For Authors

Publication Ethics

The standards every author, reviewer and editor works to across our journals.

COPE compliance

We are a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and follow COPE guidelines for handling authorship disputes, data fabrication and duplicate publication.

Double-blind review

Research articles go through double-blind peer review. Authors and reviewers stay anonymous to each other throughout, and two to three reviewers are assigned per manuscript.

Data availability

Authors are encouraged to deposit research data in public repositories. A data availability statement is required for every research article, and raw data should be available on reasonable request.

Plagiarism screening

Every submission is checked with iThenticate before it reaches an editor. Text overlapping with published work is raised with the authors before any review begins.

AI disclosure

Any use of AI-assisted writing must be disclosed in the Methods section. AI tools cannot be listed as authors, and the named authors remain responsible for the whole manuscript.

Conflicts of interest

Authors declare funding sources and any competing financial or personal interests at submission. Editors and reviewers recuse themselves where a conflict exists.

Raising a concern

If you believe a published article breaches these standards, write to us with the article DOI and a description of the problem. Concerns are handled under COPE guidance, and we contact the authors and their institution where an investigation is warranted.

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