Research ethics and integrity

Ethical oversight

Research involving humans, minors, vulnerable populations, animals, personal data, identifiable images, surveys, interviews, digital platforms, educational settings, or business environments must comply with applicable law and ethical principles. Where relevant, the committee name, approval code and date, consent, assent, or authorization are required. When ethics review is not required, the reason must be explained.

The journal may request supporting documents confidentially. Approval is not required where it is legally and methodologically inapplicable, but a sufficient explanation remains necessary.

Competing interests

Authors, reviewers, editors, committee members, and providers must disclose financial, employment, academic, institutional, commercial, family, personal, relevant ideological, or intellectual-property conflicts. The absence of conflicts must also be stated.

Funding

Each article identifies the funder, grant where applicable, the funder’s role, or the absence of funding. Research funding is independent of editorial decisions.

Misconduct

Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, image or review manipulation, improper authorship, concealed conflicts, duplicate publication, manipulated citations, harassment, discrimination, misuse of confidential information, and editorial fraud are investigated. Allegations are not published without investigation.

Allegations

Concerns should be sent to the official contact with a clear description and available evidence. Confidentiality is protected within legal and procedural limits, conflicts are avoided, and a written outcome is communicated where possible.

Diversity and non-discrimination

Decisions do not depend on nationality, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, age, institutional position, political ideology, or economic status. The journal encourages geographic and institutional diversity, respectful language, and accessibility without claiming quotas or diversity not yet achieved.

The policies draw on international editorial ethics good practice; this does not imply COPE membership or external certification.