Research Article
Issue Editorial Board
Hydrobiology, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Fisheries Management
Asst. Prof. Dr.
Enes Fatih PEHLİVAN
ORDU ÜNİVERSİTESİ, FATSA DENİZ BİLİMLERİ FAKÜLTESİ
0000-0003-4956-1098
0000-0003-4956-1098
Computational Methods in Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer (Incl. Computational Fluid Dynamics), Turbulent Flows, Marine Main and Auxiliaries , Mechanical Engineering
Prof. Dr.
Ertuğ DÜZGÜNEŞ
Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Deniz Bilimleri Fakültesi
0000-0001-5456-0925
0000-0001-5456-0925
Hydrobiology, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Fisheries Technologies
Sevim KÖSE
Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi
Post-Harvest Fisheries Technologies (Incl. Transportation)
Aquaculture and Fisheries, Post-Harvest Fisheries Technologies (Incl. Transportation)
Aquaculture and Fisheries
Aquaculture and Fisheries
Environmental Biogeochemistry, Water Quality and Water Pollution, Environmental Engineering
Prof. Dr.
Cemalettin ŞAHİN
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi, Su ürünleri Fakültesi
Fisheries Management, Fisheries Technologies
Prof. Dr.
Bülent VEREP
University of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Faculty of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Department of Basic Fisheries Sciences, Marine Biology
0000-0003-4238-8325
0000-0003-4238-8325
Aquaculture and Fisheries
Hydrobiology
Prof. Dr.
Ali Muzaffer FEYZİOĞLU
Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi, Deniz Bilimleri Fakültesi
0000-0003-1171-5493
0000-0003-1171-5493
Marine and Estuarine Ecology, Hydrobiology
Pisciculture
Aquaculture and Fisheries
Prof. Dr.
Hacer SAĞLAM
KARADENİZ TEKNİK ÜNİVERSİTESİ, SÜRMENE DENİZ BİLİMLERİ FAKÜLTESİ
Fisheries Technologies
Hydrobiology
Marine and Estuarine Ecology, Hydrobiology, Freshwater Ecology, Ecotoxicology, Conservation and Biodiversity, Biosecurity Science and Invasive Species Ecology, Fish Biology, Fisheries Management, Water Invertebrates
Prof. Dr.
Deniz ERGÜDEN
Iskenderun Technical University, Marine Sciences and Technology Faculty, Deparment of Marine Sciences, Iskenderun, Turkey
Biological Sciences, Ecology, Invasion Ecology, Animal Systematics and Taxonomy, Conservation and Biodiversity, Biosecurity Science and Invasive Species Ecology, Environmental Economy, Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences, Fisheries Technologies, Aquaculture and Fisheries (Other)
Prof.
Coşkun ERÜZ
Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi, Deniz Bilimleri Fakültesi, Deniz Bilimleri ve Teknolojisi Mühendisliği Bölümü, Çamburnu, Sürmene, Trabzon
Natural Resource Management, Water Quality and Water Pollution, Surface Water Quality Processes and Contaminated Sediment Assessment, Environmental Engineering, Tourism, Meteorology, Oceanography
Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Yılmaz ÇİFTCİ
Ordu Üniversitesi, Fatsa Deniz Bilimleri Fakültesi
Aquaculture and Fisheries
Prof. Dr.
Hüseyin SEVGİLİ
ISPARTA UYGULAMALI BİLİMLER ÜNİVERSİTESİ, EĞİRDİR SU ÜRÜNLERİ FAKÜLTESİ
Aquaculture and Fisheries, Shellfish Culture, Fisheries Technologies
Fisheries Management, Fisheries Technologies, Aquaculture and Fisheries (Other)
Prof. Dr.
