Withdrawal Policy

Civil Engineering Science and Technology (CEST) recognizes that, under exceptional circumstances, authors or the editorial office may request the withdrawal of a manuscript before publication. This policy establishes the conditions and procedures governing manuscript withdrawal while protecting the integrity and efficiency of the editorial process. A manuscript may only be withdrawn before it has been formally published online. Once an article has been published, any post-publication changes will be handled in accordance with the journal's Corrections Policy or Retraction Policy, as appropriate.

Author-Initiated Withdrawal

Authors may request the withdrawal of a manuscript before publication by submitting a formal written request to the editorial office. The request should include:

  • The manuscript title and manuscript ID.
  • A clear explanation for the withdrawal request.
  • Confirmation from the Corresponding Author.
  • Written agreement from all co-authors where applicable.

The editorial office reserves the right to request additional information before making a decision.

Acceptable Reasons for Withdrawal

Examples of acceptable reasons include:

  • Discovery of significant errors before publication.
  • Unintentional duplicate submission.
  • Ethical concerns identified by the authors.
  • Serious methodological problems discovered after submission.
  • Institutional or legal issues preventing publication.
  • Other exceptional circumstances considered reasonable by the editorial office.

Withdrawal requests are evaluated individually and approval is not automatic.

Withdrawal During Peer Review

Authors are strongly discouraged from withdrawing manuscripts that are actively undergoing peer review without reasonable justification. Considerable editorial and reviewer resources are invested during the review process, and unnecessary withdrawals may negatively affect the efficiency of the journal. The editorial office may request clarification before approving withdrawal during peer review.

Withdrawal After Acceptance

Requests to withdraw an accepted manuscript are considered only under exceptional circumstances. Because accepted manuscripts have already undergone editorial assessment, peer review, and production planning, withdrawal at this stage should be supported by compelling reasons. Where production work has already commenced, the editorial office may postpone approval of the withdrawal until the editorial assessment has been completed.

Editorial Withdrawal

The editorial office may withdraw a manuscript before publication when:

  • Evidence of publication misconduct is identified.
  • Serious ethical concerns are confirmed.
  • Plagiarism or duplicate submission is detected.
  • Required author documentation is not provided.
  • Authors fail to respond to editorial communications for an extended period.
  • The manuscript no longer satisfies the journal's editorial or ethical requirements.

Such withdrawals are intended to preserve the integrity of the editorial process and the scholarly record.

Withdrawal During Production

If a withdrawal request is received after the manuscript has entered copyediting, layout editing, or proofreading, the editorial office will assess whether the production process can reasonably be discontinued. Authors may be requested to provide additional justification before withdrawal is approved. 

Withdrawal and Editorial Records

Withdrawn manuscripts remain part of the journal's confidential editorial records. The manuscript will not be published, assigned to an issue, or registered with a DOI if the withdrawal is approved before publication. Editorial records related to the submission are retained for administrative and publication integrity purposes.

Resubmission

A withdrawn manuscript may only be submitted again to CEST as a new submission if the reasons for withdrawal have been adequately addressed. The editorial office reserves the right to determine whether a resubmitted manuscript will undergo a new editorial assessment and peer review process.

Policy Compliance

By submitting a manuscript to CEST, authors acknowledge that manuscript withdrawal is intended for exceptional circumstances and should not be used as an alternative to completing the editorial and peer review process. The journal expects authors to make submission decisions responsibly and to cooperate fully with the editorial office throughout the publication process.

Withdrawal Charges

To ensure the sustainability and integrity of the editorial and publication process, CEST may apply a Withdrawal Charge when a manuscript is withdrawn after substantial editorial, peer review, or production resources have been invested. 

The Withdrawal Charge is intended solely to recover the costs associated with editorial handling, peer review management, production preparation, metadata administration, and publication services already performed by the journal. It is not intended as a penalty, but rather as reimbursement for completed editorial and publishing activities.

Withdrawal Before Acceptance

Authors may request withdrawal before the manuscript is formally accepted without incurring any Withdrawal Charge, provided that the manuscript has not yet entered the production stage and no exceptional editorial circumstances apply. The editorial office reserves the right to review each request individually.

Withdrawal After Acceptance

If the corresponding author requests withdrawal after the manuscript has been formally accepted, the authors will be required to pay a Withdrawal Charge equivalent to 100% of the applicable Article Processing Charge (APC).

This charge reflects the editorial resources already invested, including but not limited to:

  • Editorial assessment;
  • Peer review coordination;
  • Editorial decision-making;
  • Copyediting preparation;
  • Production planning;
  • Administrative processing;
  • DOI registration preparation; and
  • Publication scheduling.

The withdrawal process will only be finalized after all administrative requirements have been completed.

Withdrawal After Publication

Once an article has been published online, assigned to an issue, or its DOI has been activated, it becomes part of the permanent scholarly record. Accordingly, published articles cannot be withdrawn.  Any request initiated by the authors after publication will instead be evaluated under the journal's Retraction Policy.

Where such a request is approved and is not attributable to editorial error or confirmed publication misconduct, the authors will be required to pay an Editorial Record Management Charge equivalent to two (2) times the applicable Article Processing Charge (APC).

This charge supports the additional work associated with:

  • Editorial investigation;
  • Publisher review;
  • Metadata updates;
  • Crossref DOI maintenance;
  • Indexing database notifications;
  • Publication of a Retraction Notice;
  • Permanent maintenance of the scholarly record; and
  • Administrative processing.

Payment of this charge does not guarantee approval of the requested action. The final decision remains entirely at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.

Exceptions

No Withdrawal Charge or Editorial Record Management Charge will be imposed when the withdrawal or post-publication action results from:

  • Editorial or production errors attributable to CEST;
  • Technical publishing errors introduced by the journal;
  • Editorial decisions resulting from confirmed publication misconduct;
  • Legal requirements;
  • Force majeure; or
  • Other exceptional circumstances approved by the Editor-in-Chief.

Administrative Responsibility

The Corresponding Author is responsible for communicating the withdrawal request on behalf of all co-authors and for ensuring that every author has agreed to the withdrawal. Where required, the Editorial Office may request written confirmation from all listed authors before processing the request.

Responsible Submission

CEST encourages authors to submit manuscripts only after ensuring that all co-authors have approved the submission, that the manuscript is ready for peer review, and that there is a genuine intention to publish the work in the journal. Repeated withdrawals without reasonable justification may be considered an abuse of the editorial process. In such cases, the Editorial Office reserves the right to decline future submissions from the responsible author(s) for a period determined by the Editor-in-Chief.