1. Reporting Standards: Authors should provide an accurate and honest account of their research. The paper must include enough detail and references to allow others to replicate the work. Making false or misleading claims is unethical.
  2. Data Access and Retention: Authors may need to provide raw data for editorial review and should be ready to share this data publicly, if possible, and maintain it for a reasonable time after publication.
  3. Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure their work is original. If they use other people’s work or words, they must be properly cited. The manuscript should not have been published before or be under consideration elsewhere. Authors will need to sign a copyright transfer before publication.
  4. Multiple Publications: Authors should not publish the same study in more than one journal. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals at the same time is unethical.
  5. Acknowledgement of Sources: Authors must always properly acknowledge the work of others. They should cite sources that influenced their research.
  6. Authorship of the Paper: Only individuals who significantly contributed to the study should be listed as authors. All those who made important contributions should be acknowledged as co-authors, and anyone who participated in the research should be recognized.