Research and Publication Ethics

Guidelines & Policies

For policies on research and publication ethics not stated in these instructions, the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) can be applied.

1. Research Results

The original results of research should be recorded and maintained in a form that allows analysis and review, both by collaborators before publication and by other scientists for a reasonable period after publication. Exceptions may be appropriate in certain circumstances to preserve privacy, to assure patent protection, or for similar reasons. Fabrication of data is an egregious departure from the expected norms of scientific conduct, as is the selective reporting of data with the intent to mislead or deceive, as well as the theft of data or research results from others.

2. Conflict-of-Interest Statement

If there are any conflicts of interest, authors should disclose them in the manuscript. A conflict of interest may exist when an author has financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately influence the manuscript. Authors are expected to provide detailed information about all relevant financial interests and relationships or financial conflicts (e.g., employment/affiliation, grants or funding, consultancies, stock ownership or options, royalties, or patents filed, received, or pending), particularly those present at the time the research was conducted and through publication, as well as other financial interests that represent potential future financial gain. All disclosures of potential conflicts of interest will be made by the corresponding author on behalf of each coauthor as part of the submission process. Authors without conflicts of interest will be requested to state so as part of the submission process.

3. Authorship

Authorship credit should be based on: (1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet all three conditions.

4. Originality and Duplicate Publication

All submitted manuscripts should be original and should not be under consideration by other scientific journals for publication at the same time. No part of an accepted manuscript should be duplicated in any other scientific journal without the permission of the Editorial Board. If duplicate publication related to the papers of this journal is detected, the authors will be announced in the journal, their institutes will be informed, and there will be penalties for the authors.

5. Plagiarism

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 behavior and is unacceptable.