Süleyman ÖZDEMİR
Sinop University, Fisheries Faculty, Department of Fishing and Processing Technology
0000-0002-2247-0703
0000-0002-2247-0703
Aquaculture and Fisheries, Fish Biology, Fisheries Management, Fisheries Technologies, Aquaculture and Fisheries (Other)
Aquaculture and Fisheries, Fish Biology, Fisheries Management, Water Invertebrates, Fisheries Technologies
Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Sibel ALAGÖZ ERGÜDEN
Cukurova University
Applied Computing, Hydrobiology
Hydrobiology, Animal Systematics and Taxonomy, Entomology, Invertebrate Biology
Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Seda KONTAŞ YALÇINKAYA
ORDU UNIVERSITY, FATSA FACULTY OF MARINE SCIENCES
0000-0002-6582-6722
0000-0002-6582-6722
Biological Sciences, Genotoxicity and Cytotoxicity, Hydrobiology, Aquatic Toxicology , Fisheries Management
Aim & Scope
This Journal publishes studies on Maritime and Marine Sciences subjects.
Our Journal covers various topics of marine technology production and development such as; aquatic ecosystems and populations, marine pollution, fisheries, aquaculture, genetics and biotechnology studies, geological, biological, physical and chemical oceanography studies, naval architecture and marine engineering subjects, offshore systems, underwater and coastal structures, renewable energy generation together with maritime transportation, maritime management and logistics, underwater archaeology and maritime history subjects.
Writing Rules
Page layout
A4 paper size should be used for the submissions with left, right, bottom margins of 2 cm and a top margin of 3 cm. The text should be both left and right justified and the vertical spacing should be 1 lines with no blank lines between paragraphs. Times New Roman fonts should be used in the whole document with a font size of 12 points.
Title of the Article
Title should be short, explanatory and the first letter of title should be written in capital letters the rest should be written in lowercase letters (12 points) with center alignment. If the language of the article is Turkish, Turkish title and the abstract should be written first and then followed by the English title and the abstract.
Authors
Initial(s) of the author(s)’s first name(s) should be written with capital letters and the rest should be written in lowercase letters, surname(s) should be written in capital letters. Author(s)’s name(s) should be written with center aligned text (12 points). Superscripted numbers (1, 2 ...) should be used following the author(s)'s name(s) to indicate the address(es). The responsible author should be indicated by an additional superscripted star symbol (*) following his/her name. Full address(es) of the author(s) should be written just below the author(s)’s name(s) in lowercase letters (10 points, center aligned), the responsible author's e-mail address should be footnoted (10 points). Author(s)’s name(s) should not include any academic titles. Turkish and English abstracts should be between 150 and 250 words.
Abstract and Keywords
Turkish and English abstracts should be between 150 and 250 words.
Keywords: Sample keyword 1, Sample keyword 2, Sample keyword 3, Sample keyword 4, … (Between 4 and 6 keywords should be given below the abstract. First letter of keywords must be written with capital and the others must be written in lowercase (12 points). Repetition of the title should be avoided in the keywords).
Section Titles
The main section titles in the text should be written in Times New Roman format, 12 point font, bold, with the title in all capital letters, aligned left, and numbered starting from the Introduction section. Subsection titles should be written in 12-point Times New Roman format, with only the first letters of the title words capitalized. There should be a space of 6 nk between the headers of the sub-sections. Decimal numbers should be separated by a dot, and there should be no comma in the thousands separator. For example, 45.2, 2036.4, 1598456.8 etc.
References to be cited in the text should be indicated as "(Author(s), Year) or Author(s), (Year)". In references with two or more authors, it should be used as (Author et al., Year). For example, Cihat et al., (2015) (Ahmet et al., 2020). When listing references, they should be done in alphabetical order.
The article should be composed of Abstract, Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussions and Conclusions main sections followed by References part (and additional Recommendations and Acknowledgements sections if necessary).
Representations such as photographs, pictures, drawings and graphics other than the table should be given as "Figures". Figures must be clear and suitable for offset printing technique. The minimum resolution of figures must be 300 dpi. The location of each table and figure in the text should be stated. All tables and figures should be numbered sequentially throughout the study (Table 1., Figure 1.). Figure and Table headers should be written in 12-points. The text in the table should be written as 10 points. Graphs and figures should be drawn taking into account page dimensions. Examples of the layout of figures and tables are as follows.
Sequence numbers and titles of figures should be written below the figure, and those of tables should be written above the table.
References
- Unpublished works such as; researches under preparation or submitted for publication, unpublished results or observations, information via personal communication, reports, lecture notes and seminars should not be referenced. An unpublished but printed thesis study can be used a reference.
- References part should have single line spacing and should be written in 10 points fonts.
