Journal of Zhejiang University (Science Edition) adheres to internationally recognized ethical standards in publishing. In light of applicable guidelines issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and taking into account this journal's specific circumstances, we have developed the ethical statement for the publication of the journal. We require all authors, editors, and reviewers to abide by the following guidelines:
Author's Responsibilities
The authors of the manuscript must meet this journal's authorship criteria, which entails substantial participation in the research or related work and significant contributions to designing the research, gathering and analyzing data, writing the article, or making critical revisions to important content. Providing laboratory facilities or funding does not make someone an author of a manuscript. The author's responsibilities mainly include the following aspects:
1. The author must ensure that the manuscript is an authentic work, free from any academic misconduct such as plagiarism, fabrication of data, multiple submission or duplicate publication, and does not contain confidential information.
2. Clear statement should be made if the research results of others are used in the article, and permission for the use should be obtained from the original author in accordance with copyright law, so as not to infringe the intellectual property rights of others.
3. The corresponding author must ensure that all significant contributors to the article are listed as co-authors, without omission, and can only submit the manuscript with the agreement of all authors. Any individuals who have provided contributions to the research, other than the authors, should be mentioned in the acknowledgments.
4. Alterations to authorship cannot be made at will. Any additions, deletions or rearrangements of author names must be done prior to manuscript acceptance. If there are any changes needed in the authorship, the corresponding author must provide an explanation to the editorial office along with a confirmation letter indicating that all the authors have agreed. Additionally, if authors are added or removed, the confirmation letter should include confirmation from the added or deleted authors as well.
5. Authors are required to declare their individual contributions to the research and disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may affect their decision-making, work, or manuscript. Authors should complete and submit the “Authors' Declaration Form” provided by the journal. A conflict of interest could arise if the author or their institution/employer has financial, personal, or subordinate relationship that could impact their research. Additionally, when discussing specific products in the manuscript, the author must disclose any potential conflicts of interest with competing products.
Editor's Responsibilities
The responsibilities of editors mainly include (these responsibilities also apply to the Editorial Board Members):
1. Editors should make decisions based on the scientific value of the manuscript, without regard to the author's affiliation, nationality, race, gender, age, or other personal factors.
2. Editors should make every effort to ensure fair and timely peer review of submitted manuscripts.
3. Editors should ensure that the submitted manuscript is treated confidentially. No details should be disclosed to anyone other than the reviewers without the author's permission.
4. Editors should promptly inform the editorial office of any potential conflict of interest:
1) If the editor is a co-author of the article, the manuscript must be independently reviewed by other editors.
2) If the author and the editor have a relationship of interest, such as being colleagues, mentors, students, collaborators, or competitors, the manuscript must be transferred to other editors for processing.
3) If the research topic is too close to the editor's own project, the manuscript must be passed on to other editors for processing.
5. Editors should select reviewers carefully to ensure a fair review process:
1) When selecting reviewers suggested by the author, it is important to be cautious to prevent excessive affirmation. For instance, it is advisable to avoid reviewers who were the author's former mentors, students, or co-authors.
2) Furthermore, the identity of reviewers recommended by the author must be verified to ensure impartiality in the peer review process.
3) If the author suggests any reviewers to be avoided, the editor should make an effort to avoid them.
6. Editors should ensure fair and thoughtful examination and management of appeals that are against the review results of a manuscript.
7. Editors should be rigorous in their assessment of whether a manuscript is guilty of academic misconduct. For articles where academic misconduct is alleged, the editor should investigate and deal with the matter promptly.
Reviewer's Responsibilities
Reviewers should be experts in the relevant field and will be responsible for assisting the editorial office in reviewing the manuscript. Reviewer's responsibilities mainly include:
1. Reviewers should maintain confidentiality throughout the review process, including:
1) Not sharing data, information, viewpoints, and other content in the manuscript with others at will;
2) Not disclosing the reviewer's identity and review process details to others.
3) Not retaining the manuscript in any format after completing the review and should adhere to data protection regulations.
2. Reviewers should refrain from using any confidential information contained within the manuscript, including data and results, for their own research without permission.
3. If the reviewer has a relationship of interest with the author, such as being colleagues, mentors, students, collaborators, or competitors, they should proactively avoid reviewing the manuscript.
4. Reviewers must promptly review the manuscript. If they are unable to continue with the review or require more time, they should immediately inform the editorial office.
5. Reviewers should carefully and objectively review the manuscript and provide objective and impartial review comments.
6. Reviewers should comment on the manuscript in a professional and courteous manner, avoiding personal criticism of the author.
7. If the reviewer identifies any similarities between the manuscript and other published or unpublished materials, they should immediately inform the editorial office.
8. If reviewers identify potential ethics issues in the manuscript, they should promptly inform the editorial office, including but not limited to academic misconduct such as plagiarism, data fabrication, and ethical issues related to human/animal experimentation or research.