This journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of research ethics, integrity, and transparency throughout the publication process. It publishes research that adheres to internationally recognized ethical principles and promotes responsible conduct of research across all disciplines within its scope.
This policy applies to all manuscripts submitted to the journal, including original research articles, review articles, and other scholarly contributions.
Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
Authors submitting manuscripts are expected to ensure that their research has been conducted in accordance with recognized ethical principles, applicable national and international regulations, and accepted standards of responsible research conduct.
Ethical responsibility applies to all stages of the research process, including study conception, design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of results. Authors must ensure that their work reflects honesty, transparency, and accountability, and that research outcomes are presented accurately, objectively, and without undue bias.
In particular, authors are responsible for ensuring that:
- research is conducted in an honest, transparent, and responsible manner, without misrepresentation of methods, data, or findings;
- study design, data collection, analysis, and reporting adhere to principles of scientific integrity and good research practice;
- results are reported truthfully and completely, without fabrication, falsification, selective reporting, or inappropriate manipulation of data, images, or analyses;
- adequate ethical approvals, permissions, or authorizations have been obtained before the commencement of the research, where required by institutional, national, or international regulations.
Authors are also expected to maintain accurate and complete records of their research activities and to be prepared to provide supporting documentation, data, or clarifications if requested during the editorial or peer-review process.
Failure to adhere to these ethical responsibilities may result in editorial actions, including requests for clarification, rejection of the manuscript, or corrective measures after publication, in accordance with the journal’s policies and accepted standards of publication ethics.
Research Involving Humans and Animals
Research involving human participants, human data, or human biological material must be conducted in accordance with internationally recognized ethical principles, relevant international declarations, and applicable national, regional, and institutional regulations.
Research Involving Humans
Studies involving human participants must adhere to established ethical frameworks for research involving humans, including, but not limited to, the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki, as well as other internationally accepted guidelines governing biomedical, nutritional, and public health research.
Authors are required to ensure that:
- the rights, safety, dignity, and well-being of research participants are fully respected;
- risks to participants are minimized and are reasonable in relation to the anticipated benefits of the research;
- participation is voluntary and based on appropriate informed consent;
- privacy, confidentiality, and data protection requirements are upheld throughout the research process.
Special care must be taken when research involves vulnerable populations or sensitive data, and additional safeguards must be applied where required by ethical standards or regulations.
Research Involving Animals
Research involving animals must be conducted in accordance with internationally accepted standards for animal welfare and ethical treatment, including the principles of Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement (the 3Rs), and in compliance with relevant national and institutional regulations governing the care and use of animals in research.
Authors must ensure that:
- animal experiments are scientifically justified and ethically approved;
- the number of animals used is minimized without compromising scientific validity;
- experimental procedures are designed to reduce pain, suffering, and distress;
- appropriate housing, care, and humane endpoints are applied.
Ethical Approval and Oversight
Where applicable, authors must obtain approval from an appropriate ethics committee, institutional review board, or animal care and use committee before the initiation of the research. The research must be conducted in accordance with the approved protocol.
Detailed requirements and procedural guidance related to:
- human and animal research ethics;
- informed consent;
- ethical approval and oversight;
are provided in the relevant sub-sections of the journal’s Research Ethics & Policies.
Manuscripts involving human or animal research may be subject to additional editorial review to assess compliance with these ethical standards.
Data Integrity and Transparency
The journal emphasizes the fundamental importance of data integrity, reproducibility, and transparency in published research. These principles are essential for ensuring the reliability of scientific findings, enabling verification of results, and supporting responsible reuse of research outputs.
Authors are expected to ensure that research data are handled, analyzed, and reported in a manner that reflects honesty, accuracy, and good research practice throughout the entire research lifecycle.
In particular, authors are expected to:
- maintain accurate, complete, and well-documented records of research activities, including data collection, processing, and analysis;
- retain underlying data and relevant documentation for a reasonable period of time after publication, and make them available for verification when legitimately requested by editors or reviewers;
- provide clear, transparent, and honest descriptions of methods, materials, analyses, and results, sufficient to allow others to understand and, where appropriate, reproduce the research.
Authors must not engage in fabrication, falsification, selective reporting, or inappropriate manipulation of data, figures, images, or statistical analyses. Any data processing, transformation, or exclusion must be scientifically justified and clearly described in the manuscript.
The journal supports responsible data sharing and encourages authors to make research data accessible whenever possible, while recognizing that ethical, legal, or confidentiality constraints may apply.
Specific guidance related to data availability statements, reproducibility expectations, acceptable data-sharing practices, and justified restrictions on data access is provided in the journal’s Data Integrity & Reproducibility policy.
Manuscripts may be subject to editorial review or requests for clarification to assess compliance with these principles.
Compliance with Ethical Guidelines
The journal follows the principles and recommendations of recognized international organizations concerned with publication ethics and research integrity. All submissions are subject to editorial assessment to ensure compliance with these ethical standards throughout the submission, peer-review, and publication process.
Editors may take appropriate action when ethical concerns are identified, either before or after publication.
Failure to comply with the journal’s ethical policies may result in one or more of the following actions:
- requests for clarification, additional information, or revision;
- rejection of the manuscript at any stage of the editorial process;
- corrective measures after publication, such as corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions, where necessary.
Such actions are taken in accordance with accepted standards of publication ethics and with due regard for fairness, transparency, and proportionality.
Editorial Oversight
The editorial team is responsible for ensuring that published research complies with this Research Ethics Policy and with accepted standards of publication ethics. Editors may request additional information, documentation, or clarification from authors at any stage of the editorial or peer-review process to assess ethical compliance.
Where necessary, editors may consult reviewers, ethics committees, or other relevant experts when evaluating ethical concerns. Decisions related to ethical compliance are made independently and are guided by principles of fairness, transparency, and proportionality.
Contact and Further Information
Questions regarding this Research Ethics Policy or its application may be directed to the editorial office.
Authors are encouraged to contact the editorial office if they require clarification regarding ethical requirements, approvals, or disclosures prior to submission.