Ethical Standards

Core Publishing Principles

Integrity Transparency Fair Review Responsible Scholarship

Statement of Principle. The journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of research integrity, publication ethics, editorial fairness, and academic responsibility. All participants in the publication process are expected to act honestly, transparently, respectfully, and in accordance with accepted norms of scholarly conduct.

All submitted work must represent honest and original scholarship. Authors are expected to present their research accurately and responsibly, without plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, deceptive omission, or misleading representation of evidence.

The journal expects that manuscripts are submitted in good faith and reflect the genuine scholarly work of the listed authors.

Authors must disclose information that is relevant to an informed editorial assessment of the manuscript. This includes, where applicable, prior dissemination, conflicts of interest, funding sources, ethical approvals, data limitations, and the use of AI or automated tools.

Transparency supports credibility and allows the journal to evaluate manuscripts fairly and responsibly.

Authorship should reflect substantial scholarly contribution. All listed authors must approve the submitted version of the manuscript and accept responsibility for its content.

Honorary authorship, ghost authorship, undisclosed third-party writing, and other misleading authorship practices are inconsistent with the journal’s ethical standards.

Research claims must be supported by evidence presented accurately and responsibly. Authors should not distort data, manipulate images misleadingly, invent citations, or present speculative or synthetic material as verified research evidence.

Where relevant, authors should be prepared to clarify methods, provide documentation, or explain analytical procedures if questions arise during editorial review.

Research involving human participants, personal information, private communications, sensitive communities, or protected materials must be conducted and reported with appropriate ethical care.

Authors are expected to respect privacy, confidentiality, informed consent, and applicable legal or institutional requirements relevant to the conduct and reporting of research.

The journal is committed to a fair, confidential, and academically grounded review process. Manuscripts should be evaluated on scholarly merit, originality, relevance, methodological soundness, and clarity of contribution.

Reviewers are expected to provide objective, respectful, and constructive assessments. Personal criticism, discriminatory judgment, or misuse of confidential material is unacceptable.

Editors are expected to make decisions independently, fairly, and on academic grounds. Editorial evaluation should not be influenced by commercial interests, institutional pressure, personal relationships, or discriminatory considerations.

The journal values editorial consistency, procedural fairness, and respect for due process in handling manuscripts and ethical concerns.

Confidentiality is essential to a trustworthy editorial process. Submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and unpublished materials must be handled with discretion and may not be used for unauthorized purposes.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff are all expected to respect the confidentiality obligations appropriate to their role.

When significant errors, ethical concerns, or reliability issues are identified, the journal may take appropriate post-publication action, including corrections, clarifications, expressions of concern, or retractions.

The purpose of such action is to preserve the integrity, transparency, and reliability of the scholarly record rather than to impose punitive judgment alone.

Ethical publishing depends on the shared responsibility of all participants. Authors must submit honest and responsible work, reviewers must provide fair and confidential assessments, and editors must make principled and transparent decisions.

The journal regards ethical standards not as a formality, but as an essential condition of credible scholarly communication.

By submitting to, reviewing for, or editing for the journal, participants acknowledge and accept the ethical responsibilities associated with scholarly publishing.

These standards should be read together with the journal’s Publication Ethics, Publication Ethics Requirements, AI & Research Integrity Policy, Reviewer Guidelines, Data Policy, and Review Process pages.