Publication decisions
The editor of the journal is responsible for deciding which of the articles
submitted to the journal should be published. The editor may be guided by the
policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements
as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism.
The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
Fair play
An editor will at any time evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content
without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic
origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Confidentiality
The editor and any editorial staff must 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.
Additionally, the editors will make every effort to ensure the integrity of
the blind review process by not revealing the identity of the author(s) of a
manuscript to the reviewers of that manuscript, and vice versa.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in
an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.
Editors should recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they
have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other
relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly)
institutions connected to the papers. Editors should require all contributors
to disclose relevant competing interests and publish corrections if competing
interests are revealed after publication. If needed, other appropriate action
should be taken, such as the publication of a retraction or expression of concern.
Involvement and cooperation in investigations
An editor should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints
have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper, in
conjunction with the publisher. Such measures will generally include contacting
the author of the manuscript or paper and giving due consideration of the respective
complaint or claims made, but may also include further communications to the
relevant institutions and research bodies, and if the complaint is upheld, the
publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other note,
as may be relevant. Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior must
be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication.
Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the
editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving
the paper.
Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in
a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify
the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.
They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the
editor.
Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is
inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
They should attempt to provide detailed and constructive feedback to assist
the author(s) in improving their work, even if the manuscript is, in their opinion,
not publishable.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by
the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had
been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer
should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap
between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of
which they have personal knowledge.
Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential
and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts
in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative,
or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or
institutions connected to the papers.
Duties of Authors
Reporting standards
Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of
the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying
data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient
detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or
knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Data Access and Retention
Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial
review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data, if practicable,
and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time
after publication.
Originality and Plagiarism
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and
if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been
appropriately cited or quoted.
Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication
An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the
same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the
same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical
publishing behavior and is unacceptable. In general, an author should not submit
for consideration a previously published paper in another journal.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should
cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the
reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence,
or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit,
written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential
services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be
used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved
in these services.
Authorship of the Paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution
to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.
All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors.
Those whose contributions are indirect or marginal should be named in an “Acknowledgments”
section at the end of the article, immediately preceding the Reference List.
The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no
inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors
have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its
submission for publication.
Hazards and human or animal subjects
If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual
hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the
manuscript. If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the author
should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were
performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and
that the appropriate institutional committee(s) has approved them. Authors should
include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for
experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must
always be observed.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive
conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation
of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should
be disclosed.
Fundamental errors in published works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published
work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor
or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work
contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly
retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness
of the original paper.