withdrawal may be permitted without penalty in the following cases:

• Unintentional Errors: The authors discover significant scientific or methodological errors that invalidate the findings.
• Authorship Disputes: Irreconcilable disagreements among authors regarding content or credit.
• Ethical Violations: Discovery of potential conflicts of interest or inadvertent data issues before publication.

4. Unethical Withdrawal and Sanctions

Withdrawing a manuscript for unethical reasons is considered misconduct. This includes:

• Duplicate Submission: Withdrawing a paper because it was accepted by another journal simultaneously (a violation of the exclusivity policy).
• Plagiarism Detection: Withdrawing to avoid consequences after the journal detects plagiarism (>19%).

Consequences: In cases of unethical withdrawal, The Historian may:

• Ban the authors from submitting to the journal for a specific period.
• Report the conduct to the authors' affiliated institutions.

5. Post-Publication Withdrawal (Retraction)

Once an article is published, it becomes part of the permanent scholarly record maintained by GCU Lahore. Therefore, articles cannot be simply "withdrawn" or deleted. They must be retracted.

Grounds for Retraction:

• Proven plagiarism or high similarity index violations.
• Fabricated data or unethical research practices (e.g., lack of IRB approval).
• Copyright infringement or legal issues.

Retraction Process:

• A formal Retraction Notice will be published, linking to the original article.
• The original article will remain accessible in the digital archive but will be clearly watermarked as "RETRACTED" to uphold the integrity of the academic record.

6. Submission of Request

To initiate a withdrawal, the corresponding author must send a signed letter or formal email to the Editor-in-Chief containing:

1. Manuscript ID and Title.
2. Explicit Statement of the desire to withdraw.
3. Detailed Reason for the withdrawal.
4. Confirmation that all co-authors agree to the decision.

Contact: Editor, The Historian Department of History, GCU Lahore Email: historian@gcu.edu.pk