Statement of Publication Ethics and Misconduct

The journal strictly adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward publication misconduct. Manuscripts found to involve publication misconduct will be rejected, while published articles will be retracted if violations of publication ethics or academic misconduct are identified. Such misconduct includes the following:

 1) Plagiarism

All forms of plagiarism constitute violations of publication ethics. Authors must appropriately and accurately acknowledge and cite all sources of information. The journal uses XXX software to conduct similarity checks and permits a similarity index of no more than XX%, excluding quoted text and references. Manuscripts exceeding this threshold will be rejected. If a published article is subsequently found to exceed the specified similarity threshold, it will be retracted.

 2) Fabrication and Falsification

Authors must report research findings honestly and in a verifiable manner. Fabricating nonexistent data or facts, manipulating or distorting research data or findings, or citing nonexistent academic references (hallucinated or fabricated citations), whether intentionally created or generated through artificial intelligence (AI) tools without proper verification, constitutes a violation of publication ethics. Such misconduct will result in manuscript rejection or retraction of a published article.

 3) Duplicate Publication and Simultaneous Submission

Publishing the same work in more than one academic journal or simultaneously submitting the same manuscript for consideration by multiple journals or academic conferences constitutes serious publication misconduct. Such practices will result in manuscript rejection or retraction of a published article.

 4) Redundant Publication and Salami Slicing

Reusing previously published work, data, or manuscript content in another journal without appropriate academic citation, including deliberately dividing data or findings from a single research study into multiple smaller publications solely to increase the number of published articles without sufficient academic justification, constitutes publication misconduct. These practices create unnecessary duplication in the academic literature and will result in manuscript rejection or retraction of a published article.

 5) Misrepresentation of Authorship Roles

Misrepresenting authorship or author contributions includes listing individuals who did not genuinely contribute to the research (gift/guest authorship), intentionally omitting individuals who made substantial contributions to the research or manuscript preparation (ghost authorship), and concealing or misrepresenting authors' actual contributions. Such practices constitute violations of publication ethics and will result in manuscript rejection or retraction of a published article.

6) Peer Review Manipulation

The journal prohibits any attempt to interfere with or manipulate the manuscript evaluation process, including recommending reviewers with conflicts of interest or exerting undue influence to affect review outcomes. Such actions constitute serious publication misconduct and will result in immediate manuscript rejection without undergoing the peer review process.

2. Process for Dealing with Research Misconduct

If potential violations of publication ethics or academic misconduct are detected or reported, the journal will conduct a transparent and fair investigation in accordance with the following procedures:

 1) Initial Consideration

Upon detecting potential misconduct or receiving a complaint, the Editor will conduct a preliminary assessment of the available information. If there is reason to suspect a violation of publication ethics or academic misconduct, the journal will establish an Investigation Committee to examine the matter further.

2) Formation of an Investigation Committee

The journal will appoint an independent Investigation Committee whose members have no conflicts of interest, ensuring that the investigation is conducted fairly, objectively, and without bias.

 3) Reviewing Evidence

The Investigation Committee will examine the complaint using plagiarism detection tools and a detailed analysis of potentially problematic content. All available evidence will be carefully evaluated to determine the nature and extent of the suspected ethical violations or academic misconduct. The entire investigation will be conducted under strict confidentiality to ensure fairness to all parties involved.

 4) Opportunity for Author Response

The journal will provide authors accused of misconduct with an opportunity to clarify the facts and respond to the allegations.

 5) Final Decision and Actions

If the Investigation Committee determines that publication ethics violations or academic misconduct have occurred, the journal will take appropriate actions in accordance with COPE guidelines. These actions may include rejecting manuscripts under consideration, retracting published articles, or issuing corrections. The journal may also notify the authors' affiliated institutions or research funding agencies and may suspend or prohibit future manuscript submissions.

 6) Outcome Notification

If the Investigation Committee determines that no violation of publication ethics or academic misconduct has occurred, the journal will formally notify all relevant parties of the investigation's findings.