Editorial Responsibilities

These principles are based on existing COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Publication of decisions

The journal editor is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validity of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers should guide such decisions. The editor may be guided by the editorial policy of the journal and be limited by such legal requirements, which then come into force in relation to defamation, copyright infringement and plagiarism.

Justice

The editor must evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, religious beliefs, ethnicity, citizenship, or political philosophy.

Confidentiality

The editor and any editorial staff should not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the respective author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial consultants, and the publisher, regardless of the circumstances.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript should not be used in the editor’s own research without the author’s written consent. Information or ideas obtained during the review must be kept confidential and not used for personal purposes. Editors should refuse to consider a manuscript (ask a co-editor or another member of the editorial board) if interests collide as a result of the research. Editors should require all authors to disclose competing interests and publish corrections if competing interests are discovered after publication. Other appropriate actions should be taken as appropriate ones, such as posting a review or expressing a concern.