The Archives of Clinical and Experimental Orthopaedics (ACEO) recognizes that authors may need to withdraw a submitted or accepted manuscript under certain conditions. However, once a manuscript enters the peer review or production stage, withdrawal requests must comply with ethical and procedural standards defined by COPE and ICMJE guidelines.

“Withdrawal is an ethical act only when conducted transparently and with justified reasoning.”

Withdrawal Eligibility

Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript before final acceptance or publication only under the following circumstances:

Discovery of significant errors or ethical concerns in the submitted data.
Duplicate submission made unintentionally to multiple journals.
Change in authorship agreement or conflict among co-authors.
Withdrawal mandated by institutional or funding agency policies.

Withdrawal Stages and Conditions

Withdrawal requests are categorized based on the manuscript’s publication stage:

Stage	Permissibility	Policy
Before Peer Review	✔ Allowed	Withdrawal requests accepted with written justification.
During Peer Review	✔ Allowed with conditions	Authors must reimburse partial editorial costs.
After Acceptance (Pre-Publication)	✖ Strongly Discouraged	Withdrawal may incur processing fee and public notice.
After Online Publication	✖ Not Permitted	Requests are treated as retraction per COPE guidelines.

Withdrawal Request Procedure

Authors must send a formal withdrawal request to the editorial office using the following format:

To: [email protected]
Subject: Manuscript Withdrawal Request
Body:
- Manuscript ID: [Insert ID]
- Title: [Insert Title]
- Corresponding Author: [Full Name, Affiliation]
- Reason for Withdrawal: [Provide Clear and Valid Reason]
- Signature: [Digital Signature of All Co-authors]

Editorial Review of Withdrawal Requests

Upon receiving the withdrawal request, the editorial office will:

Verify the authenticity of the request and author signatures.
Consult with assigned reviewers (if applicable).
Evaluate the reason for withdrawal for ethical justification.
Communicate the decision to the corresponding author within 7 working days.

Withdrawal Fees

ACEO invests significant resources in processing submissions, including editorial and peer review efforts. Hence, a withdrawal fee may be applicable for manuscripts withdrawn at advanced stages:

Stage	Applicable Fee (USD)
Before Review	None
During Review	$75 (Editorial Processing Fee)
After Acceptance	$150 (Production Setup Fee)

Fees help recover operational costs incurred prior to withdrawal confirmation.

Unethical Withdrawal

Withdrawing a manuscript to submit it elsewhere while it is under active review violates publication ethics. Such cases are treated as misconduct, and ACEO reserves the right to:

Blacklist authors and institutions for future submissions.
Notify the authors’ affiliated institutions and funding agencies.
Publish a formal “Withdrawal Notice” in the journal record.

Post-Acceptance Withdrawal

Once a manuscript is accepted and DOI-assigned, withdrawal is not permitted except in extraordinary circumstances, such as:

Ethical breaches discovered post-acceptance (e.g., plagiarism, authorship fraud).
Legal disputes or consent withdrawal from participants.

In such cases, the withdrawal will be recorded transparently in the publication database and marked as “Withdrawn by Authors.”

Retraction vs. Withdrawal

To prevent confusion, ACEO distinguishes between withdrawal and retraction:

Aspect	Withdrawal	Retraction
Timing	Before publication	After publication
Visibility	No DOI assigned	DOI retained with “Retracted” label
Reason	Author-initiated for justified causes	Editor/publisher initiated for misconduct or error

COPE Guidelines on Withdrawal

ACEO follows COPE’s Flowcharts for Suspected Ethical Issues. Withdrawal decisions are handled with fairness and transparency to ensure integrity in scholarly communication.

Appeals and Disputes

Authors who disagree with a withdrawal decision may appeal within 10 working days by submitting a detailed justification. Appeals are reviewed by the Ethics and Compliance Committee, and the final decision is binding.

Conclusion

The Withdrawal Policy of ACEO ensures that the withdrawal of manuscripts is managed responsibly, transparently, and in compliance with international ethical standards. Authors are encouraged to communicate clearly and promptly to avoid ethical or financial complications.