The publication of the thesis titled “A brief history of human evolution: challenging Darwin’s claim” by Dr. Sarah Umer, on the website of the International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology (IJAE) in October 2018, was an error of publication process.

IJAE follows a strict three-round process of review and editing. All manuscripts must go through peer review from at least two scholars in the relevant field. If accepted, the author is given an opportunity to respond to the peer reviews and should return a revised manuscript. Furthermore, the manuscript must undergo the process of editing before publication. In accordance with the regulations of publication process, any manuscript lacking two or more peer reviews cannot be put into production. Unfortunately, the above-mentioned thesis, without having been subject to complete peer review and editing processes, was published online in its original version. Therefore, its publication was in error, violating review and editing regulations and publishing procedures. As such, the IJAE editorial office offers its heartfelt apologies to the author and readers as well, and will further improve the relevant regulations and procedures to avoid similar occurrences in the future.

Prior to the erroneous publication, the original manuscript had neither been approved by peer reviewers nor been properly edited. As of Jan.3rd, 2019, peer reviews from three prominent anthropologists were received, two of which made clear that the thesis would not be suitable for publication, and one which emphasized that revision should be needed for the paper to be accepted. Hence, the IJAE editorial office would hereby like to make the following announcement:

Firstly, the thesis “A brief history of human evolution: challenging Darwin’s claim” published online in the IJAE website on Oct.29th, 2018 will be retracted.

Secondly, institutions that collect relevant data and references are advised to promptly delete the digital version of the above-mentioned thesis. IJAE bears no responsibility for the future publication of this thesis.

Thirdly, the editorial office extends its warm gratitude to the author, peer review scholars, and our readers for their support and assistance. We sincerely hope IJAE will still have your attention and support in the future.

Jan.4th 2019

The editorial office of International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology