Publishing Ethics
1) The journal follows the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE, http://publicationethics.org/).
2) The journal will use plagiarism detection software developed by CPVIP, CNKI and Wanfang Data to screen each submission. If plagiarism is identified, the COPE guidelines on plagiarism will be followed.
3) Content published in this journal is peer reviewed (single blind). We are committed to publishing original work by the named author or authors.
4) The editorial office strives to respect the protection of intellectual property and requires editors, authors and reviewers to do so. Any potential infringement should be avoided. Third-party infringement to the intellectual property of the journal is prohibited. On the premise of intellectual property protection, the journal encourages the practice of open science. Authors are encouraged to publish or share their research data whenever appropriate. The data for sharing may include original data, observation records, experimental results, etc. The journal also encourages the sharing of software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods and other useful materials. Authors can upload the materials above to an accessible third-party repository and make a proper citation or add a link at the end of the article.
For Authors
1) Submission must be an original contribution by the named author or authors, and has never been published before. Plagiarism and self-plagiarism are considered unethical, and the bibliography information should be clearly annotated in the references. The data should be true and non-deceptive. All academic misconduct is strictly prohibited.
2) All authors should be contributors to the work. There should be no dispute in the author order, and the corresponding author should ensure that publication of the paper be authorized by all authors. Alteration of the author ranking should be determined before publication and should be consented by all authors. Authors should specify their contribution in the Contribution Form.
3) Funds information should be indicated in the manuscript. Support or aid for the publication of the work by persons having no author qualifications should be clearly stated in the acknowledgement.
4) All authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest, i.e., when the financing/ personal status/ affiliation of the authors (or the authors' organization/ employer) may affect the authors' decision, work or manuscript. When a product is involved, the author should also disclose whether there is a conflict of interest against competitive products. Authors should also submit the Statement of Competing Interests.
5) We are against any unethical publishing behavior (e.g. fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate submission, etc.). If any misconduct is found, sanctions will include: Retracting the paper, informing the authors' affilation, issuing online and printed announcement, and banning submissions from the same authors for three years.
For Reviewers
1) Comments should be objective and fair. Opinions on the academic value and whether the paper can meet the publication standards should be clear and precise to avoid ambiguity.
2) A reviewer should respect different academic views and shall not make rude, aggressive comments. Serious scientific misconduct should be reported to the editorial board.
3) If a reviewer is not familiar with the research topic so that she/he cannot make a fair peer review, the editorial board should be informed. For papers with conflicts in interests or having shared benefits, avoidance of peer review is required.
4) When a peer review invitation is accepted, the review comments should be submitted within the planed time; delays for completion of review should be notified to the editorial board in time.
For Editors
1) Editors should make efforts to ensure the justice of review and reduce bias, and to ensure the timely process for contribution by arranging peer review and publication promptly, especially for papers with important findings.
2) Editors should ensure the journal publication on time with schedule, report novel and authentic researches, give priority to publication of frontier research issues, and avoid publication with academic misconducts including plagiarism/self-plagiarism.
3) A suitable and competent reviewers' database should be established and maintained. Quality of reviewing tasks by reviews/editorial board members should truthfully recorded and evaluated.
4) Editors should convey the experts' review comments to the author timely, coordinate academic discussions and communications between the author and reviewer. Offensive or defamatory comments are not considered. The author's/authors’ appeal on the final decision is accepted.
5) Editors should make recommendation (revision, rejection or acceptance) based on the merits, originality, and relevance of the paper. For papers with conflicts in interests or having shared benefits, avoidance of processing the paper is required. Meanwhile the author should be informed of the rights to make appeals after receiving the final decision.
6) We are against any unethical publishing behavior (e.g. fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate submission, etc.). If the misconduct is found, sanctions will include: retracting the paper, informing the authors' affiliations, issuing online and printed announcement, and banning the submissions from authors for three years.
Statement of Competing Interests