Citation
References should be cited between “ ( ) ” in the text. Enumeration should follow the citation order an alphabetical sort.
a) Article:
Examples:
Abbey, L., Glover-Amengor, M., Atikpo, M.O., Atter, A., Toppe, J. (2017). Nutrient content of fish powder from low value fish and fish byproducts. Food Science and Nutrition 5(3): 374-379. doi:10.1002/fsn3.402.
Amaral, A.F.S. (2014). Pesticides and Asthma:Challenges for Epidemiology. Front Public Health 2(6): 1-3. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2014.00006.
Chen, J., Bian, W., Wan, Z., Yang, Z., Zheng, H., Wang, P. (2019). Identifying factors influencing total-loss marine accidents in the world: Analysis and evaluation based on ship types and sea regions. Ocean Engineering 191: 106495.
Di Pierro, G., O’Keeffe, M.B., Poyarkov, A., Lomolino, G., Richard, J., Gerald, F. (2014). Antioxidant activity of bovine casein hydrolysates produced by Ficus carica L.-derived proteinase. Food Chemistry 156: 305-311. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.01.080.
Haq, A., Webb, N.B., Whitfield, J.K., Howell, A.J., Barbour, B.C. (1973). Measurement of Sausage Emulsion Stability by Electrical Resistance. J. Food Sci. 38: 1124- 1127.
Khiari, Z., Rico, D., Martin-Diana, A.B., Barry-Ryan, C. (2015). Valorization of fish by-products: rheological, textural and microstructural properties of mackerel skin gelatins. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management 19(1): 180-191. doi: 10.1007/s10163-015-0399-2.
Lalasidis, G., Bostrom, S., Sjoberg, L.B. (1978). Low molecular weight enzymatic fish protein hydrolysates: Chemical composition and nutritive value. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 26(3): 751-756.
Teng, M., Zhang, H., Fu, Q., Lu, X., Chen, J., Wei, F. (2013). Irrigation-induced pollution of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in paddy field ecosystem of Liaohe River Plain, China. Chinese Science Bulletin 58: 1751-1759. doi: 10.1007/s11434-013-5815-1.
Tsaboula, A., Papadakis, E.N., Vryzas, Z., Kotopoulou, A., Kinyzikoglou, K., Papadopoulou-Mourkidou, E. (2019). Assessment and management of pesticide pollution at a river basin level part I: Aquatic ecotoxicological quality indices. Science of The Total Environment 653: 1597-1611. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.240.
Wang, H., Liu, Z., Wang, X., Graham, T., Wang, J. (2021). An analysis of factors affecting the severity of marine accidents. Reliability Engineering & System Safety 210: 107513.
Zhang, S., Pedersen, P.T., Villavicencio, R. (2019). Probability of ship collision and grounding. Probability and Mechanics of Ship Collision and Grounding 1–61. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-815022-1.00001-3.
Zhang, Y., Sun, X., Chen, J., Cheng, C. (2021). Spatial patterns and characteristics of global maritime accidents. Reliability Engineering & System Safety 206: 107310.
b) Book:
Examples:
Maden, S. (2006). Diferansiyel Denklemler, Birinci baskı, s. 358, Ankara, Sözkesen Matbaacılık.
Gökalp, H.Y., Kaya, M., Zorba, Ö. (1999). Et Ürünleri İşleme Mühendisliği, 3. Baskı, Erzurum, Atatürk Üniversitesi Yayın No: 786.
Uğur, M.B., Bostan, K., Aksu H. (1998). Et ve Et Ürünleri Teknolojisi Ders Notları, İstanbul, İstanbul Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Yayını.
Kence, A., Bilgin C.C. (1996). Türkiye Omurgalılar Tür Listesi, s. 183, Ankara, Nurol Matbaacılık.
Polat, N., Uğurlu, S. (2011). Samsun İli Tatlı Su Balık Faunası, s. 288, Samsun, Ceylan Ofset.
c) Book Section:
Examples:
Nelson D.W., Sommers, L.E. (1982). Organic Matter. In: “Methods of Soil Analysis Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties 2nd Ed.” (Editors: A.L. Page, R.H, Miller, D.R. Keeney), Agronomy. No: 9, pp. 574-579, Madison, Wisconsin.
