Publication ethics and malpractice statement

This journal complies with the International Standards for Editors and Authors published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). It makes use of the COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and Elsevier’s Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK) to ensure correctness both in the published contributions and the followed procedures of conflict resolution.

The editorial team of this journal will make sure that all the parties (editors, peer-reviewers & authors) strictly follow international ethical standards in the publishing process:

Authors

To avoid scientific misconduct:

• Research fraud
• Improper use of humans or animals in research

To avoid breach of publication ethics:

• Plagiarism
• Duplicate submission
• Conflict of interest
• Authorship disputes
• Salami slicing

Peer reviewers

• Declaring conflict of interest or inabilities
• Strictly following the policies of the journal’s evaluation process
• Responding to requests and submitting evaluations on time
• Making a solid, structured and methodical evaluation as it is expected from the expertise of the reviewer
• Respecting privacy and confidentiality

For a detailed account of the ethical guidelines for peer reviewers, please access the following link.

Editor

• Ensuring article submissions and evaluation process correctness
• Granting the objective interlocution and confidentiality of the parties involved in the editorial process
• Promptly and respectfully responding inquiries and communications
• Guaranteeing compliance of the scientific and editorial processes with the international ethic, research and publishing standards

The entire set of standards can be accessed in the Cope Code of conduct and best practice guidelines for journal editors.