Duties of Authors

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that their work is original and has not been published elsewhere. Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Plagiarism in any form, including self-plagiarism, is unacceptable.

Authorship Criteria

All individuals who have made a significant contribution to the research should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial or other conflicts of interest that could influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support should be disclosed.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review and should be prepared to provide public access to such data if possible.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors should not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently. Submitting the same paper to multiple journals constitutes unethical publishing behavior.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must properly cite and acknowledge the work of others.

Duties of Editors

Fair Play

Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts solely on their academic merit (importance, originality, study's validity, and clarity) and their relevance to the journal's scope, without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

Confidentiality

The editor must ensure that information regarding manuscripts is kept confidential. Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, or the publisher.

Conflicts of Interest

Editors should recuse themselves from processing manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

Publication Decisions

The editor is responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal should be published, guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.

Investigation of Misconduct

Editors must take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised regarding a submitted or published manuscript. They will follow COPE's flowcharts when investigating suspected ethical breaches.

Duties of Reviewers

Confidentiality

Reviewers must treat the manuscript as confidential and must not use the information obtained during the peer-review process for personal advantage.

Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively, and reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments. Any personal criticism of the author is inappropriate.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. They should also inform the editor of any substantial similarity between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

Duties of the Publisher

Maintaining Editorial Independence

The publisher must ensure that the autonomy of editorial decisions is maintained and is not influenced by commercial interests, such as advertising or reprint revenue.

Ethical Oversight

The publisher, in collaboration with editors, takes all appropriate measures to ensure the ethical standards of publication are upheld, including handling potential conflicts of interest, responding to allegations of misconduct, and implementing procedures to manage any breaches of the journal's policies.

Corrections and Retractions

The publisher and editors will promptly publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed, according to the COPE guidelines.

Misconduct and Investigation

The journal takes all forms of ethical misconduct seriously. Suspected cases of research or publication misconduct, including falsification, fabrication, plagiarism, redundant publication, or failure to declare conflicts of interest, will be investigated following COPE's recommended procedures. If a breach is confirmed, the journal will take corrective action, which may include retracting the article or notifying the relevant authorities.