| 1. Duties of Authors | |
| Reporting standards | Authors reporting original research results should present a correct account of the work done, along with a fair discussion of its significance. Data sources should be presented precisely. An article should provide sufficient information and references to allow others to replicate the work. |
| Data Access and Retention | Authors should be able to provide the raw data related to an article for editorial review if asked. Authors also should be ready to provide public access to this data. They should keep the data for a reasonable time span after the publication of the article. |
| Originality and Plagiarism | Authors should issue a statement that their work is originally written. If the work and/or words of others have been used, this fact has to be appropriately presented (i.e. cited or quoted). Every manuscript received will be checked for plagiarism. No part of manuscript should have plagiarized content. On Detection of Plagiarism following actions can be taken: – Immediate rejection of the manuscript. – Prohibition against all of the authors for any new submissions to the journal. – The Director/Dean/Head of the concerned College, Institution or Organization or the Vice Chancellor/Rector of the University to which the author is affiliated shall be contacted in order to undertake relevant action against the concerned author. |
| Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication | Authors must not suggest for publishing manuscripts containing basically the same research output which is submitted to one or more other journals for primary publication. A basic principle is that submitting concurrently the same paper to more than one publisher represents unethical publishing behavior and is not acceptable. |
| Acknowledgement of Sources | Proper acknowledgment of the work of other authors must always be provided. Authors should cite those publications which had a substantial impact in the scientific area of the manuscript. |
| Authorship of the Paper | Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the content of the manuscript – all those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author is responsible for the list of co-authors which should include only actual contributors. |
| Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest | All authors should disclose any financial or other possible conflict of interest that might be considered as influencing the results or their interpretation. |
| Errors in already published works | If any author discovers a substantial error or imprecision in a published work, it is her/his responsibility to promptly notify the Editorial Board and cooperate with the editor to withdraw or correct the paper. |
| 2. Duties of Editors | |
| Publication decisions | The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the decision which of the submitted articles should be published. The Editor-in-Chief is guided by the policies of the Editorial Board for compliance with legal requirements regarding offensive statements, copyright violations, and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief may consult with other editors or with reviewers for finalizing the decision. |
| Fair play | Members of the Editorial Board should evaluate manuscripts for their scientific content disregarding any race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors. |
| Confidentiality | Members of the Editorial Board should not disclose any information about a submitted paper to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and representatives of the publisher. The Editorial Board must guarantee the double-blind peer review process in which both authors and referees are anonymous. |
| Disclosure and conflicts of interest | Members of the Editorial Board must not disclose the content of any unpublished materials from a submitted manuscript or use it for their own research without the written consent of the authors. |
| 3. Duties of Reviewers | |
| Contribution to Editorial Decisions | Reviewers contribute to the editorial decision making process regarding submitted manuscripts. Reviewers should assist the authors in refining their manuscripts through editorial communications. |
| Promptness | A reviewer who considers her/himself unqualified to review the suggested research output or finds out that the manuscripts cannot be reviewed promptly should notify the Editor-in-Chief and withdraw from the review process. |
| Confidentiality | Reviewers must treat any manuscript received for review as a confidential document. Reviewers must not expose to or discussed with any other party the content of the manuscript, unless authorized by the Editor-in-Chief and the authors. |
| Standards of Objectivity | РReviewers should act according to the objectivity premise. Reviewers should communicate their opinion clearly on the basis of supporting arguments. |
| Acknowledgement of Sources | Reviewers must inform the Editor-in-Chief about any substantial similarity or overlap between a submitted manuscript and any other published work which they are personally acquainted. Reviewers are also expected to identify relevant published work not cited by the authors. |
| Disclosure and Conflict of Interest | Reviewers must keep confidential and must not use for personal benefit any information or ideas obtained during the peer review of a submitted manuscript. Reviewers should reject to consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other links which they may have with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated to the research work. |
| 4. Duties of the Publisher | |
| Independence of editorial decisions | The publisher shall not be involved in decisions made by the Editorial Board about the publication of individual articles. The publisher is committed to ensure that advertising, reprint or other commercial activity will have no impact on editorial decisions. |
| Networking with other publishers | The publisher shall assist the Editorial Board in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful to the Board and/or reviewers. |
| Alignment to international standards | The publishers shall cooperate to other renowned publishers and industry associations in the process of establishing standards for best practices on ethical matters, errors and retractions. |
