The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical conduct.

Below are ethical issues to consider when publishing:

Authorship of the paper:

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. Transparency about the contributions of authors is encouraged, for example in the form of a CRediT author statement.

Originality and plagiarism:

The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

Data access and retention:

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data.

Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication:

An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. The following uses of a work are not regarded as prior publication: publication in the form of an abstract; publication as an academic thesis; publication as an electronic preprint. Information on prior publication can be further referred to the FACTSHEET: Simultaneous submission by Elsevier, an international academic publishing group.

Acknowledgement of sources:

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest:

All submissions must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest.

Fundamental errors in published works:

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

Hazards and human or animal subjects:

Statements of compliance by the Institutional Review Board are required to be complied with, if the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, or if it involves the use of animal or human subjects as high-risk test subjects.

Use of patient images or case details:

Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee’s approval and informed consent from the test subjects, which should be documented in the paper.

Retraction of papers:

This journal does not accept articles that have been published or submitted elsewhere. The author shall submit his/her work in accordance with the guidelines provided by this journal. Once accepted, this journal holds the publication rights of the article. The author shall refrain from submitting the same article to another publication. In the event of discovery of conducts that violate academic ethics, including plagiarism of work of others, self-plagiarism, or forgery of data and research outcome, the article shall be retracted once confirmed by the editorial advisory board. The misconduct will be announced on the website of this journal, and the author will then be barred from submitting his/her work again within a specific period of time.