ℹ Core Practices and Commitments

• COPE: Our journal adopts the “Core Practices” guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
• DOAJ: It adheres to the exemplary practice guidelines titled “Transparency and Best Practice” by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
• BOAI: It implements the “International Ethical Publishing Principles” established by the Budapest Open Access Initiative.

• Data Sharing & Repository: Authors are encouraged to share their data and upload datasets to a recognized data repository capable of generating a persistent digital identifier (e.g., DOI), provided it does not violate privacy concerns.
• Data Availability Statement: Authors must specify all datasets referenced in the article and provide a Data Availability Statement.
• Peer Review: Datasets associated with an article do not formally undergo peer review; ensuring data robustness is the author's responsibility.

⚙ Duties of Editors

1. Impartiality and Independence: Editors evaluate submissions solely on academic merit (importance, originality, validity, clarity) and relevance to the journal's scope. Gender, race, beliefs, political philosophy, or institution are not considered. Government or external institutional policies do not influence decisions.

2. Confidentiality: Information regarding a submitted manuscript cannot be shared with anyone other than the author(s), reviewers, assistant editors, and the publisher.

3. Conflicts of Interest: Editors cannot use unpublished information for their own benefit without the author's explicit consent. In cases of conflict of interest, another board member will be assigned for the evaluation.

4. Publication Decisions: The Editor-in-Chief decides which articles will be published based on the reports of at least two expert reviewers, the validity of the research, and legal requirements (defamation, copyright infringement, plagiarism).

5. Ensuring Publication Integrity: Any reported unethical behavior will be investigated, even years after publication. If proven, a correction, retraction, or expression of concern will be published.

⌭ Duties of Reviewers

1. Contribution to Publication Decisions: The process operates on a double-blind peer-review principle. Reviewers cannot contact authors directly; reports are communicated via the journal management system.

2. Promptness: An invited reviewer must notify the editor as soon as possible whether they can conduct the review. The maximum review period is 30 days.

3. Confidentiality: Submissions are confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others (except with the exceptional permission of the Editor-in-Chief).

4. Principle of Impartiality: Personal criticism is prohibited. Evaluations must be objective and contribute to improving the study.

5. Acknowledging Sources: Reviewers must notify the editor of uncited quotations, overlapping content with similar works, or similarities with previously published materials.

6. Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers with connections to the author, company, or institution must decline the assignment. Reviewers cannot use unpublished materials for their own research without consent and must keep acquired information confidential.