The journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. Authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher are expected to uphold these principles throughout the publication process.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to the journal must ensure that:

• The submitted work is original and has not been published previously or submitted simultaneously to another journal.
• All sources of information are properly acknowledged through appropriate citations and references.
• Data and results are presented accurately without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation.
• All individuals listed as authors have made substantial scholarly contributions to the work and have approved the final version of the manuscript.
• Any financial support, funding, or potential conflicts of interest are fully disclosed.
• If a significant error is discovered after publication, the corresponding author must promptly notify the Editor and cooperate in correcting or retracting the article where necessary.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to:

• Evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly, and solely on their scientific merit.
• Treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents.
• Declare any conflicts of interest that may affect their impartiality and decline the review if appropriate.
• Provide constructive, professional, and timely comments to assist both the authors and the editorial decision-making process.
• Identify relevant published work that has not been cited and report any suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, or unethical research practices to the Editor.

Responsibilities of Editors

Editors shall:

• Make editorial decisions based exclusively on the scholarly quality, originality, significance, and relevance of the manuscript.
• Ensure a fair, unbiased, and confidential peer-review process.
• Maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and reviewer identities where applicable.
• Avoid conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where such conflicts exist.
• Take appropriate action in cases of suspected research misconduct, plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, image manipulation, or unethical authorship practices.

 

Plagiarism and Research Misconduct

The journal has a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated or falsified data, manipulated images, and other forms of research misconduct. All submitted manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism-detection software. Manuscripts found to violate ethical standards may be rejected, withdrawn, or retracted, depending on the nature and severity of the misconduct.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence their work or the editorial process. Where conflicts exist, appropriate measures will be taken to ensure an impartial evaluation.

Corrections and Retractions

When significant errors or ethical concerns are identified after publication, the journal will publish corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions as appropriate to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence tools may be used only to assist with language editing, formatting, or improving readability. Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, interpretation, and integrity of their work. AI systems or software cannot be listed as authors.

Ethical Compliance

By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that they have complied with these publication ethics and agree to cooperate fully with the editorial office in resolving any ethical issues that may arise before or after publication.

 

Editorial Policies

1. Research Integrity

The journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of research integrity and publication ethics. Authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher are expected to conduct themselves honestly, transparently, and professionally throughout the publication process.

The journal does not tolerate:

• Plagiarism in any form.
• Duplicate or redundant publication.
• Data fabrication or falsification.
• Image manipulation intended to mislead.
• Citation manipulation.
• Ghost, guest, or gift authorship.
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest.

All submissions may generally be screened using plagiarism-detection software before peer review. Any suspected ethical misconduct will be investigated according to internationally accepted publishing practices. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, appropriate editorial actions, including rejection, correction, retraction, or notification of the authors’ institutions, may be taken.

 

2. Peer Review Policy

The journal follows a rigorous peer-review process. Each manuscript is first evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief or an Associate Editor to determine its suitability for the journal and quality of the contents. Manuscripts that satisfy the journal’s scope and quality requirements are sent to at one or two independent expert reviewers.

Editorial decisions are based on reviewers’ recommendations together with the independent assessment of the handling editor.

The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to make the final publication decision.

 

3. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made solely on the basis of the scientific quality, originality, significance, and relevance of the submitted work.

The publisher does not interfere with editorial decisions.

Editors shall:

• act independently,
• avoid conflicts of interest,
• maintain confidentiality,
• ensure impartial evaluation,
• uphold academic freedom and integrity.

Commercial considerations shall never influence editorial decisions.

 

4. Authorship (Contribution of authors)

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the research.

Each author should have participated in one or more of the following:

• conception or design of the study,
• acquisition or analysis of data,
• interpretation of results,
• drafting or critical revision of the manuscript,
• approval of the final version.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all eligible contributors are listed as authors and that no inappropriate authorship has been included.

Changes in authorship after submission will not be not considered.

 

5. Complaints and Appeals

The journal provides a transparent procedure for handling complaints and appeals. Authors may appeal editorial decisions by submitting a detailed explanation to the Editor-in-Chief.

Appeals should provide scientific justification rather than disagreement alone.

The Editor-in-Chief may:

• consult additional reviewers,
• seek advice from the Editorial Board,
• uphold or revise the original decision.

The Editor-in-Chief’s final decision shall be communicated to the corresponding author.

Complaints concerning editorial processes, peer review, or publication ethics will be investigated fairly and confidentially.

 

6. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record.

When necessary, the journal may publish:

1. Corrections – For minor errors that do not affect the scientific conclusions.
2. Retractions – For serious ethical violations or unreliable findings resulting from:

• plagiarism,
• fabricated data,
• duplicate publication,
• major methodological errors,
• unethical research conduct.

3. Expressions of Concern: Issued when there is evidence of potential misconduct but investigations are still ongoing.

Retraction notices will remain permanently linked to the original article.

 

7. Data Sharing and Reproducibility

The journal encourages authors to make research data, computational codes, algorithms, and supplementary materials available whenever appropriate.

Authors are encouraged to:

• deposit datasets in recognized repositories,
• provide software or source code,
• describe computational procedures sufficiently for reproduction,
• cite datasets appropriately.

If data cannot be shared due to legal, ethical, or contractual restrictions, authors should clearly state the reason in a Data Availability Statement.

 

8. Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright of their published work unless otherwise specified by the journal’s publication agreement.

Upon acceptance, authors grant the journal a non-exclusive licence to publish, archive, and disseminate the article.

Where applicable, articles may be published under a Creative Commons licence (for example, CC BY 4.0) in accordance with the journal’s Open Access policy.

Authors are solely  responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material owned by third parties.

 

9. AI-Assisted Writing Policy

Artificial intelligence tools may be used only to improve language, grammar, or readability.

Authors remain fully responsible for:

• originality,
• accuracy,
• interpretation,
• citations,
• conclusions,
• scientific integrity.

Artificial intelligence systems cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for scholarly work.

If AI tools have contributed substantially to manuscript preparation, authors should disclose their use in an appropriate acknowledgment or declaration.

10. Archiving and Digital Preservation

The journal is committed to ensuring the long-term accessibility and preservation of published articles.

Published content will be archived through recognized digital preservation systems where available.
The journal also maintains secure electronic backups to ensure continued accessibility in the event of technical failures or platform changes.

Persistent identifiers, including DOIs (where assigned), will be used to facilitate reliable citation and permanent access.

 

11. Open Access Policy

The journal is committed to the widest possible dissemination of scholarly research.

All published articles are made freely available online immediately upon publication without subscription barriers.

Readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to the full texts of articles in accordance with the applicable licence terms.

Unless otherwise announced, the journal does not charge submission fees or article processing charges (APCs).

 

12. Privacy and Confidentiality

The journal respects the privacy of authors, reviewers, editors, and readers.

Personal information submitted to the journal, including names, affiliations, email addresses, ORCID identifiers, and correspondence, will be used solely for editorial and publication purposes.

The journal will not disclose personal information to third parties except where required by law or necessary for publication services.

All manuscripts under review are treated as confidential documents. Editors and reviewers shall not disclose or use unpublished information without the explicit consent of the authors.