Publishing Ethics

This journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines to handle cases of research and publication misconduct accordingly.

Ethical Guidelines for Authors

Authors must:
• ensure their work is original and written by them.
• obtain permission to reuse any previously published content, including figures, tables, or any other copyrighted material, and also ensure that their work does not infringe on any rights of others, including privacy rights and intellectual property rights.
• ensure their work has not been previously published in the peer-reviewed literature.
• disclose all relationships or interests that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. 
• be aware that their work, simultaneously submitted to more than one journal, is not permitted.
• uphold authorship of the paper is accurately represented.
• do not engage in unethical practices, such as plagiarism, data or figure manipulation, knowingly provide incorrect information, and fraud. 

Ethical Guidelines for Journal Editors

Journal editors should:
• strive to ensure that peer review in their journal is fair, unbiased, and timely.
• ensure that all published reports and reviews of research have been reviewed by suitably qualified reviewers. 
• make decisions to accept or reject a paper for publication should be based on the paper's importance, originality and clarity, and the study's validity and its relevance to the scope of the journal without interference from the journal owner/publisher or other third parties.
• require reviewers to disclose any potential competing interests before agreeing to review a submission.
• keep the peer-review process confidential, information or correspondence about a manuscript should not be shared with anyone outside of the peer-review process.

Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers must:
• only agree to review manuscripts for which they have the subject expertise required to carry out a proper assessment and which they can assess in a timely manner.
• respect the confidentiality of peer review and not reveal any details of a manuscript or its review, during or after the peer-review process, beyond those that are released by the journal.
• not use information obtained during the peer-review process for their own or any other person's or organization's advantage, or to disadvantage or discredit others.
• declare all potential conflicting interests, seeking advice from the journal if they are unsure whether something constitutes a relevant interest.
• not allow their reviews to be influenced by the origins of a manuscript, by the nationality, religious or political beliefs, gender, or other characteristics of the authors, or by commercial considerations.
• be objective and constructive in their reviews, refraining from being hostile or inflammatory and from making libelous or derogatory personal comments.
• acknowledge that peer review is largely a reciprocal endeavor and undertake to carry out their fair share of reviewing in a timely manner.
• provide journals with personal and professional information that is accurate and a true representation of their expertise.
• recognize that impersonation of another individual during the review process is considered serious misconduct.

Allegations of Misconduct

Plagiarism and Data Fabrication

The Office of Research Integrity described plagiarism as "theft or misappropriation of intellectual property and the substantial unattributed textual copying of another's work." It may be intentional or unintentional. Attribution is crucial. Proper credit is necessary and mandatory. Duplicate publication occurs when an author reuses substantial parts of their own published work without providing the appropriate references.

Other unethical behaviors, like the fabrication of data and the manipulation of visual objects, are strictly not allowed. The authors must provide a correct account of their research, especially as regards data generation, presentation, analysis, and interpretation.

Allegations should be sent via email to the Editor-in-Chief. If the allegation concerns the Editor-in-Chief, it should instead be submitted via email to the Journal Editorial Office, addressed to the Managing Editor. Upon receiving an allegation of research misconduct, we will immediately assess the allegation to determine whether the allegation is sufficiently credible and specific so that potential evidence of research misconduct may be identified. The investigation should, in the first instance, be handled by the Editor-in-Chief. If the Editor-in-Chief is the subject of the allegations, the Managing Editor will send the relevant materials to a designated Editorial Board Member. If possible, a definitive response will be made within 4 weeks. If this is not possible, an interim response will be given within 4 weeks.

Recommended reading:

• COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics — Plagiarism in a submitted manuscript — English. https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.1

• COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics — Redundant (duplicate) publication in a published article — English. https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.13

• COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics — Fabricated data in a submitted manuscript — English. https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.3

• COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics — Fabricated data in a published article — English. https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.4

• COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics — Reviewer suspected to have appropriated an author’s ideas or data — English. https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.5

• COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics — Suspected ethical problem in a submitted manuscript — English. https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.19

• COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics — Responding to whistleblowers when concerns are raised directly — English. https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.25

Appeals

Authors may appeal if they feel that the decision to reject was based on: i) a major misunderstanding over a technical aspect of the manuscript; or ii) a failure to understand the scientific advance shown by the manuscript. Appeals requesting a second opinion without sufficient justification will not be considered. To lodge an appeal, please contact the Journal Editorial Office by Email, quoting your manuscript number. Appeals will only be considered by the original submitting author.

Human or Animal Subjects Research

The journal does not accept research involving human or animal experiments.