Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made independently and are based on the scholarly quality, methodological validity, originality, clarity and relevance of the submission to the Journal's scope.

• Reviewer reports provide expert advice to the editors but do not determine the editorial decision.
• The Editor-in-Chief or a delegated editor retains responsibility for the final decision to accept, request revision, decline or otherwise act on a submission.
• Editors perform editorial assessment and decision-making; they do not act as reviewers for manuscripts they handle.
• Commercial, financial, institutional or personal considerations must not influence editorial decisions.
• An editor must not handle a submission where a personal, professional, academic or financial relationship could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, impartiality. The manuscript will be assigned to another qualified editor.
• Submissions authored by editors, editorial board members, publishing staff or persons closely connected with them are subject to an independent editorial and peer-review process.
• Special issues, invited submissions and content handled by guest editors are evaluated according to the same standards as regular submissions.
• The Publisher supports editorial independence and does not require an editor to alter a justified scholarly decision.

Publication Ethics

The Journal follows the Publication Ethics and Research Integrity Policy of Tulpar Academic Publishing.

The policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, publishing staff, submitted manuscripts and published content. It addresses authorship and contributorship, competing interests, research and publication misconduct, confidentiality, data integrity, artificial intelligence, corrections, retractions, appeals and complaints.

The journal-specific policies stated on this page supplement the Publisher's general policy. Where a journal-specific requirement is more detailed, both policies apply.

Read the full Publication Ethics and Research Integrity Policy

Medical and Clinical Research Ethics

Medical and clinical submissions must comply with applicable laws, institutional requirements and recognised ethical standards for research involving human participants, identifiable health information, human biological materials or animals.

Policies for medical and clinical research are informed, where relevant, by the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

Ethics approval

Research requiring ethical review must have received approval from an appropriately constituted ethics committee or institutional review board before the research was conducted. The manuscript should state:

• The name of the approving body;
• The approval or exemption number, where available;
• The date or relevant period of approval, where applicable; and
• Any material conditions, exemptions or waivers relevant to the reported research.

If formal approval was not required, authors should explain the legal or institutional basis for the exemption.

Informed consent and participant privacy

Informed consent must be obtained where required. If consent was waived, the manuscript should state the approving authority and basis for the waiver.

Identifiable personal information, photographs, videos, imaging data, pedigrees or detailed case descriptions must not be published without appropriate consent for publication. Removing a participant's name may not be sufficient where the person could still reasonably be identified.

Case reports and case series containing identifiable information should include confirmation that consent for publication was obtained from the patient or an authorised representative.

Animal research

Research involving animals must comply with applicable animal welfare laws and institutional standards. The manuscript should identify the approving body and approval or permit number where relevant, and should describe measures taken to minimise pain, distress and unnecessary use of animals.

Reporting standards

Authors should use the reporting guideline appropriate to the study design, where applicable. Examples include CONSORT for randomised trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews, CARE for case reports and ARRIVE for animal research. The Journal may request a completed checklist or flow diagram when necessary.

During online submission, the corresponding author is required to confirm that applicable ethical approvals, consents and permissions have been obtained. A separate signed form is not routinely required; however, the Journal may request supporting documentation when necessary to evaluate a submission or ethical concern.

Clinical Trial Registration

The Journal supports prospective registration and transparent reporting of clinical trials.

Trial registration

Authors are strongly encouraged to register a clinical trial in a publicly accessible and recognised trial registry, preferably before enrolment of the first participant.

Where a trial has been registered, the manuscript should provide:

• The name of the registry;
• The registration number;
• The registry record or web address; and
• An explanation of any material difference between the registered protocol and the completed study.

Lack of prospective registration does not automatically prevent editorial consideration. Authors must disclose the registration status and explain any retrospective or absent registration. The editor will assess the circumstances, transparency of reporting and ethical implications on a case-by-case basis.

Ethics and consent

Clinical trials must have appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board approval and must comply with applicable requirements for informed consent. Approval and consent information should be stated in the manuscript.

