Believers Journal of Health Sciences (BJHS) is committed to maintaining the accuracy, transparency, and integrity of the scholarly record. This Retraction Policy explains the circumstances in which a published article may be retracted and the formal administrative procedures followed by the journal when serious integrity gaps are identified. Retraction is utilized to alert readers that an article contains unreliable findings, and it should not be regarded as a punitive measure against authors.
BJHS executes a formal retraction when verified, reliable evidence demonstrates any of the following:
Concerns raised by readers, reviewers, or institutions prompt a comprehensive review of peer-review trails, raw data sheets, and approvals by the Editor-in-Chief. Authors are systematically given an opportunity to provide formal responses. While technical misconduct inquiries fall to the home university or funder, the journal guards its pipeline continuously.
Expression of Concern: If severe indications emerge but external institutional audits face delays, BJHS may deploy an interim Expression of Concern to maintain transparent warnings for the global medical community while the final verification loop remains open.
Final retraction determinations are executed exclusively under the authority of the Editor-in-Chief. Action loops can be initiated by the author group, editorial office, or home institution. Author group agreement is highly desirable, but the journal will proceed independently if documentation verifies that retraction is required to defend the scientific record. Every step is processed free of unmanaged conflict layers.
A dedicated retraction notice is issued separately and remains permanently linked via Crossref DOIs. The notice clearly indicates the target document, states the retraction status, details the factor matrices objectively using non-defamatory text, and records the execution date. To ensure archival traceability, the base article and PDF remain available but are permanently watermarked as retracted; absolute text removal from the website occurs only under serious legal hazards, safetly alerts, or major privacy breaches.
Corrections Track: If a lapse is isolated and does not compromise the core scientific conclusions or ethical foundation of the paper (such as small affiliation errors, funding tracking, or table spelling), a formal Correction is deployed instead of a retraction.
Appeals: Authors can file a written appeal against a retraction by submitting factual proof of procedural errors or unconsidered evidence. Re-evaluations are managed by a neutral editorial board member not associated with the baseline choice. Active retraction notices are not automatically suspended during an appeal cycle.
Immediately upon notice launch, BJHS systematically updates the paper's internal metadata streams. The office pushes status updates to international abstracting services, discovery discovery systems, permanent DOI registries, and global digital archiving nodes, ensuring the retracted status remains linked across all discovery databases to prevent data misinterpretation.