Varnam, A.H., Sutherland, J.P. (1995). Fermented sausages. In: “Meat and Meat Products: Technology, Chemistry and Microbiology”, Chapman & Hall, pp. 314-344, London.
Sgarbieri, V.C. (1987). Alimentaçäo e nutriçäo: fator de saúde e desenvolvimento. In: “Alimentaçäo e nutriçäo: fator de saúde e desenvolvimento”, pp. 387-387.
d) Conference/Symposium Proceedings:
Examples:
Balık, İ., Çubuk, H. (2001). Uluabat (Apolyont) Gölü ndeki kızılgöz (Rutilus L. 1758) ve tahta balığı (Blicca björkna L., 1758) populasyonlarının büyüklük dağılımları ve kondisyon faktörleri, XI. Ulusal Su Ürünleri Sempozyumu, Cilt I, 384-392, Hatay.
Yeğen, V., Balık, S., Bostan, H., Uysal, R., Bilçen, E. (2006). Göller Bölgesi’ndeki Bazı Göl ve Baraj Göllerinin Balık Faunalarının Son Durumu. 1. Ulusal Balıklandırma ve Rezervuar Yönetimi Sempozyumu, 7-9 Şubat 2006, s. 129-139, Antalya.
Arpa, H. (2003). Su Ürünleri Sektöründe Kamu Örgütlenmesi. AB’ne Üyelik Sürecinde Su Ürünleri Sempozyumu, 16 Ekim 2003, s. 54-59, Ankara.
e) Web Page:
If the author of the web page is known:
Example:
European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Preliminary Annual Overview of Marine Casualties and Incidents 2014-2019 reports (2020). Accessed Date: 17.04.2021, http://www.emsa.europa.eu/emsa documents/latest/tagged/85-annual-overview.html is retrieved.
Formal Software Construction (FSC), Open FTA Manual Version 1.0. (2005). Accessed Date: 08.08.2021, https://www.scribd.com/document/244727771/Open-FTA is retrieved.
International Maritime Organization (IMO), Maritime Safety (2019). Accessed Date: 12.03.2021, http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Safety/Pages/Default.aspx is retrieved.
Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB), Marine accident database (2020). Accessed Date: 03.04.2021, https://www.mlit.go.jp/jtsb/statistics_mar.html is retrieved.
Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), Investigations reports and safety bulletins (2021). Accessed Date: 07.08.2021, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/marine-accident-investigation-branch is retrieved.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Review of Maritime Transport (2019). Accessed Date: 12.02.2021, https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/rmt2019_en.pdf is retrieved.
If the author of the web page is unknown:
Example:
URL-1, Ship Form: Kriso Container Ship (KCS) (2015). Accessed Date: 21.06.2015, https://www.nmri.go.jp/institutes/fluid_performanc e_evaluation/cfd_rd/cfdws05/Detail/KCS/kcs_g&c.html
f) Thesis:
Examples:
Dumay, J. (2006). Extraction de lipides en voie aqueuse par bioréacteur enzymatique combiné à l'ultrafiltration: application à la valorisation de co-produits de poisson (Sardina pilchardus). Ph.D. Thesis, Université de Nantes.
Karakaya, M. (1990). Assessment of the attributes of meat emulsion of various species with oil and fat in a model system (in Turkish), PhD. Thesis, Ataturk University, Institute of Natural and Applied Sciences, 60 p., Erzurum.
Koç, S. (2016). Hamsi (Engraulis encrasicolus) ve İşleme Atıklarından Elde Edilen Protein Hidrolizatlarının Besleyici, Fonksiyonel Ve Biyoaktif Özelliklerinin Araştırılması, Doktora Tezi, Çanakkale On Sekiz Mart Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Çanakkale.
Korkmaz, K. (2018). Ticari Enzimler Kullanılarak Farklı Balık Türü Atıklarından Hidrolizat Üretimi ve Kalitesinin Belirlenmesi. Doktora Tezi, Ordu Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Ordu.
g) Official Gazette:
Examples:
Resmi Gazete, (1991). Tarım ve Köyişleri Bakanlığının Kuruluş ve Görevleri Hakkında Kanun Hükmünde Kararname, 9.08.1991 tarih 20955 sayılı Resmi Gazete.