Study reporting

Randomised clinical trials should be reported in accordance with the CONSORT principles or another appropriate reporting standard. Authors should describe the study design, participant eligibility, interventions, predefined outcomes, statistical methods, adverse events and relevant protocol deviations clearly.

The Journal may request the trial protocol, registration record, statistical analysis plan, reporting checklist or other supporting documentation when necessary.

Data sharing

Authors are encouraged to include a data sharing statement describing whether de-identified participant data, study protocols or related materials will be available, to whom, under what conditions and for what period. Ethical, legal, privacy or institutional limitations on data sharing should be explained.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must accurately reflect responsibility for and substantial intellectual contribution to the work. Each listed author must satisfy all of the following criteria:

1. Have made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of its data;
2. Have drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content;
3. Have approved the final version to be submitted or published; and
4. Have agreed to be accountable for their own contribution and for appropriately addressing questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of the work.

All persons who meet the authorship criteria should be listed as authors. Persons who contributed to the work but do not satisfy all authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately. Gift, guest, honorary and ghost authorship are not permitted.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:

• The author list is complete and accurate;
• All authors have approved the submitted version;
• All authors are informed of editorial decisions and material changes to the manuscript; and
• Authorship, affiliation and contact information supplied to the Journal is accurate.

Requests to add, remove or reorder authors must be submitted in writing, include a clear explanation and normally be agreed to by all affected authors. The Journal may suspend evaluation while an authorship issue is examined. Unresolved authorship disputes may be referred to the relevant institution because the Journal is not normally able to adjudicate disputes concerning individual contributions.

Competing Interests and Funding

Authors, reviewers and editors must disclose financial and non-financial interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the research, peer review or editorial decision.

Authors

• Authors must provide a competing interests statement, including a declaration that no relevant competing interest exists where applicable.
• All sources of research funding, financial support, materials, equipment or other assistance must be identified.
• The role of a funder or sponsor in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation or the decision to submit should be disclosed where relevant.

Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose any personal, professional, academic, institutional or financial relationship that could affect impartiality. Where an interest may compromise the review, the reviewer should decline the assignment.

Editors

Editors must recuse themselves from handling submissions in which they have a competing interest. Responsibility will be transferred to another qualified editor.

The existence of a competing interest does not automatically prevent consideration or publication. Failure to disclose a relevant interest may, however, result in editorial or post-publication action.

Plagiarism and Redundant Publication

Submissions must be original and must not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal. Plagiarism, fabricated citations, misleading attribution, inappropriate text recycling, duplicate submission and redundant publication are not permitted.

The Journal uses similarity-detection software as part of its editorial assessment. Screening may be conducted before peer review, during evaluation, following revision or before publication.

A similarity percentage alone does not establish plagiarism or determine an editorial decision. Editors assess the source, nature, extent and context of the identified overlap. Properly quoted and cited material, standard methodological language and legitimate similarities are distinguished from inappropriate copying or misleading reuse.

Authors must:

• Cite and acknowledge the words, ideas, data, figures and results of others appropriately;
• Cite their own relevant previously published work where it is reused or discussed;
• Disclose related manuscripts, prior publications, conference papers, theses, reports, preprints or other prior dissemination that may overlap with the submission; and
• Explain any legitimate secondary publication, translation or substantial reuse at the time of submission.

Suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, citation manipulation or other inappropriate overlap will be assessed under the Publisher's Publication Ethics and Research Integrity Policy. Depending on the evidence and seriousness of the matter, the Journal may request an explanation or revision, suspend evaluation, decline the manuscript or take appropriate post-publication action.

Research Data and Materials

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, integrity and appropriate preservation of the data and supporting records underlying their work.

The Journal may request relevant materials where they are necessary to evaluate a submission, verify the reported findings or investigate an ethical concern. Such materials may include:

• Raw or processed data;
• Original and unprocessed images;
• Calculations, analysis files or computer code;
• Research protocols, questionnaires or measurement forms;
• Ethics approvals, permissions or consent records; and
• Other documentation necessary to understand or verify the work.

