Publication Ethics

Plagiarism, in any form, is unacceptable. This includes copying text, ideas, data or figures without attribution, and recycling substantial portions of one’s own published work without disclosure. Manuscripts may be screened for similarity, and those found to contain plagiarism may be rejected, corrected or retracted.

Authors must conduct and report research honestly. Fabrication or falsification of data, selective reporting, manipulation of images and misrepresentation of results are research misconduct. Research involving people, animals or sensitive data must have appropriate ethical approval and, where required, informed consent.

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, data collection, analysis or interpretation of the work, who have drafted or critically revised the manuscript, who approve the final version and who agree to be accountable for it.

• Gift, guest and ghost authorship are not acceptable.
• Changes to the author list after submission require the written agreement of all authors and the approval of the editor.
• Contributions that do not warrant authorship should be acknowledged.

Authors, reviewers and editors must disclose any financial, professional or personal relationship that could influence, or be seen to influence, their work. Editors and reviewers with a conflict of interest must step aside from the handling of the manuscript concerned.

Manuscripts must not be submitted to more than one journal at the same time, and work that has already been published must not be resubmitted. Authors should disclose any related manuscripts, conference papers or preprints at the time of submission.

Where a significant error is found in a published article, the journal will publish a correction. Where findings are unreliable because of serious error or misconduct, the article may be retracted. Corrections and retractions are published as clear notices linked to the original article, so that the scholarly record remains transparent.

Allegations of misconduct, whether about a submitted or a published article, are taken seriously. In general:

1. The Editorial Office records the concern and makes an initial assessment.
2. The authors are informed and given an opportunity to respond.
3. The Editor-in-Chief decides on the outcome, consulting others where appropriate.
4. Outcomes may include a correction, an expression of concern, a retraction, or notification of the authors’ institution.

• AI tools cannot be listed as authors, because they cannot take responsibility for the work.
• Authors must disclose any use of AI tools for writing, editing, translation or analysis, and must describe how they were used.
• Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy and originality of their manuscript, including all references, which must be checked and must not be invented or unverified.
• Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential manuscripts to public AI tools.