Publication ethics
What the journal expects of authors, reviewers and editors, and what happens when something goes wrong. Based on the core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Authorship
Every listed author made a real contribution to the work and approved the submission. Students are the authors; supervisors are named as supervisors, not as authors, unless they meet the same test. Ghost and gift authorship are misconduct.
Originality and plagiarism
Submissions must be the authors' own work and must not be under consideration elsewhere. Text, data and figures taken from others are cited. Every manuscript is screened for similarity and for undisclosed machine-generated text before desk review. A flag never decides the outcome on its own; an editor always reads the paper.
Use of AI tools
Authors may use AI tools to improve language and must say so in the paper. AI tools cannot be authors and may not produce results, data or references. The journal's own automated preliminary check is disclosed to authors and reviewers and never issues a decision.
Research involving people and animals
Work involving people requires informed consent (and guardian consent for minors) and, where applicable, approval from a school or institutional ethics committee. Work involving animals follows the relevant guidelines. The ethics statement printed on each article records this.
Conflicts of interest
Authors declare financial or personal interests on the article. Reviewers and editors decline to handle a paper from their own school or department, from a family member, or from anyone they have worked with in the last three years.
Confidentiality
Review is double-blind. Reviewers treat manuscripts as confidential, do not use their contents, and do not pass them to anyone else, including AI tools.
Corrections and retractions
Honest errors are fixed with a correction notice linked from the article. Serious errors or misconduct lead to a retraction: the article stays online, marked as retracted, with a notice explaining why. The journal does not remove articles.
Complaints and appeals
Authors may appeal a decision in writing to the editor in chief within 30 days, with reasons. Concerns about a published article or about editorial conduct go to the editor in chief; concerns about the editor in chief go to the editorial board. Every concern is acknowledged and looked into, following the COPE flowcharts.