For Editors

Editorial Responsibilities

Editorial Independence and Decision-Making

Editors are responsible for ensuring that all editorial decisions are made independently, consistently, and without undue influence. Manuscripts are evaluated based on scientific validity, methodological rigor, originality, and relevance to the journal scope. Final decisions on acceptance, revision, or rejection must be informed by peer review reports and aligned with established editorial policies and ethical publishing standards.

Confidentiality and Information Security

Editors must maintain strict confidentiality at all stages of manuscript handling. This obligation applies to all submitted materials, correspondence, reviewer identities, and editorial assessments. Manuscript content must not be disclosed to any unauthorized individuals and must remain confidential until formal publication.

Integrity of the Peer Review Process

Editors are responsible for ensuring that peer review is conducted in a fair, impartial, and timely manner. Reviewer selection and evaluation must be based solely on subject expertise and scientific competence. Editorial judgments must remain free from personal, institutional, commercial, or financial bias. Any potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed and appropriately managed in accordance with journal policy.

Management of Reviewer Selection and Author Recommendations

Editors may consider author-suggested reviewers; however, such recommendations must be independently verified for expertise, credibility, and absence of conflicts of interest. Editors retain full discretion in selecting reviewers and are responsible for ensuring the independence and suitability of all appointed reviewers.

Author requests to exclude specific reviewers may be considered where justified, provided that such requests do not compromise the integrity, fairness, or comprehensiveness of the review process.

Publication Ethics and Misconduct Prevention

Editors are responsible for actively safeguarding the integrity of the scholarly record. This includes identifying and addressing potential cases of plagiarism, duplicate submission, redundant publication, data fabrication, citation manipulation, and other forms of research or publication misconduct.

Manuscripts should be subject to systematic ethical screening throughout the editorial workflow, including initial submission assessment, pre-decision evaluation, and final production checks. Where concerns arise, editors must take appropriate action in accordance with COPE guidelines and journal ethical policies.