Section 1 Ethical Guidelines for Authors

• Reporting Standards & Scientific Rigor: Authors must provide an accurate, objective account of original research and empirical data, followed by a sound discussion of its theoretical and practical significance. Underlying data must be represented accurately. Fraudulent, fabricated, or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute grave scientific misconduct and are strictly unacceptable.
• Originality, Plagiarism & Duplicate Submission: Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original. Plagiarism in all its manifestations—including verbatim copying, improper paraphrasing, or unauthorized appropriation of ideas—is impermissible. Submitting essentially the same research to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and leads to immediate desk rejection.
• Authorship Criteria & Contributorship: Authorship must be limited strictly to individuals who made substantive contributions to the conception, design, data acquisition, analysis, or drafting of the study. All eligible co-authors must be listed and must confirm their approval of the final submitted manuscript.
• Generative AI and LLMs Policy for Authors: In line with COPE and WAME standards, artificial intelligence tools and Large Language Models (e.g., ChatGPT) do not qualify for authorship as they cannot assume legal or ethical accountability. Authors must transparently disclose any use of generative AI technologies in the Methodology or Acknowledgments sections.
• Disclosure & Conflicts of Interest: Authors must explicitly declare any financial, commercial, or personal relationships that might be construed to inappropriately influence or bias the findings or interpretations of their paper.
• Data Access & Retention: Authors may be requested to provide raw empirical data in connection with editorial review and should retain such datasets for a reasonable period following publication.
• Acknowledgment of Sources: Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors must cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported study.
• Correction of Fundamental Errors: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published article, it is their obligation to promptly notify the Editor-in-Chief to facilitate an official erratum, corrigendum, or retraction.

Section 2 Ethical Guidelines for Reviewers

• Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Double-blind peer review assists the Editor-in-Chief in making editorial decisions and assists authors in enhancing the scientific quality and presentation of their manuscripts.
• Strict Prohibition of AI in Peer Review & Data Confidentiality: In accordance with COPE guidelines on Generative AI, reviewers must never upload or input unpublished manuscripts (in whole or in part) into artificial intelligence tools, chatbots, or online generative platforms (such as ChatGPT, Claude, or translation engines). Uploading unpublished work violates author confidentiality, breaches data privacy and intellectual property rights, and compromises the integrity of the peer-review process. Peer review requires human critical expertise, judgment, and personal intellectual accountability.
• Promptness & Responsiveness: Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review the assigned manuscript or knows that its timely review (within the standard 30-day window) will be impossible should immediately notify the editorial office and decline the invitation.
• Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as strictly confidential documents. They must not be shown to, shared with, or discussed with others without explicit prior authorization from the Editor-in-Chief.
• Objectivity & Impartiality: Reviews should be conducted objectively and constructively. Personal criticism of the authors is strictly unacceptable. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments and literature references.
• Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors and alert the editor to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published work.
• Disclosure of Competing Interests: Reviewers must not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other connections with any of the authors or institutions linked to the papers.

Section 3 Ethical Guidelines for Editors

• Publication Decisions & Casting Arbiter: The Editor-in-Chief is solely responsible for deciding which of the submitted manuscripts should be published, guided by the policies of the journal and constrained by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Every paper is subject to double-blind review by two independent experts. In cases of divergent reports (one positive, one negative), the manuscript is assigned to a third independent reviewer (casting arbiter) to reach a definitive editorial resolution.
• Fair Play & Editorial Independence: Editors evaluate manuscripts exclusively for their academic, empirical, and intellectual merits, without regard to the authors' race, gender, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
• Confidentiality: Editors and editorial staff must maintain strict confidentiality regarding all submitted materials and must not disclose any details to anyone other than the corresponding author, designated reviewers, and authorized publishers.
• Submissions by Editorial Members: Submissions authored by editors or editorial board members are processed independently by external guest editors and subjected to complete double-blind review, barring interested members from accessing review files or influencing decisions.

Section 4 Duties of the Publisher & Misconduct Procedures

• Handling Research Misconduct: In proven cases of scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or serious breach of ethics, the publisher and editorial board systematically apply COPE Flowcharts to investigate allegations, issuing expressions of concern or formal retractions where warranted.
• Preservation & Long-Term Accessibility: The publisher guarantees permanent access and long-term digital preservation of all published articles through partnerships with the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) and national institutional repositories.
• Commitment to Transparency: The publisher is committed to immediate correction of errors, issuing clear clarifications, apologies, and errata to maintain the highest standards of scientific accountability.