Ethics Policy

Publication Ethics Policy and Declaration of Improper Publication Procedures

 

This Journal (Journal) is committed to ethics and quality in publication. We support standards of ethical behavior expected of all parties involved in publishing our journal: the author, the journal editor, the reviewers, and the Editor. We do not tolerate plagiarism or any other unethical behavior.

 

Duties of Editors:

 

  • Publication Decision: The journal editor is responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal should be published. The Editor is guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and is in strict compliance with the legal requirements regarding defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The Editor may consult with the editorial board or contributors when making decisions.

 

  • Fairness Rules: The Editor must evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality, or political philosophy.

 

  • Confidentiality: The Editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to any other person except the author himself, reviewers, potential contributors, other editorial advisors, and the Editor, as applicable.

 

  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: The Editor should not use unpublished information in his or her research without the author's express written consent. The Editor should refrain from reviewing manuscripts in which he or she has a conflict of interest resulting from competitive or collaborative relationships or any other type of relationship or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions linked/connected to the articles.

 

  • Participation and cooperation in investigations: The Editor should take reasonable responsive measures when ethical complaints have been raised regarding a submitted manuscript or published article.

 

Reviewers’ Duties:

 

  • Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the Editor in making editorial decisions and, through editorial communications with the author, may also assist the author in improving the article.

 

  • Timeliness: Any selected referee who does not feel qualified to evaluate the research reported in a manuscript or knows that prompt review will be impossible should notify the Editor and excuse himself or herself from the review process.

 

  • Confidentiality: All manuscripts reviewed must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others.

 

  • Standards of objectivity: Reviews must be conducted objectively, and reviewers must express their opinions clearly and with supporting arguments.

 

  • Source Acknowledgement: Peer reviewers must identify relevant published works that the authors have not cited. The reviewer must also draw the Editor's attention to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript in question and any other published document they know personally.

 

  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be confidential and not used for personal gain. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts with a conflict of interest resulting from competitive or collaborative relationships or any other type of relationship or connections with any authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions linked/connected to the articles.

 

Authors’ Duties:

 

  • Standards of Reporting: Authors of original research reports must present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective analysis of its significance. The paper must also accurately present underlying data. A paper must contain sufficient detail and references to enable others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or intentionally inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

 

  • Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original. If they have used other authors' work and/or words, these must be properly cited or quoted. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

 

  • Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publications: An author should not generally publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously and/or publishing the same paper in different journals constitutes unacceptable publishing behavior.

 

  • Acknowledgement of Sources: Appropriate acknowledgment of the work of others should always be made. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the work reported. Information obtained in private, such as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, should not be used or reported without the explicit written permission of the source. Information obtained during confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, should not be used without the author's explicit written consent of the work involved in such services.

 

  • Authorship of the Article: Authorship should be limited to those who have contributed significantly to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project should also be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the article and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication.

 

  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors must disclose in their manuscripts any financial or substantive/material conflicts of interest that could potentially influence the results or interpretations in their manuscripts. They must also disclose all sources of financial support for the project.

 

  • Fundamental errors in published works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his or her own published work, the author must immediately notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the Editor to retract or correct the article.

 

Publisher's Duties

 

We ensure that advertising, reprint, or other commercial revenue does not impact or influence editorial decisions.

 

Our articles are peer-reviewed to ensure the quality of scientific publications, and we also use CrossCheck (CrossRef's plagiarism detection software).

 

* This Ethics Policy is based on recommendations from Elsevier and COPE's Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors

 

* This statement is based on Elsevier recommendations and COPE's Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors