Responsible publishing principles.

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice

• We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. As a publisher of peer-reviewed academic journals, we recognize our responsibility to protect the integrity of the scholarly record and to ensure that all participants in the publication process—including authors, editors, reviewers, and publishing staff—adhere to established ethical standards.
• Our journals follow clear policies and procedures designed to prevent and address publication malpractice, research misconduct, plagiarism, fabrication and falsification of data, duplicate or redundant publication, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, conflicts of interest, and other forms of unethical publishing behavior.
• Editorial decisions are expected to be based on the scholarly quality, originality, significance, and relevance of submitted work and should be made independently and fairly, without discrimination or inappropriate commercial influence. Peer review is conducted according to the journal’s stated review procedures, with appropriate attention to confidentiality, objectivity, reviewer expertise, and conflicts of interest.
• We also recognize our responsibility to maintain the integrity of the published record. Where credible concerns arise regarding published or submitted work, the publisher and editorial team will investigate them in accordance with applicable ethical standards and may take appropriate corrective action, including corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or other measures where warranted.
• Our publication ethics policies are developed in accordance with internationally recognized standards and best practices, including the principles and guidance provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We also support the principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing developed collaboratively by COPE, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
• For detailed information about our ethical policies and procedures, please refer to the individual journal’s Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement, as well as our policies on authorship, peer review, conflicts of interest, research misconduct, plagiarism, corrections and retractions, data sharing, and post-publication issues.
• For further information about publication ethics, please visit the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
• Editors and reviewers should handle manuscripts fairly, confidentially, and objectively.
• Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts or review materials to public AI tools. Any permitted AI use must comply with the journal’s confidentiality and ethical standards.
• Reviewer reports are confidential. Where a journal publishes a reviewer report, the reviewer authorizes its use under the Creative Commons CC BY license.
• Corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern may be issued where required by editorial policy.