Publishing Ethics Policy

 

Based on the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and taking into account the specific context of the journal, we have formulated the following ethical requirements for academic publication. All authors, reviewers, and editors should strictly adhere to these requirements in order to maintain integrity and fairness in the publication process.

 

1. Ethical Guidelines for Authors

All authors must meet the authorship criteria of the journal, i.e., they must have significantly contributed to the article in aspects such as the concept and design of the study, data acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data, writing the article, or making critical revisions to the content. Funding or providing laboratory space alone does not constitute authorship. The ethical requirements that authors should abide by mainly include the following aspects:

1) Authors are expected to proactively disclose the academic research process in detail, reveal key research information fully to promote transparency in scientific research, and provide honest support materials for the publication of their research findings.

2) Authors should ensure that all ethical issues are addressed. The research should comply with moral, legal, and professional obligations and standards, and meet the requirements of regulatory bodies and stakeholders.

3) In addition to ensuring the authenticity of the content of their manuscripts, authors must guarantee that their manuscripts are not simultaneously submitted to multiple publications, have not been previously published, are not split into several parts for publication, do not involve confidential information, and have no authorship disputes.

4) Authors are obliged to declare that their articles are original research works, free of any academic misconduct such as data fabrication and plagiarism.

5) Authors should include all individuals who have made substantial contributions to the research work, and should be listed in order of their contributions. Changes to authorship should be made before the acceptance of the manuscript. Any changes after acceptance should be agreed upon by all authors, and the corresponding author must explain the reason and send a confirmation letter from all authors agreeing to the modification to the editorial department. When adding or deleting authors, the confirmation letter should also include the consent of the added or deleted authors.

6) For articles supported by funding projects, the project numbers and sources should be listed to ensure authenticity.

7) For all manuscripts submitted to the journal, it is assumed that the author agrees to peer review. Authors may recommend reviewers or suggest reviewers to avoid.

8) Authors are obligated to revise their manuscripts according to the opinions of the reviewers and the editorial department. If there are objections to the review comments or results, authors may submit a written appeal to the editorial department, providing detailed response for each review comment.

9) Data sharing can promote the repeatability and availability of research data. Authors should comply with the journal's data sharing policy.

10) Authors should disclose their specific contributions to the research and any potential conflicts of interest related to the research. When the financial/personal/affiliated relationships of authors (or authors' institutions/employers) may affect the authors' decisions, work, or manuscripts, there may be potential conflicts of interest. When mentioning certain products in the manuscript, authors should also disclose whether there are conflicts of interest with competing products of these products. Please fill out and submit the "Declaration of Authors" provided by the journal when submitting the manuscript, stating the personal contributions of all authors and any conflicts of interest related to the research.

 

2. Ethical Guidelines for Reviewers

1) Peer reviewers are required to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the manuscript, maintaining objectivity and fairness, adhering to professional ethics, and not seeking personal gain.

2) When a potential conflict of interest exists between a reviewer and an author, to ensure the fairness of the review, the reviewer should either voluntarily recuse themselves or disclose the potential conflict of interest.

3) Reviewers are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the review materials and must not disclose the content of the manuscript or the results of the review to others.

4) Review comments should be based on scientific facts and remain objective and unbiased, avoiding prejudices, and providing constructive feedback to address weaknesses in the research. Reviewers should decline the review if the manuscript falls outside their area of expertise.

5) Reviewers should complete their review tasks in a timely manner. If they are unable to complete the review or return their review comments on time, they should promptly inform the editorial department.

 

3. Ethical Guidelines for Editors

1) Editors should handle all submissions in a fair, equitable, and timely manner, making decisions to accept or reject a manuscript based on its significance, originality, scientific merit, readability, authenticity, and consistency with the journal's aims and scope.

2) Editors are responsible for detecting academic misconduct in all submissions. If instances of duplicate submission, plagiarism, or other forms of academic misconduct are discovered, the manuscript should be immediately rejected.

3) Editors must adhere to the confidentiality requirements of the journal, keeping the information of reviewers and the research content of authors strictly confidential.

4) To ensure fairness in evaluation, editors should carefully consider any requests by authors to exclude certain reviewers. Regarding peer reviewers recommended by authors, editors should verify the authenticity of their information and decide whether to use the recommended reviewers based on their field of research, expertise, and potential conflicts of interest with the authors.

5) Editors should not interfere with the peer review process to ensure the independence and fairness of reviewers' evaluations.

6) Editors should respect the opinions of reviewers and provide authors with detailed feedback for revisions. If authors have objections, they should be allowed to appeal.

7) Editors must ensure transparency in the processes of submission, review, rejection, and acceptance of manuscripts. They are also responsible for ensuring the authenticity of each review stage. Editors have the responsibility to keep review materials safe and strictly confidential.

8) Editors should handle all submissions in a timely manner within a reasonable timeframe, ensure that research achievements meeting the journal's requirements and quality standards are published promptly, and strive to shorten the duration between manuscript acceptance and publication.