Author responsibilities

• Submit original work that is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere.
• Represent methods, data, analysis, and references accurately.
• Credit all sources and contributors appropriately and obtain required permissions.
• List as authors only those who made substantial scholarly contributions.
• Disclose relevant funding, competing interests, ethical approval, and meaningful use of artificial intelligence tools.
• Cooperate with requests for clarification, underlying evidence, corrections, or retractions.

Reviewer responsibilities

• Treat manuscripts and review materials as confidential.
• Decline when expertise, availability, or a conflict of interest prevents a fair review.
• Provide specific, respectful, evidence-based comments without using privileged information.
• Alert the editor to suspected duplication, unattributed material, fabrication, or other integrity concerns.

Editor responsibilities

• Make decisions on scholarly merit, relevance, evidence, and ethical considerations.
• Protect reviewer and author confidentiality under the journal's double-anonymous model.
• Manage conflicts of interest and seek additional assessment when needed.
• Investigate credible concerns fairly and maintain the publication record through appropriate notices.

Misconduct concerns

Concerns may include plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication or falsification, inappropriate authorship, undisclosed conflicts, manipulation of review, or unethical research. The journal may request evidence, pause evaluation, contact relevant parties, reject a submission, or correct the published record according to the seriousness and reliability of the available information.