If an author requests that a submission be withdrawn while it is being processed in Editorial Manager (EM), the manuscript’s record may be closed by giving it the "Final Disposition" of 'Withdrawn' as described below. Editors may also choose to Withdraw submissions that are inappropriate for the journal, or duplicate submissions, rather than rejecting these submissions.

Permission to set Final Disposition is usually only enabled for the Editorial Office, Managing Editor, Editor-in-Chief, etc.

When an author Declines to Revise through EM, journals can be configured to automatically set Final Disposition Withdrawn after so many days. When that is not the case, usually the Editorial Office will monitor and withdraw declined revisions after a reasonable time, contact your Journal Manager or other Editorial Office contact with any questions about Decline to Revise policy for your journal.

How

1. Locate the submission in your main menu or via 'Search Submissions'.
2. Check the status.

   • If it is with author, for example Sent Back to Author or Under Revision, the author needs to take action to withdraw. See How can I withdraw my submission from EM?
3. Check if you have the link 'Set Final Disposition' (do not click it yet).

   • If you do not have that link, use the Send Email link to contact your Journal Manager, or other Editorial Office contact, and customize the email to request the submission be withdrawn. They should take care of any reviewer uninvites before completing the withdrawal.

You may have a link to Remove Submission if it has not yet been assigned to an editor. This is irreversible and will delete the history and files entirely. Use only when the submission was clearly made in error and should be fully deleted without chance of recovery.

4. If you do have the Set Final Disposition action, first check if any pending reviewers need to be uninvited. Sending a custom uninvite letter is recommended for reviewer goodwill, otherwise the reviewers will not know why they have been uninvited.
To uninvite pending reviewers
5. After active reviewers have been uninvited, click the 'Return to…' link at the top left of the Reviewer Selection Summary screen, and click 'Set Final Disposition' for the submission.
6. Select 'Withdrawn' in the drop-down option.
7. Click 'Proceed'.

The submission will be withdrawn.

• The author will receive an automated notice of the withdrawal (if so configured), and will be able to view the submission in their Author Main Menu.
• The withdrawn submission can be found on your main menu under Submissions with Final Disposition / Withdrawn.
• The history and correspondence will remain visible, but source files will be removed after the retention period.
• Withdrawn submissions can be reopened, see How does an Editor Initiate Rebuttal to reopen a submission?