Publication Ethics

1. Ethical Guidelines for Authors

• Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their work is original and free from plagiarism. Proper citation of sources is required, and any form of plagiarism is strictly prohibited.
• Acknowledgment of Sources: Authors must properly acknowledge the work of others. Any information derived from other works must be appropriately cited.
• Authorship: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All significant contributors should be listed as co-authors, and others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project should be acknowledged.
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
• Data Access and Retention: Authors should be prepared to provide raw data related to their manuscript for editorial review and must retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
• Reporting Standards: Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
• Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication: Authors should not generally publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

2. Ethical Guidelines for Editors

• Publication Decisions: The editor is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal should be published. The decision should be based on the manuscript's importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope.
• Fair Play: The editor must ensure that each manuscript is evaluated on its intellectual content without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
• Confidentiality: The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Editors must not use unpublished information in their own research without the express written consent of the author. Editors should recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

3. Ethical Guidelines for Reviewers

• Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and, through the editorial communications with the author, may also assist the author in improving the paper.
• Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.
• Confidentiality: Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
• Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
• Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

4. Ethical Guidelines for the Publisher

• Handling of Unethical Publishing Behavior: In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, clarification, or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the affected work.
• Access to Journal Content: The publisher is committed to the permanent availability and preservation of scholarly research and ensures accessibility by partnering with organizations and maintaining its own digital archive.