Parewa Saraq: Journal of Islamic Law and Fatwa Review is committed to maintaining the accuracy, integrity, and reliability of the scholarly record. Although manuscripts undergo editorial assessment and peer review before publication, errors, ethical concerns, or other circumstances may arise after publication that require editorial action.

The journal distinguishes between corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, article removal, and article replacement. Editorial action is taken only when supported by appropriate evidence and when necessary to maintain the integrity of the published scholarly record.

Parewa Saraq follows relevant principles and guidance issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when considering corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, removals, and replacements. The journal's decisions are based on the available evidence, the nature and seriousness of the concern, and the need to maintain an accurate and transparent scholarly record.

1. Editorial Responsibility

The Editor-in-Chief has primary responsibility for decisions concerning corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, article removal, and article replacement.

The Editor-in-Chief may assign a case to another qualified editor who has no conflict of interest with the article or its authors. The assigned editor may investigate the matter, request clarification or supporting documentation from the authors, consult appropriate reviewers or subject experts, and provide a recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief.

An editor who has a conflict of interest must not participate in the investigation or decision concerning the affected article.

Where appropriate, the journal may communicate with the authors' affiliated institutions or other relevant organizations when investigating serious concerns regarding research or publication misconduct.

2. Article Retraction

A published article may be considered for retraction when there is clear and sufficient evidence that the article is unreliable or that serious ethical or publication concerns undermine the integrity of the scholarly record.

Reasons for retraction may include, but are not limited to:

• clear evidence that the findings are unreliable because of a major error, such as a serious methodological error, miscalculation, or other substantive mistake;
• fabrication or falsification of data, evidence, images, or other research materials;
• plagiarism or substantial unattributed use of another person's work;
• duplicate or redundant publication without appropriate disclosure, permission, or justification;
• unauthorized use of data, materials, or information;
• serious violation of research ethics;
• serious infringement of copyright or other legal rights;
• publication based on a compromised or manipulated peer-review process;
• failure to disclose a major conflict of interest that could have materially affected the interpretation or evaluation of the work; or
• other serious forms of research or publication misconduct that substantially affect the reliability or integrity of the published article.

Retraction may result from misconduct or from an honest error. Retraction does not necessarily imply misconduct by the authors. The reason for retraction will be stated clearly and objectively in the retraction notice.

3. Retraction Procedure

When a published article is suspected of requiring retraction, the journal may follow the following procedure:

1. The concern is brought to the attention of the Editor-in-Chief or assigned editor.
2. The editor conducts a preliminary assessment to determine whether the concern is sufficiently credible to require further investigation.
3. Where appropriate, the authors are informed of the concern and given a reasonable opportunity to provide an explanation, clarification, or supporting documentation.
4. The editor evaluates the available evidence and may consult reviewers, subject experts, Editorial Board members, institutional representatives, or other appropriate parties when necessary.
5. If the Editor-in-Chief determines that retraction is warranted, a formal retraction decision is made and documented.
6. The journal communicates the decision to the authors and, where appropriate, to relevant institutions or other parties.
7. A clearly identified Retraction Notice is published and linked directly to the original article.

The investigation and decision-making process will be conducted as fairly and objectively as reasonably possible. The journal will not retract an article solely on the basis of an unsupported allegation.

4. Retraction Notice

A retraction notice will:

• clearly identify the retracted article, including its title and authors;
• be clearly identified as a Retraction;
• remain freely accessible;
• be linked to the original article wherever technically possible;
• state the reason or reasons for retraction;
• identify who is retracting the article;
• distinguish, where relevant, between misconduct and honest error; and
• use objective, factual, and non-defamatory language.

The original article will normally remain accessible as part of the scholarly record and will be clearly marked as Retracted. The retraction notice will be linked to the original article to ensure that readers are aware of the retraction.

5. Article Correction

A correction may be issued when an article is otherwise reliable but contains an error that affects the accuracy, clarity, or integrity of the published record.

Corrections may be considered for:

• factual or textual errors;
• errors introduced during the publication or production process;
• errors in tables, figures, references, or other published information;
• inaccurate author or contributor information;
• omission of an eligible author or inclusion of an individual who does not meet the journal's authorship criteria; or
• other limited errors that do not invalidate the principal findings or conclusions of the article.

A correction is generally appropriate when the published article remains substantially reliable and the identified issue can be addressed without retracting the article.

6. Types of Correction

Publisher Correction

A Publisher Correction (Erratum) may be issued when a significant error is introduced by the journal, editorial, typesetting, or production process and the error affects the accuracy or integrity of the published record.

Author Correction

An Author Correction (Corrigendum) may be issued when an important error originating from the author or authors affects the accuracy or integrity of the published article but does not invalidate the principal findings.

Addendum

An Addendum may be published when additional information is necessary to clarify, explain, or supplement the published article without changing its fundamental findings.

All corrections will be clearly identified, linked to the original article, and incorporated into the scholarly record where technically possible.

7. Expression of Concern

The journal may publish an Expression of Concern when there are credible concerns regarding the reliability or integrity of a published article but the available evidence is inconclusive or an investigation has not yet reached a final conclusion.

An Expression of Concern may be considered when:

• credible allegations of research or publication misconduct remain unresolved;
• an institutional investigation is ongoing;
• available evidence suggests that findings may be unreliable but is not yet sufficient to justify retraction; or
• circumstances prevent the journal from reaching a sufficiently reliable conclusion within a reasonable period.

An Expression of Concern is not itself a finding of misconduct. It serves to alert readers to a significant unresolved concern while an appropriate assessment or investigation is ongoing.

8. Article Removal

In exceptional and limited circumstances, the journal may consider removing the full text of a published article from its online platform.

Removal may be considered when:

• the article is clearly defamatory;
• the article infringes the legal rights of another party;
• the article is subject to a valid court order or other applicable legal requirement; or
• continued public access to the full text creates a serious and demonstrable risk of harm.

Article removal will not normally be used simply because an article has been retracted.

When removal is legally or otherwise necessary, the journal will retain the article's bibliographic metadata, including the title, authors, publication information, and DOI where applicable. An appropriate notice will explain that the full text has been removed and, where appropriate, provide information about the reason for removal.

9. Article Replacement

In exceptional circumstances, an article containing serious errors may be retracted and replaced with a corrected version when this approach is considered necessary to preserve an accurate scholarly record.

Article replacement will be undertaken only when the correction cannot adequately address the problem through a conventional correction notice.

The original article should not simply be deleted or overwritten. Instead:

• the original article will remain identifiable as part of the publication history;
• a retraction notice will clearly identify the original article;
• the corrected version will be clearly identified as a replacement or corrected version;
• the original and corrected versions will be linked to each other wherever technically possible; and
• the publication history will explain the relationship between the original and corrected versions.

This approach ensures transparency and allows readers to understand the history of the publication. COPE guidance recommends retaining and linking the original record rather than simply removing or replacing it without an appropriate publication history.

10. Copyright and Retraction

Retention of copyright by an author does not give the author an independent right to unilaterally remove or retract a published article from the journal.

Decisions concerning correction, retraction, removal, or replacement are made in accordance with the journal's editorial policies and the need to maintain the integrity and transparency of the scholarly record.

11. Transparency of Editorial Action

Parewa Saraq will make reasonable efforts to ensure that corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions are clearly identifiable and linked to the relevant published article.

Editorial notices will provide sufficient information for readers to understand:

• which article is affected;
• what editorial action has been taken;
• the reason for the action; and
• the relationship between the notice and the original publication.

Editorial notices will be written objectively and factually and will avoid unsupported or defamatory statements.

12. Commitment to the Scholarly Record

Parewa Saraq is committed to correcting the scholarly record when reliable evidence demonstrates that an article requires editorial action.

The journal will seek to balance fairness to authors with its responsibility to readers and the wider scholarly community. Decisions concerning corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, removals, and replacements will be made on the basis of appropriate evidence and established publication-ethics principles.

The journal will periodically review this policy to ensure alignment with recognized international standards of scholarly publishing and relevant COPE guidance.