Maintaining the integrity of the scientific record is a priority for this journal. The journal will handle possible misbehavior in accordance with the COPE guidelines.
Misrepresenting study findings could harm the journal's reputation, the professionalism of scientific authorship, and eventually the entire scientific endeavor, hence authors should avoid doing so. Maintaining integrity of the research and its presentation is helped by following the rules of good scientific practice, which include
It is highly recommended that authors make sure the author group, corresponding author, and author order are all accurate at the time of submission. Although it's usually not allowed, adding or removing authors during the revision process could be justified in rare circumstances. A thorough explanation of the reasons behind authorship changes should be provided. Please be aware that once a paper has been accepted, authorship changes cannot be made.All of the aforementioned are recommendations, and writers must ensure that they respect the rights of third parties, including copyright and/or moral rights.
Authors should be ready to provide pertinent data or evidence upon request so that the authenticity of the results can be confirmed.
The Journal and/or Publisher will conduct an investigation in accordance with COPE guidelines if there is a suspicion of misconduct or alleged fraud. Following an examination, the author or authors in question will be contacted using the email address they provided and given a chance to resolve any legitimate issues. Depending on the circumstances, this could lead to the Journal and/or Publisher taking the following actions, among others:
The published retraction letter, statement of concern, or erratum/correction will provide the explanation. Please be aware that when an article is retracted, it is kept up to date on the platform, watermarked "retracted," and accompanied by a note explaining the retraction.
Once an author finds a serious mistake or inaccuracy in their published work, they have a duty to fix it. It is suggested that the author or authors get in touch with the journal and clarify how the inaccuracy is affecting the article. The type of inaccuracy will determine how the material should be corrected. It could be a retraction or a correction. The retraction notice ought to make clear which sections of the article are affected by the mistake.
When submitting the submissions, authors are free to recommend reviewers and/or ask that certain people be excluded. Authors should ensure that reviewers they recommend are completely independent and have no affiliation with the work. It is highly advised to propose a diverse group of reviewers from various institutions and nations. A link to a personal homepage, a link to the publication record, or a researcher or author ID in the submission letter are examples of other ways to confirm the identity of reviewers. If this is not feasible, the Corresponding Author must include an institutional email address for each suggested reviewer. Although the journal might not implement the recommendations, they are valued and could aid in the peer review procedure.
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to.
Before the work is submitted, the journal and publisher presume that all authors have approved the material, explicitly consented to submit, and received approval from the appropriate authorities at the institution or organization where the work was completed.
The kind of contributions that qualify for authorship are not determined by the publisher. It is advised that authors follow the authorship rules that apply to their particular field of study.
For research involving humans and/or animals, all authors are asked to provide information about funding sources, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the relevant ethics committee, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on animal welfare if the research involved animals (as appropriate).
The scope of the paper and the journal's scope both influence whether or not such material should be provided. Public health or general welfare issues may arise from work submitted for publication, in which case it is the duty of all authors to make the necessary disclosures and declarations.
It is required of all writers to ensure that all information, materials, software, and custom code support their declared claims and adhere to industry standards. Please be aware that different publications may have different guidelines for (sharing) research data that align with expectations and discipline norms.
As the Corresponding Author, one author represents all other co-authors and makes sure that any inquiries about the integrity or correctness of any portion of the work are properly addressed.
The following conditions must be met by the Corresponding Author:
It may be the responsibility of a Contact or Submitting Author to oversee all correspondence between the journal and all co-authors during submission and proofing. Please ensure that the paper in this instance clearly identifies the Corresponding Author.
Each author's primary affiliation should be the organization where the majority of their work was completed. The current address may also be provided if the author has since moved. After the article is published, addresses won't be updated or modified.
It is highly recommended that authors make sure they have the correct author group, the correct corresponding author, and the correct author order when submitting their work. Authorship modifications, such as adding or removing authors, altering the Corresponding Author, or changing the order of authors, are not permitted once an article has been accepted.Author names will be published precisely as they appear on the accepted submission, so please be aware of that!
Please ensure that all authors' names are included and spelled correctly, and that affiliations and addresses are up to date.
In general, it is not allowed to add or remove authors during the revision stage, but in certain situations, it can be justified. It is necessary to provide an explanation for these authorship changes. The editor has the last say over whether to approve a modification made during revision.
It is advised that authors obtain an ORCID ID through the submission process or utilize it when submitting an article for review.
Co-authors should get permission from a (legal) representative, who may be a direct relative, in situations when a co-author passes away or becomes incapacitated during the writing, submission, or peer-review process and the co-authors believe it is appropriate to include the author.
The Journal will not be able to look into or decide on an authorship dispute that arises during peer review or after acceptance and publishing. The authors themselves will be requested to settle the disagreement. The Journal retains the authority to remove a submission from the editorial process if they are unable to do so, or to bring up the matter with the authors' institution or institutions and follow their rules in the case of a published work.
Unless permission has been obtained to share material, authors should treat all interaction with the journal as confidential, including correspondence with direct journal personnel like editors-in-chief and/or handling editors and reviewers' reports.
Authors should provide information about funding sources, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on animal welfare if the research involved animals in order to ensure objectivity and transparency in the study as well as to ensure that established ethical and professional conduct principles have been adhered to.
When submitting a manuscript, authors ought to add the following declarations (if any) in a distinct section labeled "Compliance with Ethical Standards.":
Please be aware that standards may differ slightly amongst journals based on their topic discipline and peer review policies (e.g., single or double blind). Pay close attention to the directions in the section that follows before submitting your work.
During peer review or after publication, the corresponding author should be ready to gather and provide evidence of ethical standards compliance upon request.
Manuscripts that do not adhere to the aforementioned requirements may be rejected by the editors at their discretion. If the author makes false claims or doesn't follow the aforementioned rules, they will be held accountable.
Your article will be transferred to Production for typesetting after it is accepted. You will receive two emails shortly after this. In one, you are asked to verify your affiliation, select the publishing model for your work, set up rights, and pay any related publication fees. After typesetting is finished, you will receive a second email with a link to the proofs of your article.
You will either be requested to transfer the article's copyright to the publisher or allow them an exclusive license to publish it, depending on the journal's ownership and regulations.
The proof's objective is to verify the accuracy and completeness of the text, tables, and figures as well as to look for typesetting or conversion problems. Without the editor's consent, significant content changes—such as new results, updated values, titles, and authorship—are prohibited.
An erratum, which will be linked to the article, is the sole way to make changes after it has been published online.
Your work will have the best chance of being understood and fairly assessed by editors and reviewers if it is presented in a well-structured document and in English. Many researchers discover that obtaining some outside assistance improves the way they explain their findings. Our Author Services' professionals may assist you with a variety of manuscript preparation tasks, such as figure production, translation, developmental comments, English language editing, and manuscript formatting.