Editors Guidelines

Editors safeguard the quality and integrity of the journal's record. They act fairly, without regard to authors' identity, affiliation or ability to pay, and they decline to handle a manuscript if they cannot do so impartially.

All submissions undergo initial editorial screening. Manuscripts that meet the journal's scope and minimum requirements proceed to independent peer review.

Editors check that a submission is within the Aims and Scope, meets the minimum requirements in the Instructions for Authors, includes the required ethics and data statements, and has been screened for overlap with Crossref Similarity Check. A similarity report is read in context and is never an automatic accept or reject threshold.

Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request.

Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.

Editors invite reviewers with relevant expertise and no conflict of interest with the authors or the work, and vary the pool of reviewers over time. When double-blind review is requested, editors must ensure that author-identifying information is not shared with reviewers.

Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal.

Editors weigh the reviewers' reports, which they may set aside with reasons, and make one of four recommendations: accept, minor revision, major revision or reject. Decisions are communicated with the reviewers' comments and a clear explanation.

Editors declare conflicts and do not handle manuscripts from their own institution, recent collaborators or competitors. Manuscripts by the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board members are handled by an editor without a conflict, and the author takes no part in the review or decision. Fees, services, memberships and roles never influence editorial decisions.

Submitted manuscripts, reviews and correspondence are confidential. Editors do not share or use unpublished material for their own research. Reviewers must obtain journal permission before using AI to assist with a review. Any permitted use must be disclosed, and confidential manuscript content must not be uploaded where confidentiality cannot be assured. Editors follow the same rule when handling manuscripts.

Editors follow COPE guidance when concerns arise about authorship, image manipulation, data, plagiarism or undisclosed conflicts, and refer cases to the Editor-in-Chief. Interventional trials are checked for registration, and research with people or animals for ethics approval. See the Editorial Policies.