Publication ethics

Author Responsibilities

  • Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their work is original and must properly acknowledge and cite sources when using others' work or ideas. Plagiarism is a serious violation of publishing ethics.

  • Copyright and Contribution Rights: Copyright should be attributed to those who have made significant contributions to the research. All listed authors must have been fully involved in the work and be accountable to the public for its content.

  • Data Integrity: Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the data presented in their manuscript. Data manipulation or fabrication is unacceptable.

  • Conflict of Interest: Authors should disclose any financial or personal relationships that could be seen as potential conflicts of interest and could influence the publication process.

  • Approval: If human subjects are involved, authors must obtain informed consent, and the research must be conducted ethically according to relevant guidelines and regulations.

  • Duplicate Publication or Redundancy: Authors should not submit the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously and should avoid redundant publication (publishing the same work in multiple places without appropriate citations).

Editor Responsibilities

  • Fair and Objective Handling: Editors should evaluate manuscripts based on their academic quality, free from discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or the author's affiliation.

  • Confidentiality: Editors must keep confidential all information related to submitted manuscripts. They should not disclose information about a manuscript or its review process.

  • Conflict of Interest: Editors should recuse themselves from the review process if they have a conflict of interest with the authors. Decisions regarding manuscript acceptance or rejection should be based on the quality of the manuscript.

  • Publishing Decisions: Editorial decisions should be based on the importance, originality, clarity, and relevance of the manuscript to the journal’s scope, as well as the feedback from peer reviewers. Decisions should not be influenced by commercial interests or personal relationships.

  • Addressing Ethical Issues: Editors should be vigilant for potential ethical issues, such as plagiarism or data fabrication, and take appropriate action when necessary, including retracting or correcting published papers.

Reviewer Responsibilities

  • Confidentiality: Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript content and their review comments. They should not discuss the manuscript with others or use the information for personal gain.

  • Objectivity: Reviewers should provide unbiased, constructive, and objective feedback. Personal or institutional biases should not influence the review process.

  • Conflict of Interest: Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest, whether due to a competitive, collaborative, or other relationship with the authors.

  • Timeliness: Reviewers should complete their reviews within the given time frame. If unable to meet the deadline, they should inform the editor in a timely manner.