Publication Ethics

This journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices.

Authorship. Everyone listed as an author must have made a substantial contribution and must
approve the submission. We e-mail every named co-author to confirm this independently. Anyone
who did not consent to being listed can dispute it, and we investigate.

Originality. Manuscripts must be original, not under consideration elsewhere, and free of
plagiarism. We run a similarity check on every submission. A high similarity score prompts
editorial scrutiny; it is not on its own treated as proof of misconduct.

Data and reproducibility. Authors must state where their data can be found. We encourage
deposit in a public repository with a citable DOI.

Conflicts of interest. Authors, reviewers and editors must declare any financial or personal
relationship that could reasonably be seen to influence their judgement. An editor with a
conflict hands the manuscript to a colleague.

Misconduct. Allegations are handled confidentially through a documented case process. Where
an allegation is substantiated we issue a correction, an expression of concern, or a
retraction as the seriousness warrants.

Appeals. Authors may appeal a decision on the grounds of a specific factual error or a
material misunderstanding. Appeals are considered by the Editor-in-Chief, who was not the
deciding editor.