Dealing With Unethical Behaviour

Anyone may inform the Editor-in-Chief / Editorial Board at any time of suspected unethical behavior or misconduct by giving the necessary credible information/evidence to start an investigation.

• Editor-in-Chief decides the initiation of an investigation.
• During an investigation, any evidence should be treated as confidential and only made available to those strictly involved in the process.
• The accused will always be allowed to respond to any charges against them.
• If it is judged at the end of the investigation that misconduct occurred, it will be classified as severe or minor.

Minor misconduct (with no influence on the integrity of the paper and the journal, for example, when it comes to misunderstanding or wrong application of publishing standards) will be dealt with directly with authors and reviewers without involving any other parties. Outcomes include:

• Sending a warning letter to authors and reviewers.
• Publishing correction of a paper, e.g., when sources quoted correctly in the text are omitted from the reference list.
• Publishing an erratum, e.g., if the error was made by editorial staff.

 In the case of major misconduct, the Editor-in-Chief / Editorial Board may adopt different measures:

• Publication of a formal announcement or editorial describing the misconduct.
• Informing the author's/reviewer's affiliating institution officially.
• The formally announced retraction of publications from the journal under the Retraction Policy.
• A ban on submissions from an individual for a defined period.
• Referring a case to a professional organization or legal authority for further investigation and action.

The above actions may be taken separately or jointly. If necessary, relevant expert organizations, bodies, or individuals may be consulted to resolve the case.

When dealing with unethical behavior, the Editorial Board will rely on the guidelines and recommendations provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).