Publication Ethics & Policies
The publisher and editorial team should formally adopt, publish, and implement these policies before accepting submissions.
Originality and plagiarism
Submissions must be original, properly cited, and not duplicate-published. Allegations of misconduct should be assessed fairly and documented.
Authorship
All listed authors should meet authorship criteria and approve the final manuscript. Authorship changes require agreement of the affected authors.
Conflicts of interest
Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose relevant financial or non-financial competing interests.
Corrections and retractions
Maintain a documented process for corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, complaints, and appeals.
Research ethics
Relevant studies must include applicable ethics approvals, consent, permissions, and data statements.
Copyright and licensing
State copyright ownership and the exact reuse licence for every published article. Do not imply a licence that has not been adopted.
Publication fees
Clearly state all fees or explicitly state that there are none. Disclose any charges before submission.
Data and reproducibility
Encourage accurate reporting, appropriate data availability statements, and reproducible methods where relevant.
Advertising and sponsorship
Disclose commercial support and ensure it does not influence editorial decisions.
Similarity Screening Policy
The journal’s proposed general threshold is an overall similarity index of less than or equal to 20%. Manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism-detection software before review and again when necessary.
Important interpretation: a similarity score is not identical to a finding of plagiarism. Editors should examine the report, sources, context, citations, reference lists, standard terminology, and any properly quoted or attributed text. A score at or below 20% does not excuse unattributed copying, duplicate publication, or inappropriate text reuse. A score above 20% should be assessed in context and may result in a request for revision, further explanation, or rejection depending on the nature and extent of overlap.
Editorial Independence and Fair Handling
Decisions should be based on scholarly merit and journal scope, not personal, institutional, or commercial considerations. Suspected misconduct should be handled confidentially, consistently, and with an opportunity for authors to respond where appropriate.