Publication Ethics & Malpractice

Frontiers in Research journal's ethics statement is grounded in the Code of Conduct guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), accessible at www.publicationethics.org.

This journal adheres to the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, as well as the Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers and Core Practices, striving to follow these Best Practice Guidelines. As a robust Frontiers in Research scientific community, which includes the publisher, editors, authors, and reviewers, we are all committed to upholding these ethical standards.

Publisher Responsibilities

Frontiers in Research is published by Symphony, which is referred to as the "Publisher" in this context.

  • The Publisher is responsible for setting policies and designing the journal's website in alignment with COPE's Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.
  • All accepted papers will be published as open access under the CC BY 4.0 license, with no fees charged for submission, processing, or publishing.
  • The Publisher will collaborate regularly with editors, editorial board members, and editorial assistants to develop and follow journal policies per COPE guidelines.
  • Editorial independence is ensured by the Publisher, who respects the peer review process and does not interfere with editorial decisions.
  • Journal volumes and issues will be released promptly, as committed by the Publisher.
  • The Publisher maintains neutrality regarding jurisdictional claims in maps and institutional affiliations.
  • Research ethics, consent, confidentiality, and legal requirements for human and animal research are enforced by the Publisher.
  • Contracts with editors and third parties are managed by the Publisher to protect intellectual property, privacy, and editorial independence.
  • Financial support from sponsors will not influence the journal's publishing policies, as guaranteed by the Publisher.
  • Transparency and integrity in research funding, conflicts of interest, and reporting standards are priorities for the Publisher.
  • The Publisher ensures the journal's policies are followed, particularly in handling appeals and complaints.
  • The integrity of scientific research is upheld by the Publisher.
  • In cases of suspected research and publication misconduct, the Publisher will assist third parties, such as grant funders and institutions, in their investigations and resolutions.
  • Clarifications, corrections, and retractions will be published based on the editorial board's decisions.

Editor Responsibilities

  • Frontiers in Research editors function independently to ensure that editorial review decisions are not influenced by external agencies or government policies.
  • Frontiers in Research editors supervise the peer-review process and make final publication decisions based on reviewer feedback and input from the editorial board.
  • The evaluation of manuscripts by Frontiers in Research editors is based solely on scientific merit, without considering the author's gender, age, race, nationality, ethnic background, religion, political views, or institutional affiliation.
  • Frontiers in Research editors are responsible for enforcing and implementing the journal's publication policies.
  • When issues like copyright infringement, plagiarism, or libel arise, Frontiers in Research editors form a committee from the editorial board to address them.
  • All information about submitted manuscripts is kept confidential by Frontiers in Research editors and editorial board members, who only share it with the corresponding author and the publisher.
  • The Frontiers in Research editor-in-chief and editors have the full authority to publish content promptly once manuscripts are accepted.
  • Assigning manuscripts to reviewers with relevant expertise in the research field is the responsibility of Frontiers in Research editors.
  • At least two reviewers with relevant expertise peer review each submitted manuscript. If their feedback is inconclusive, a third reviewer is assigned.
  • Unpublished materials or information from submitted manuscripts cannot be used by Frontiers in Research editors and editorial board members for their research without the authors' written consent.
  • Frontiers in Research editors must avoid using privileged information or ideas from handling manuscripts for personal gain and must maintain confidentiality.
  • When conflicts of interest arise due to competition, collaboration, or other relationships with authors, companies, or institutions, Frontiers in Research editors must not handle the editorial process. Another editor will be assigned in such cases.
  • Authors must disclose any competing interests for published manuscripts, and Frontiers in Research editors will publish corrections if such interests are discovered after publication. Retractions or declarations of concern may be issued if necessary.
  • Corrections and retractions are issued by Frontiers in Research editors to maintain the integrity of published manuscripts when ethical issues are raised.
  • Ethical complaints regarding submitted or published manuscripts are monitored by Frontiers in Research editors, who take action in line with journal policies.
  • All reported unethical publishing acts are investigated by Frontiers in Research editors, even if discovered years later. Validated violations will result in retractions or corrections published in the journal.
  • COPE Flowcharts guide Frontiers in Research editors in dealing with suspected misconduct cases.
  • Frontiers in Research editors and editorial board members can submit manuscripts to Frontiers in Research but cannot participate in the peer-review and editorial decision-making for their submissions. An independent guest editor appointed by the publisher handles this process, and the readers are informed about how these manuscripts are managed. In case of disagreements, Frontiers in Research follows COPE Guidelines.

Guest Editor Responsibilities

  • Guest Editors must ensure that the content in the Thematic Issue meets the journal's aims and scope.
  • Guest Editors are not permitted to ask authors to include citations solely to boost references to their own work, their co-authors' work, the journal, or any other journal they are involved with.
  • The Thematic Issue can include articles by Guest Editors, but these must not exceed 25% of the total articles, excluding the editorial manuscript.
  • Any article submitted by a Guest Editor will have its editorial process overseen by a different Editor and will go through an external double-blind peer review.
  • Guest Editors must keep all submitted materials confidential.

