Publication Ethics

• Originality and attribution: Submissions must be original, not previously published in any language and not under consideration elsewhere. Use of others’ work must be properly cited and referenced.
• Authorship: Only individuals who made substantial intellectual contributions should be listed as authors. Contributor roles should be transparent; guest, gift, or ghost authorship is unacceptable.
• Conflicts of interest: All actual or potential conflicts (financial, institutional, or personal) must be disclosed at submission.
• Data transparency: Authors may be asked to provide raw data, analysis code, ethical approvals, or other documentation for editorial/reviewer verification. Authors should be prepared to supply these promptly.
• Compliance: Research involving human participants, animals, sensitive data, or identifiable information must include evidence of prior ethics approval and informed consent, as applicable.
• Corrections and retractions: If an error or ethical concern is identified at any stage (submission, review, early view, post-publication), authors must promptly cooperate with the editor on corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions.
• Concurrent/duplicate submission: Concurrent submissions to multiple journals and duplicate publication are prohibited.
• Post-submission authorship changes: Requests to add/remove/reorder authors after review begins are generally not permitted; exceptional cases require written justification and approval by the editor, with consent from all authors.

• Serve the needs of readers and authors and continuously improve the journal.
• Ensure fair, timely, and unbiased editorial decisions based on scholarly merit.
• Safeguard academic integrity; uphold intellectual property rights and ethical standards.
• Manage peer review transparently; address needed corrections, clarifications, or retractions.
• Avoid conflicts of interest and recuse themselves where appropriate.
• Protect the confidentiality of submissions and the anonymity of reviewers in double-blind peer review.

• Accept reviews only within their area of expertise and complete them on time.
• Evaluate manuscripts impartially and confidentially; do not share or use privileged information for personal advantage.
• Declare conflicts of interest to the editor and decline review where relevant.
• Focus critique on scholarly content; avoid personal remarks or discriminatory language.
• Recommend specific, constructive feedback that helps authors improve their work.
• Delete/destroy manuscript files after completing the review, retaining no copies.
• Review process: All communication between reviewers and authors occurs via the journal’s online system. Reviewer identities remain confidential unless explicit consent is obtained.

• Guarantees independent editorial decision-making; the Editor-in-Chief has final authority over editorial content.
• Protects the intellectual property and records of all published content.
• Supports actions against misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication/falsification, image manipulation, redundant publication, and unethical research.
• Provides the resources necessary to maintain best practices in publication ethics.

• No authorship by AI: AI systems/tools cannot be listed as authors. Human authors bear full responsibility for all content, including text, data, figures, and references, regardless of tool use.
• Mandatory disclosure: Any substantive use of generative AI or automated tools (e.g., drafting, paraphrasing, translation beyond routine grammar checks; generating figures/tables/code; data analysis/modeling; image manipulation) must be clearly disclosed in the manuscript (e.g., Methods/Acknowledgments), specifying the tool name, provider, version/model, and purpose of use.
• Accountability and verification: Authors must verify the accuracy, originality, permissions, and citation completeness of AI-assisted content. Hallucinated references, fabricated data/results, or undisclosed AI-generated text/graphics constitute misconduct.
• Data protection: Do not upload confidential, proprietary, or personal/identifiable data to public AI tools without explicit consent and legal/ethical clearance. Authors are responsible for compliance with data protection laws and institutional policies.
• Image and media integrity: AI-generated or AI-enhanced visuals must be labeled as such in the figure caption and described in Methods. Manipulation that misleads or alters scientific meaning is prohibited.
• Permitted language editing: Use of tools for language editing/grammar/formatting is allowed and need not be disclosed if limited to superficial edits without altering the scientific content. Substantive rewriting requires disclosure as above.

• Confidentiality first: Editors and reviewers must not upload any part of a submitted manuscript (including supplementary files) to public AI tools. If institutional, secure AI tools are used (e.g., to check clarity or support triage), they must comply with confidentiality and data-security requirements.
• Human judgment: Editorial and peer-review decisions are made by humans. AI may assist (e.g., language checks, workflow triage), but it does not replace editorial judgment.
• Screening: The journal may use AI-assisted utilities for similarity checks, reference validation, image integrity screening, or statistical anomaly detection. Any flags are screening indicators, not determinations; final assessments are made by editors.

Reporting Ethical Concerns