1. Authorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the research, including the conception of the study, research design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the results. All contributors who meet these criteria should be listed as co-authors. Individuals who provided support such as language editing or technical assistance should be acknowledged separately rather than included as authors.
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the list of authors is accurate and appropriate. This includes confirming that all listed authors meet the authorship criteria, that no qualified contributor has been omitted, and that all authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission.
Authors are expected to carefully determine the authorship order before submitting the manuscript. The complete and final list of authors must be provided at the time of submission. Any request to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission will only be considered in exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the editor. Such requests must be submitted by the corresponding author and approved by all co-authors.
All authors share collective responsibility for the content of the article. Each author is accountable for responding to questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the research.

2. Conflict of interest

To maintain transparency and editorial independence, all potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed.
Editors are required to declare any conflicts of interest before assuming their editorial role. If a manuscript involves the editor, their family members, or close collaborators, the editor must not participate in the editorial decision. In such cases, the manuscript will be handled independently and will undergo the journal’s standard peer review process.
Reviewers should inform the editor of any possible conflicts of interest before agreeing to review a manuscript. Conflicts may arise from professional relationships, collaborations, personal connections, or competitive interests. If a reviewer suggests citing their own work or that of colleagues, such recommendations must be based solely on scientific relevance rather than personal benefit.
Authors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could influence the research or its interpretation. Transparency regarding research funding is also required. Authors must clearly state all sources of financial support and describe the role of the funding organization, if any, in the design of the study, data collection, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and the decision to publish.
Examples of potential conflicts include employment, consulting activities, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications, and research funding.

3. Complaints and appeals

Authors who believe that their manuscript has been rejected unfairly may submit an appeal if there are valid reasons, such as new evidence or a possible misunderstanding of the research.
To submit an appeal, authors should send a written explanation to the editor, clearly stating the reasons for the appeal and providing supporting information. The editorial team will review the appeal carefully and fairly.
Authors will receive an acknowledgment of the appeal within 10 days. A final decision will normally be made within 60 days, although more complex cases may require additional time. The decision made after the appeal will be considered final.

4. Allegations of research misconduct

The journal treats all allegations of research misconduct seriously and follows international standards of academic integrity.
Research misconduct includes data fabrication, data falsification, plagiarism, or any other behavior that violates scientific ethics. All allegations, whether made before or after publication, will be handled confidentially and carefully.
If misconduct is suspected, the editorial team will first conduct an initial assessment to determine whether further investigation is required. If necessary, a formal investigation will be conducted to examine the available evidence. Based on the findings, appropriate actions will be taken and the relevant parties will be informed.

5. Plagiarism

Plagiarism in any form is strictly prohibited. This includes copying text, ideas, figures, or results from other sources without proper acknowledgment, as well as substantial paraphrasing without citation.
All submitted manuscripts must be based on original research and written in the authors’ own words. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism may be rejected immediately. If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the article may be retracted.
To ensure academic integrity, all submissions may be screened using plagiarism detection software.

6. Informed consent
If a manuscript includes identifiable personal information or images, authors must provide evidence that informed consent has been obtained. A completed consent-to-publish form may be required when applicable.

7. Citation manipulation

References must be relevant and appropriate to the research. Excessive self-citation or the inclusion of irrelevant references solely to increase citation counts is considered unethical.
Reviewers may suggest additional references when they are scientifically relevant. However, authors are not required to include citations that are not clearly justified by the research.
The journal strictly follows ethical publishing standards recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics and will investigate any suspected cases of citation manipulation.

8. Article withdrawal, retraction, removal, and replacement

Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript during the review process if necessary. After publication, articles may be retracted if serious ethical problems are identified, such as plagiarism, duplicate publication, data falsification, or incorrect authorship.

If an article is retracted, a clear retraction notice will be published both online and in the journal. The original article will remain accessible but will be clearly marked as retracted.
Article removal will only occur in rare situations, such as legal requirements or serious risks to individuals. In such cases, the article information will remain available along with a notice explaining the reason for removal.
In exceptional circumstances, an article may be replaced with a corrected version if the original version could cause serious problems or misunderstandings.