Official Gazette, (2011). Gıda, Tarım ve Hayvancılık Bakanlığının Teşkilat ve Görevleri Hakkında 3.06.2011 Tarih ve 639 Sayılı Kanun Hükmünde Kararname, 8/6/2011 tarih ve 27958 mükerrer sayılı Resmi Gazete.
h) Patents:
Examples:
Kitchen, 1986. “Combustion Improver Fuel Additive”. US Patent No: 4, 585, 462.
i) Footnotes: Only on the first page, the e-mail address of the responsible author and, if submitted, part of the work, thesis or project work should be specified as a footnotes.
j) Reports:
Examples:
Ercoşkun, H. (2000). Turkiye Fisheries Report. Country Report, Handling and Primary Processing of Marine Products Jica Kanagawa International Fisheries Training Center, May 29th.
Hino, T. (2005). Proceedings of CFD Workshop Tokyo 2005. NMRI Report 2005, Tokyo, Japan.
ITTC (2014). Resistance Committee Report. Proceedings of 27thInternational Towing Tank Conference.
DPT (2001). Sekizinci Beş Yıllık Kalkınma Planı. Su ürünleri ve su ürünleri sanayii özel ihtisas komisyon raporu. DPT Yayın No. 2575, Ankara.
k) Technical Notes:
Examples:
Tamura, M., Inoue, H., Watanabe, T., Maruko, N. (2001). Research on a brake assist system with a preview function. In: SAE technical paper 2001-01-0357, Society of Automotive Engineers 2001 World Congress, Detroit, MI, USA.
Murray, J., Burt, J.R. (2001). The Composition of Fish. Ministry of Technology, Torry Research Station, Torry Advisory Note No. 38.
FAO (2008). Understanding and applying risk analysis in aquaculture. (Editors: G. Melba, M.G. Bondad-Reantaso, J.R. Arthur, R.P. Subasinghe), FAO Fisheries and Technical Paper. No. 519, Rome, 324 pp.
l) Publications that can be guides/procedures:
Examples:
ITTC (2002). Uncertainty Analysis, Example for Resistance Test, ITTC Recommended Procedures and Guidelines, Procedure7.5-02-02-02, Revision 01.
ITTC (2002b). Resistance Test, ITTC Recommended Procedures and Guidelines, Procedure7.5-02-02-01, Revision 01.
Soto, Y.A. (2006). Proitability analysis of the investment in beam trawlers for cuban shrimp fisheries, The United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme, Final Project, Cuba.
m) Appendixes: All appendixes should be written on separate pages and numbered with Roman numerals.
AUTHORSHIP CONTRIBUTION STATEMENT
Author 1: (Author First and Last Names must be written!!!) Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal Analysis, Resources, Writing - Original Draft, Writing-Review and Editing, Data Curation, Software, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Author 2: (Author First and Last Names must be written!!!) Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal Analysis, Resources, Writing - Original Draft, Writing-Review and Editing, Data Curation, Software, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Author n: (Author First and Last Names must be written!!!) Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal Analysis, Resources, Writing - Original Draft, Writing-Review and Editing, Data Curation, Software, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition
(Author(s) who make a declaration of Authorship contribution are required to indicate which of the above-mentioned steps they took part in next to their names in this section. Author(s) must fill out this section carefully!!!)
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The author(s) declare that for this article they have no actual, potential or perceived conflict of interests.
(The author(s) are required to state their conflict of interest. The author(s) must fill in this section carefully!!!)
ETHICS COMMITTEE PERMISSION
Author(s) declare that this study was conducted in accordance with ethics committee procedures of human or animal experiments. OR
No ethics committee permissions is required for this study.
(With ethics committee permission, the author(s) must edit by choosing one of the two statements!!!)
FUNDING
This work was supported/funded by … with … project code. OR
No funding was received from institutions or agencies for the execution of this research.
(With funding support, the author(s) must edit by choosing one of the two statements!!!)
Ethical Principles and Publication Policy
Turkish Journal of Maritime and Marine Sciences Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement
The Turkish Journal of Maritime and Marine Sciences (TRJMMS) and its Publisher, JournalPark, are members of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). As such, this journal follows the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers.