Reviewer Responsibilities

  • Peer review is the process used to evaluate the quality of manuscripts before publication. Independent experts in the relevant field review the manuscripts to assess their validity, originality, and importance, helping editors decide if the manuscript should be published in Frontiers in Research.
  • Frontiers in Research reviewers must ensure that all manuscripts are evaluated impartially, based on their scientific content alone, without regard to the author's gender, age, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ethnic background, religion, political beliefs, or institutional affiliation.
  • Frontiers in Research reviewers must notify the editor of any conflicts of interest and should decline to review a manuscript if such conflicts exist.
  • Frontiers in Research reviewers must provide constructive and objective reviews, avoiding any hostile, inflammatory, libelous, or personal derogatory remarks.
  • Frontiers in Research reviewers must conduct timely reviews for manuscripts within their area of expertise.
  • Frontiers in Research reviewers are forbidden from using privileged information or ideas obtained through the review process for personal gain or to disadvantage others.
  • Frontiers in Research reviewers must keep all manuscript information confidential.
  • Frontiers in Research reviewers must submit their detailed review reports to the Frontiers in Research editors confidentially via the journal management system.
  • Frontiers in Research reviewers can recommend one of the following actions for submitted manuscripts:
    • Accept for Publication
    • Revisions Required (Accept with minor revisions, checked by editors)
    • Resubmit for Review (Major revisions, requiring another round of review)
    • Reject (Not recommended for publication)
    • Submit Elsewhere (Not within the journal's scope, leading to rejection)
  • If necessary, based on the reviewers' recommendations, a third or fourth reviewer may be assigned, and the same review process will apply.

Author Responsibilities

  • All individuals who meet the criteria for authorship as defined by Frontiers in Research must be listed as authors. Frontiers in Research mandates that all authors publicly take responsibility for the content of the submitted manuscripts, with each author's specific contributions outlined in the "Declarations" section.
  • During the submission process, authors should be contacted via email to confirm their awareness and approval of the manuscript's submission, content, and authorship.
  • Authors must attest that their manuscripts are original, not previously published, free from plagiarism, and not under consideration elsewhere.
  • Authors are accountable for any issues related to plagiarism, copyright violations, or other infringements. If the manuscript includes copyrighted material from third parties, appropriate permissions or acknowledgments must be obtained and declared in a cover letter during submission.
  • Ethical principles followed in research involving human and animal subjects should be detailed in the declarations and/or methods section.
  • Authors must clearly disclose any potential conflicts of interest for each author.
  • Manuscripts should be submitted with honesty and clarity, avoiding falsification, fabrication, or improper data manipulation. Research methods must be clearly presented to enable other researchers to verify the results.
  • Authors might be required to supply raw data for editorial evaluation and should be ready to retain such data for an appropriate duration following publication.
  • Manuscripts must be submitted ethically and responsibly, adhering to the journal's publishing policies and scope.
  • Any resources such as data, support, or financial assistance that contributed to the manuscript must be acknowledged, including grants, foundations, or institutions.
  • Authors must inform Frontiers in Research editors of any errors or inaccuracies found after publication.
  • Manuscripts should be submitted to only one journal at a time. Submitting the same article to multiple journals simultaneously is considered unethical and unacceptable.
  • Authors must agree that the publisher retains all copyrights unconditionally and indefinitely for the distribution of the published manuscripts.

Authorship & Contributorship

  • Authors must detail their roles in the "Declarations" section of the manuscript and confirm their awareness and approval of the manuscript's submission, content, and authorship during the submission process.
  • The order of authors should reflect their contributions to the manuscript, rather than their academic position or other power indicators. Authorship credit should be based on specific contributions to the writing process.
  • All individuals who have contributed to the creation of the intellectual content must be listed as authors. "Ghost" authorship is prohibited, and it is unacceptable to include individuals who have not directly contributed to the research or its written outputs.
  • Authors' status and institutional affiliations must be clearly indicated in the research and its outputs.
  • All external sources of support, whether financial or in-kind, such as organizations or sponsors that directly or indirectly supported the research, must be acknowledged.
  • The publication history of submitted articles or books must be provided. If a submitted work is similar in content and format to a previously published work, this should be noted, and the details of the previous publication must be indicated.
  • Frontiers in Research follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)—see here and here—when handling disagreements among authors.

Plagiarism Policy

Frontiers in Research utilizes plagiarism detection software to confirm the authenticity of submitted manuscripts. Although authors are accountable for ensuring the originality of their manuscripts, the software serves as an extra precautionary measure. Based on the originality check results, the editorial team may request explanations, evidence, or revisions from the authors.

Frontiers in Research strongly oppose any form of unethical copying or plagiarism. It is not acceptable to reproduce text from other articles (plagiarism) without properly citing the source or to produce a large number of articles with almost the same content by the same authors (self-plagiarism). It is unethical to submit the same results to more than one journal at the same time. Review articles are the exception. Authors may not present results obtained by others as their own. Authors should appreciate the work of others used in their research and cite publications that have influenced the direction and course of their work.

Conflicts of Interest Statement

Editors

Editors should be responsible for managing the review process and have the right to decline any submission in case of any conflict-of-interest. They should not have any direct personal and/or financial conflicts with their assigned manuscripts. They should not be assigned to manuscripts if they are on the author list.

Reviewers

Reviewers should be responsible for declining the review process if any substantial conflicts-of-interest exist. In case of any doubt, they should consult the Editor to make a decision regarding the review process. Researchers from authors' institutions should not be considered as peer reviewers to prevent any conflicts-of-interest.

Authors

According to the general publication policy of Frontiers in Research, only the researchers who contributed to the work in a real sense should be considered as authors. Authors should be responsible for disclosing all the personal and financial relationships that might bias their work. Financial relationships such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, and paid expert testimony can be classified as the most easily identifiable conflicts-of-interest and the most likely to undermine the credibility of the journal. To clarify the conflicts-of-interest issues, authors must submit a letter to the editorial office accompanying the submitted manuscript and explicitly state if any potential conflicts exist or not.

Complaints & Appeals Policy

Complaints regarding any published materials will only be accepted within 12 months from the first publication date. In case of any complaint, the authors are required to submit their complaints along with their reasons to the editorial office via journals@symphonypub.com email address.

*Prepared by the publisher, reviewed, and approved by Frontiers in Research Editors and commissioned Editorial Board Members. Updated on 27 June 2024.