Ethical requirements

For the editor

The editor makes the final decision regarding all the content. Decisions may be made by issues unrelated to the quality of a manuscript, such as suitability for the journal. The editor can reject any article at any time before publication, including after acceptance if concerns arise about the integrity of the work.

- Reviewers' and authors' identities are kept confidential.

- The existence of a submitted manuscript is not revealed to anyone other than the reviewers and editorial staff.

For authors

- Upon submission, by checking off predesigned statements, author(s) should certify that neither the submitted manuscript nor another one with substantially similar content under their authorship has been published in any language or being considered for publication elsewhere.

- Author(s) should take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, from inception to published article

- Author(s) should guarantee that data is available and will be provided if anyone needs them.

- In the event that an author is added or removed from the list of authors, written acceptance, signed by author(s), must be submitted to the editorial office.

- Sources of financial support for the project should be acknowledged.

- If the study involves human beings, the author(s) must include a statement that the study was approved by the local ethical committee and give a valid code of ethics and that written informed consent was obtained from the study participants. For those who do not have formal ethics review committees, the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki should be followed. Also, the compliance of maintenance and care of experimental animals with National Institutes of Health guidelines for the human use of laboratory animals should be declared in text.

- All relevant permissions to use unpublished observations of others must be obtained by the manuscript author(s) and stated in the text. The names of the original author(s) should be declared. Also, permission must be obtained to reproduce or adapt any figures or tables that have been published previously and declared in the legend/footnote.

- Author(s) should certify that their research study is in agreement with the regulations of their institution(s) and generally accepted guidelines governing such work; contains no violation of any existing copyright or other third-party rights; and is free of any obscene, indecent, libelous, or otherwise unlawful material.

For reviewers

- Reviewers are required to keep manuscripts and their information confidential.

- They must not use knowledge of the manuscript before its publication for their personal interests.

- The reviewers' comments should be constructive, honest, and polite.

- Reviewers should declare their conflicts of interest and decline review if a conflict exists. Knowing the author(s) must not affect their comments and decision.