In addition, as a journal that follows the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors)’s and CSE (Council Science Editors)’s Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work, it is expected of authors, reviewers and editors that they follow the best-practice guidelines on ethical behaviour contained therein.
A selection of key points is included below, but you should always refer to the three documents listed above for full details.
Duties of Editors
Fair play and editorial independence
Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their academic merit (importance, originality, study’s validity, clarity) and its relevance to the journal’s scope, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political philosophy or institutional affiliation. Decisions to edit and publish are not determined by the policies of governments or any other agencies outside of the journal itself. The Editor-in-Chief has full authority over the entire editorial content of the journal and the timing of publication of that content.
Confidentiality
Editors and editorial staff will 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 and editorial board members will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the authors’ explicit written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained by editors as a result of handling the manuscript will be kept confidential and not used for their personal advantage. Editors will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the papers; instead, they will ask another member of the editorial board to handle the manuscript.
Publication decisions
The editors ensure that all submitted manuscripts being considered for publication undergo peer-review by at least two reviewers who are expert in the field. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal will be published, based on the validation of the work in question, its importance to researchers and readers, the reviewers’ comments, and such legal requirements as are currently in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
Involvement and cooperation in investigations
Editors (in conjunction with the publisher and/or society) will take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised with regard to a submitted manuscript or published paper. Every reported act of unethical publishing behaviour will be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication. TRJMMS editors follow the COPE Flowcharts when dealing with cases of suspected misconduct. If, on investigation, the ethical concern is well-founded, a correction, retraction, expression of concern or other note as may be relevant, will be published in the journal.
Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to editorial decisions
Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and, through editorial communications with authors, may assist authors in improving their manuscripts. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication and lies at the heart of scientific endeavour. TRJMMS shares the view of many that all scholars who wish to contribute to the scientific process have an obligation to do a fair share of reviewing.
Promptness
Any invited referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should immediately notify the editors and decline the invitation to review so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.
Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review are confidential documents and must be treated as such; they must not be shown to or discussed with others except if authorized by the Editor-in-Chief (who would only do so under exceptional and specific circumstances). This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.
Standards of objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively and observations formulated clearly with supporting arguments so that authors can use them for improving the manuscript. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate.
Acknowledgement of sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that is an observation, derivation or argument that has been reported in previous publications should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also notify the editors of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other manuscript (published or unpublished) of which they have personal knowledge.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Any invited referee who has conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the manuscript and the work described therein should immediately notify the editors to declare their conflicts of interest and decline the invitation to review so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.
Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the authors. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for the reviewer’s personal advantage. This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.
Duties of Authors
Reporting standards
Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and the results, followed by an objective discussion of the significance of the work. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Review articles should be accurate, objective and comprehensive, while editorial 'opinion' or perspective pieces should be clearly identified as such. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
Data access and retention
Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the manuscript for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable. In any event, authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for at least 10 years after publication (preferably via an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data centre), provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.
Originality and plagiarism
Authors should ensure that they have written and submit only entirely original works, and if they have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the work reported in the manuscript should also be cited. Plagiarism takes many forms, from "passing off" another's paper as the author's own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another's paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
Multiple, duplicate, redundant or concurrent submission/publication
Papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal or primary publication. Hence, authors should not submit for consideration a manuscript that has already been published in another journal. Submission of a manuscript concurrently to more than one journal is unethical publishing behaviour and unacceptable.
The publication of some kinds of articles (such as research articles, review articles, translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided that certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the journals concerned must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.
Authorship of the manuscript
Only persons who meet these authorship criteria should be listed as authors in the manuscript as they must be able to take public responsibility for the content: (i) made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, data acquisition, or analysis/interpretation of the study; and (ii) drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content; and (iii) have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication. All persons who made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript (such as technical help, writing and editing assistance, general support) but who do not meet the criteria for authorship must not be listed as an author, but should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgements" section after their written permission to be named as been obtained. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate coauthors (according to the above definition) and no inappropriate coauthors are included in the author list and verify that all coauthors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
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Acknowledgement of sources
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Hazards and human or animal subjects
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