This journal is published by Brieflands, a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Every policy below applies to this journal and to every other Brieflands title. Each one has its own address, so it can be read, linked and cited on its own.
Raising an ethical concern
Concerns about a published article, a manuscript under review, or a journal's handling of a case are recorded in the publisher's ticketing system and given a ticket ID, then worked through the two-tier ethics committee structure described in Allegations of Misconduct. Cases are decided according to COPE flowcharts, and the conclusion of the Secondary Ethics Committee together with the COPE council binds every party, including Brieflands.
Whistleblowers may remain anonymous. To raise a concern or appeal a decision, see Complaints and Appeals, or submit a ticket.
Authorship and contribution
Who qualifies as an author, what each author is answerable for.
Authorship Rules and Authors' Contribution
ICMJE authorship criteria, contributorship statements, and changes to the author list.
What authors undertake at submission and after publication.
Conflicts of interest and editorial independence
Declarations, recusal, and the separation of editorial decisions from commercial interests.
Declaration and recusal duties for authors, reviewers and editors. Where the Editor-in-Chief is an author, the publisher appoints the handling editor.
Editorial Independence and Responsibilities
The duties of editors and the independence of the editorial decision.
What advertising is accepted, who decides, and its separation from content.
Research integrity and misconduct
How allegations are investigated and what counts as misconduct.
The investigation route, the ethics committees, response times, and the treatment of data fabrication and falsification.
Plagiarism and Similarity Rates
Similarity screening and how plagiarism is handled at each stage.
Coercive citation and self-citation inflation.
Permitted adjustments to figures and what constitutes manipulation.
Fragmenting one study across several papers.
Duplicate and redundant publication, and when republication is acceptable.
Research ethics, participants and consent
Approval, consent, and the protection of the people and animals studied.
Ethics approval requirements and the approval codes expected at submission.
Research Involving Human Participants
Declaration of Helsinki compliance and institutional review.
Welfare standards and reporting for studies involving animals.
Consent to participate and to publish, including identifiable material. Separate from ethics committee approval.
Prospective registration requirements for randomised controlled trials.
How personal data of authors, reviewers and readers is handled.
Data, reproducibility and preprints
Data availability statements, sharing expectations and reproducibility.
Where supporting data and materials are deposited.
Posting a preprint before, during and after review.
Peer review
Peer Review Policy and Process
Double-anonymised review by at least three independent reviewers, and the full editorial route from screening to decision.
Publication of the review history after the decision, where everyone involved agrees. Reviewers may stay anonymous.
Artificial intelligence
AI Authorship and Disclosure Policy
AI tools cannot be authors. Tiered disclosure for text and images, and author accountability for everything submitted.
Artificial Intelligence and Peer Review
What reviewers and editors may and may not use generative AI for, and confidentiality of manuscripts.
Corrections, retractions and post-publication
What happens to the record after publication.
Post-publication Discussions and Corrections
Corrections, errata, and how the published record is amended.
Grounds for retraction and the notice published with it. Retractions carry no charge.
When a concern is flagged publicly while an investigation continues.
Withdrawing a manuscript before publication. Brieflands charges no withdrawal fee.
How updates to an article are signalled through Crossmark.
Post-publication Feedback for Readers
How readers raise comments on a published article.
Complaints and appeals
How to appeal an editorial decision or complain about a journal's handling of a case. An Editor-in-Chief takes no part in deciding an appeal against their own decision, and the outcome is communicated by the publisher.
Copyright, licensing and reuse
Open Access, Copyright, Licensing and Reuse
The open access statement, who holds copyright, the licence applied, and the terms for reuse by third parties.
Preservation and permanence
Digital Preservation and Archiving
Where content is preserved, and what happens if the journal or publisher ceases to operate.
The commitment that a published article stays available at a stable address.
Reference material
Publication Ethics: full contents
The complete index of publication ethics policies.
The COPE guidance and flowcharts these policies are built on.
Brieflands is a member of COPE and applies COPE's Core Practices and flowcharts across all of its journals. Policies are maintained centrally by the publisher and apply to every Brieflands title; where a journal operates a stricter rule, it is stated on that journal's own pages.