This statement sets out the ethical standards expected of all parties involved in publishing with this journal, authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher (International Journal Press). It is based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and Best Practice Guidelines.

1. Publication and authorship

• All submitted manuscripts are screened for originality and similarity, and are subject to double-anonymous peer review.
• Acceptance is based solely on academic merit, originality, clarity, validity, and relevance to the journal's scope, never on the authors' identity, affiliation, or ability to pay.
• All sources of financial support and any conflicts of interest must be disclosed.

2. Author responsibilities

• Authors must ensure the work is entirely original, properly cited, and not published or under consideration elsewhere (see the Duplicate Submission Policy).
• Authorship is limited to those who made a significant contribution; ghost, guest, and gift authorship are prohibited. All listed authors must approve the final manuscript.
• Data must be accurate and, where required, available; fabrication, falsification, and image manipulation are serious misconduct.
• Authors must promptly notify the editor of any significant error and cooperate with corrections or retraction (see Corrections & Retractions).
• Use of AI tools must be disclosed (see the AI Policy).

3. Editor responsibilities

• Editors decide which submissions are published, based on validity and importance to readers and researchers, free from commercial influence.
• Editors evaluate manuscripts on intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, or political philosophy.
• Editors and editorial staff preserve the confidentiality of submitted material and recuse themselves where a conflict of interest exists.
• Editors take responsibility for the integrity of the published record and act on suspected misconduct following COPE flowcharts.

4. Reviewer responsibilities

• Reviewers assist editorial decisions and help authors improve their manuscripts through constructive, objective, evidence-based feedback.
• Reviews are confidential; manuscripts must not be shared, retained, or used. Reviewers must not upload manuscripts to public or generative-AI tools.
• Reviewers must declare competing interests and decline if a conflict exists or expertise is insufficient, and should flag any suspected ethical breach to the editor.

5. Publisher responsibilities

• International Journal Press supports the editors in upholding these standards, maintains the integrity of the academic record, and ensures that business needs never compromise editorial independence.
• The publisher works with editors to handle allegations and, where necessary, to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies.

6. Dealing with malpractice

Allegations of misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, redundant or duplicate publication, authorship disputes, and undisclosed conflicts of interest, are investigated following COPE guidance, regardless of when they come to light. Concerns may be raised in confidence with the Editor-in-Chief at [email protected]. Outcomes range from clarification and correction to an expression of concern, retraction, and notification of the author's institution. See also the Allegation of Misconduct, Conflict of Interest, and Plagiarism policies.