Ethical oversight policy

The journal follows the ethical guidelines and best practices set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All cases of ethical misconduct will be handled in accordance with COPE's recommendations and guidelines.

Misconduct policy

Transparency, trust and integrity are key to ethical publishing, and readers should be able to rely on and understand the facts presented in an article and that the study and conclusions are generated by the named authors

This means that the journal needs to work actively against plagiarism, falsification and other types of misconduct and it is highly prioritized to make sure that misconduct does not occur in the journal. The journal therefore strives to have efficient processes to work systematically to prevent potential cases of misconduct.

Plagiarism

Readers of the articles published in the journal should be able to trust that the named authors really are the ones who created the content, all in accordance with copyright laws. This trust is essential for our journal, meaning that we need to guard this trust by making sure that we avoid plagiarism. This includes both intentional plagiarism of other author’s work and self-plagiarism, inter alia reusing the author’s own previously published article without correct citation to the original work.

The editors and reviewers actively look out for plagiarism and have the possibility at all stages of the process to check submissions by using the plagiarism tool Crossref Similarity Check. When the article is published, readers with allegations of plagiarism are asked to contact the editor.

Both external and internal findings and allegations regarding plagiarism will result in an investigation by the journal. The result of the investigation can, inter alia, lead to rejection of the manuscript or, if the article is published, a correction or a retraction of the article.

Fabrication/falsification

In open access publishing, it is essential that all data is accurate, reliable and representative. This includes both data presented in the article but also supplementary material that serves as a foundation for the research.

In case of suspicion of fabrication or falsification in a submission, the editor will investigate and may ask the authors to provide more information and data. The journal may also use statistical editors to review the relevant data.

If we conclude that facts have not been presented in a transparent and fair way, or are even falsified, we will reject the submission and may also consider an embargo for future submissions from the author.

When published, if anyone discovers a suspected falsification or inaccuracy in relation to the facts in an article, they are asked to inform the editor. The result of the investigation may, inter alia, lead to a correction or a retraction of the article.

Citation manipulation

Authors should be fair and transparent regarding the use of references and citation. Authors are instructed to avoid manipulative citation, with the purpose to inflate citation counts in an unethical way, inter alia excessive citation to the journal publishing the citing article or excessive self-citation of an author’s own work.

In case of suspicion of citation manipulation, the journal will review the citations and may request that the author corrects the citation. If not revised, the editor may reject the submission and may also consider an embargo for future submissions from the author.

If anyone discovers a suspected citation manipulation in a published article they should inform the editor. The result of a subsequent investigation may, inter alia, lead to a correction or a retraction of the article.

Peer review manipulation

A fair peer review policy and process is a central part of open access publishing. Authors must not attempt to prevent or inappropriately influence the independent assessment of a submission by a peer.

In case of suspicion of peer review manipulation, the journal will investigate and if needed, the editor may request a change of reviewer. The journal may reject the submission and may also consider an embargo for future submissions from the author(s).

The result of a subsequent investigation can, inter alia, lead to rejection of the manuscript or, if the article is published, a correction or a retraction of the article.

Authorship misconduct

Every author, as well as any co-authors, are required to satisfy the criteria in the authorship policy (linked to that policy). The journal may require authors to justify assignments of authorship.

Authors must never assign authorship or co-authorship to LLMs or any other machine learning technologies, please see the AI Policy for further information.

Any individuals who have contributed to an article but who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed by name and affiliation in an ‘Acknowledgments’ section.

In case of suspicion of authorship misconduct in connection with a submission, the journal will investigate and may reject the submission.

Anyone who suspects authorship misconduct in a published article should inform the editor. The result of the subsequent investigation may, inter alia, lead to a correction or a retraction of the article and the journal may also consider an embargo for future submissions from the author.