Authors should retain relevant research records for an appropriate period in accordance with applicable institutional, disciplinary, legal and funding requirements.

Where appropriate to the discipline and study design, authors are encouraged to include a data availability statement explaining whether and under what conditions the underlying data or supporting materials can be accessed.

The Journal recognises that public sharing may be restricted by participant confidentiality, data protection law, ethical approval conditions, security considerations, third-party rights or other legitimate limitations. Any such restriction should be explained clearly.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

This policy applies to generative artificial intelligence, large language models and other AI-assisted technologies used in the preparation, evaluation or publication of scholarly work.

• Artificial intelligence systems cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot accept responsibility, approve the final work or respond to questions concerning its integrity.
• Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, references, data, images, analysis, interpretation and conclusions of their submissions.
• Use of generative AI to create or materially revise manuscript content must be disclosed transparently. The disclosure should identify the tool and explain how and where it was used.
• Routine tools that only correct spelling, grammar or formatting without generating or materially changing scholarly content do not normally require disclosure.
• Where AI is used as part of the research method, its use must be described sufficiently and reproducibly, including the relevant tool, version where available, purpose, inputs, validation and human oversight.
• AI must not be used to fabricate or falsify text, references, data, results, images, participant information, reviewer identities or other research records.
• AI-generated or AI-manipulated figures and research images are not permitted unless the use of AI is itself part of the reported research method and is described transparently and reproducibly.
• Authors must verify AI-generated output against reliable original sources. AI-generated references or claims must not be accepted without verification.
• Reviewers and editors must not upload manuscripts, supplementary files, review reports, personal data or confidential editorial information to external AI systems where confidentiality and data protection cannot be assured.
• AI must not replace independent human judgement in peer review or editorial decision-making.

Undisclosed or inappropriate use of AI may result in a request for clarification or correction, rejection of a submission, withdrawal of a review report or appropriate post-publication action.

Fees and Charges

The Journal does not charge authors any manuscript submission fee or publication fee, including an article processing charge (APC).

No payment is required for peer review, editorial evaluation or publication of an accepted article. Editorial decisions are independent of financial considerations.

Readers may access published content without a subscription or access charge under the Journal's open access policy.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright in their published work and grant the Journal the right to publish and distribute the article.

Published articles are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Under this licence, users may copy, share, distribute, adapt and build upon the published work, including for commercial purposes, provided that:

• Appropriate credit is given to the author or authors and the original publication;
• A link to the licence is provided; and
• Any changes made to the work are indicated.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any copyrighted figures, tables, text, questionnaires, data or other third-party material that is not covered by the licence applicable to the original source.

The licence applying to journal articles is separate from the copyright and terms governing the Journal's website, logos and other publisher-owned materials.

Disclaimer

The statements, opinions, interpretations and conclusions expressed in published content are those of the author or authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors, editorial board, Journal or Publisher.

Editorial acceptance and publication do not constitute endorsement of any opinion, method, product, treatment, device, service, institution or organisation mentioned in an article.

Published content is intended for scholarly and professional information. It does not replace individual clinical judgement, professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Healthcare decisions must be based on the circumstances of the individual patient, current evidence and applicable professional standards.

Authors retain responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of their work. The editors and Publisher take reasonable steps to support scholarly quality and publication integrity but cannot accept responsibility for injury, loss or other consequences arising from the use or interpretation of published content.

References or links to external websites, products or services are provided for scholarly information and do not imply endorsement or guarantee their continued availability, accuracy or security.

Abstracting and Indexing

The Journal is currently covered by the abstracting, indexing and discovery services listed below. Coverage may vary by year, volume, document type or database policy.

This information is reviewed periodically and updated to reflect the Journal's current status. Inclusion in a discovery service does not necessarily mean that every published item is individually indexed.

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