The journal expects honest, transparent and responsible conduct from authors, reviewers, editors and the publisher.
Author Responsibilities
Authors must present original work, report methods and results accurately, acknowledge sources, disclose relevant conflicts and funding, obtain required ethical approval or consent, and correct significant errors discovered after submission or publication.
Reviewer Responsibilities
Reviewers must treat manuscripts as confidential, provide objective and constructive assessments, disclose conflicts of interest and avoid using unpublished material for personal advantage. Reviewer recommendations inform but do not replace the editor’s decision.
Editorial Responsibilities
Editors should make decisions based on scholarly merit, scope, integrity and reviewer evidence without inappropriate discrimination or commercial influence. Conflicts of interest must be managed, and confidential manuscript information must be protected.
Research Misconduct
Suspected plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, authorship abuse, citation manipulation or unethical research may lead to investigation, rejection, correction, retraction or notification of relevant institutions, depending on the evidence and seriousness of the matter.
Corrections and Retractions
Material errors are addressed through transparent notices linked to the article record. Retraction is considered when findings are unreliable, misconduct is established or publication seriously violates ethical requirements. The scholarly record will not be altered silently.