The ethics committee checks submissions against millions of published research papers, documents on the web, and other relevant sources. If plagiarism or misconduct is found, consequences are detailed in the policy.
The chief goal of our policy is threefold: to provide advice for our authors, to maintain the scholarly integrity of our journal and their content, and to detail the ethical responsibilities of our editors and authors.
We expect all authors to read and understand our ethics policy before submitting to our journal. This is in accordance with our commitment to the prevention of ethical misconduct, which we recognise to be a growing problem in academic and professional publications. It is important to note that most incidents of plagiarism, redundant publication, copyright infringement or similar occur because of a lack of understanding, and not through fraudulent intent. Our policy is one of prevention and not persecution.
Openly disclose the source of all data and Ensure that all researched work submitted is original, fully referenced and that all authors are represented accurately. The submission must be exclusive and not under consideration elsewhere.
Third party material, including previously unpublished work by the authors themselves. Anything that could compromise the originality of the submission should be expressly avoided and/or discussed with the editorial office in the first instance.
Openly disclose any conflict of interest – for example, if publication were to benefit a company or services in which the author(s) has a vested interest.
Fully correspond and comply with the editor and publisher in any requests for source data, proof of authorship or originality in a timely manner, providing reasonable explanation for discrepancies or failures to disclose vital information.
Fully co-operate with any consequent investigations if the editor and/or publisher are dissatisfied with the evidence available or the explanations provided.
Expect transparency, efficiency and respect from the publisher and the editor during the submissions process.
Remain in good communication with both the publisher and the editor.