Ethics Policy

Responsibilities of Editors:

Publication Decision: The journal editor is responsible for deciding which submitted articles will be published. The editor is guided by the journal's editorial committee policies and is limited by legal requirements such as defamation, copyright violations, and plagiarism. The editor may consult with the editorial committee or reviewers before making a decision.

Fair Treatment: The editor should evaluate manuscripts based on their intellectual content, without considering factors such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnicity, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality: The editor and any member of the editorial team should keep the information about a submitted manuscript confidential and share it only with the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial consultants, or as appropriate.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: The editor should not use unpublished information for their own research without the author's express written consent. The editor should refrain from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the article.

Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations: The editor should take reasonable and responsive actions when ethical complaints regarding a submitted manuscript or published article are raised.

 

Responsibilities of Reviewers:

Contribution to Editorial Decision: Peer review helps the editor make editorial decisions and, through editorial communication with the author, can also help improve the article.

Punctuality: Any reviewer who feels inadequate to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that they will not be able to review it promptly should notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.

Confidentiality: Any manuscript received for review should be treated as a confidential document and should not be shared or discussed with others.

Objectivity in Reviews: Reviews should be objective, with reviewers expressing their opinions clearly and supporting them with arguments.

Recognition of Sources: Peer reviewers should identify relevant works that were not cited by the authors. The reviewer should also bring to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript in consideration and any other article that they are personally aware of.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Privileged information or ideas obtained through the peer review process should be kept confidential and not used for personal gain. Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions involved.

 

Responsibilities of Authors:

Reporting Standards: Authors of original research reports should present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. The underlying data should be accurately represented in the article, and the article should contain sufficient details and references to allow others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or deliberately inaccurate statements are considered unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if they have used others' work and/or words, it should be appropriately cited. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical editorial behavior and is unacceptable.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication: An author should not, in general, submit manuscripts describing essentially the same research to more than one journal or publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously and/or publishing the same article in different journals constitutes unethical editorial behavior and is unacceptable.

Recognition of Sources: Proper acknowledgment of others' work should always be given. Authors should cite publications that have influenced the work reported. Privately obtained information, such as in conversations, correspondence, or discussions with third parties, should not be used or reported without explicit written permission from the source. Information obtained during confidential services, such as manuscript reviews or grant applications, should not be used without the explicit written permission of the author involved in those services.

Authorship of the Article: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study reported. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as coauthors. When others have participated in substantial aspects of the research project, they should be recognized or listed as contributors. The corresponding author must ensure that all appropriate coauthors are included in the article and that none of the coauthors are inappropriate, and that all coauthors have seen and approved the final version of the article and agree with its submission for publication.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors should disclose any financial or other substantial conflict of interest that may be perceived to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's responsibility to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the article.

 

Responsibilities of the Publisher:

We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprints, or any other commercial revenue does not impact or influence editorial decisions.