1. Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

• Publication Decisions & Fair Play: Editors evaluate manuscripts solely on their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors, in accordance with COPE Guidelines on Diversity and Inclusivity.
• Confidentiality: Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and publisher, as outlined in the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors.
• Handling Allegations of Misconduct: Editors shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred (including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication) by following the COPE Flowcharts.
• Disclosure & Conflicts of Interest: Editors must not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research without the express written consent of the author, per COPE Handling Conflicts of Interest.

2. Duties and Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

• Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and helps authors improve their manuscripts, as referenced in COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.
• Promptness: Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor immediately, as mandated in COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.
• Confidentiality & Objectivity: Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviews must be conducted objectively with clear supporting arguments, avoiding personal criticism, adhering to COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

3. Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

• Reporting Standards & Data Access: Authors must present an accurate account of the research performed and an objective discussion of its significance, remaining prepared to provide raw data if requested, in accordance with COPE Data and Reproducibility Practices.
• Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if they have used the work or words of others, this must be appropriately cited according to COPE Guidelines on Plagiarism.
• Multiple or Concurrent Publication: Authors should not submit or publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication, referring to COPE Redundant Publication Flowcharts.
• Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study, and all co-authors must approve the final version of the manuscript, as set out in COPE Authorship and Contributorship Guidelines.
• Disclosure & Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial or substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript, per COPE Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests.

4. Duties and Responsibilities of the Publisher

• Guardianship of Publishing Ethics: The publisher is committed to ensuring that editorial independence is preserved and supports journal editors in enforcing publication ethics according to COPE Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.
• Corrections, Retractions, and Clarifications: In cases of proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will issue corrections, clarifications, or formal retractions following COPE Retraction Guidelines.