Editorial Policies

Overview

The following policies apply to all SCIRP journals. In every case, SCIRP adheres strictly to the publication ethics guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). COPE provides guidance on matters including conflicts of interest, authorship and contributorship disputes, allegations of misconduct, data-related concerns, issues of overlap and plagiarism, and the integrity of the peer review process.

SCIRP's Editorial Boards operate independently, and the publisher does not intervene in editorial decisions. However, if ethical or legal issues arise, a prior decision may be revised, and a manuscript's acceptance may be withdrawn if it is found to violate ethical standards or journal policies.

SCIRP performs checks on all manuscripts to confirm that they conform with the Publication Ethics Guidelines. Some checks are performed with the support of automatic checking services, while others are performed manually by the journal's Editorial Office.

Ethical Guidelines for Authors (Overview)

Authors who submit manuscripts to SCIRP journals are required to ensure that their work is ethically conducted and complies with established industry standards. Specifically, authors must:

• Accurately present their research findings and include an objective discussion of the significance of their findings.
• Provide accurate authorship information by including only those who qualify for authorship and clearly stating their contribution.
• Disclose any facts that might be perceived as a possible conflict of interest at submission.
• Present their data and methods with sufficient detail to enable replication. Raw data must be made publicly available unless there is a compelling reason otherwise.
• Ensure simultaneous submission to more than one journal is not permitted.
• Ensure that original research results are novel and have not been previously published.
• Obtain permission from the copyright holder to publish any previously published content.
• Promptly communicate errors and inaccuracies found after publication.

Editorial Flow

1. Authorship

SCIRP follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines. To qualify for authorship, authors must meet all four criteria:

1. Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
2. Draft the work or review it critically for important intellectual content.
3. Provide final approval of the version to be published.
4. Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Those who contributed but do not qualify for authorship should be listed in the acknowledgments.

Author Contributions

All submitted manuscripts should include an author contributorship statement using the CRediT taxonomy. Example format:

Deceased Authors

If a manuscript is submitted with a deceased author, the corresponding author should inform the Editorial Office and confirm the contribution and any potential conflicts of interest. Upon publication, a note will be added under the author list.

Changes to Authorship

Any change to the author list should be made during the editorial process, before manuscript acceptance. Changes require approval of all authors, including those to be removed, using a completed authorship change form. Changes requested after acceptance will result in a delay and require publication of a Correction.

Authorship Disputes

SCIRP follows COPE guidelines for resolving authorship disputes. The journal editor will not decide on order of authorship and cannot arbitrate. Where unresolved disputes arise, the institution(s) where the work was performed will be asked to investigate.

2. Artificial Intelligence

SCIRP recognizes the opportunities and challenges presented by Generative AI (GenAI) services such as ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) for scholarly publishing.

2.1 Manuscript Preparation

Where GenAI has been used for purposes such as generating text, data, graphics, study design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation, authors must:

• Declare this during the submission process.
• Disclose details in the Materials and Methods section.
• Provide the GenAI tool's product details in the Acknowledgments section.

The use of GenAI tools for text editing (grammar, structure, spelling, punctuation, formatting) does not need to be declared.

2.2 Authorship

GenAI tools and other LLMs cannot be listed as authors, as these tools do not meet SCIRP's requirements for authorship.

2.3 GenAI Use by Reviewers

Peer reviewers should avoid using GenAI tools unless absolutely necessary. Under no circumstances should reviewers upload manuscripts in whole or in part to any GenAI tools, as this violates SCIRP's confidentiality policy.

2.4 GenAI Use in Editorial Decision-Making

Academic Editors must not use GenAI tools during the editorial review or decision-making process. Uploading manuscript content to GenAI tools violates SCIRP's confidentiality policy.

3. Plagiarism, Data Fabrication, and Image Manipulation

Plagiarism is not acceptable in SCIRP journals. This includes copying text, ideas, images, or data from another source — even from your own publications — without giving credit to the original source.

All submissions are checked using the industry-standard software iThenticate. If plagiarism is detected during peer review, the manuscript may be rejected. If detected after publication, an investigation will take place.

Image Manipulation

Image files must not be manipulated or adjusted in any way that could lead to misinterpretation. Irregular manipulation includes:

• Introduction, enhancement, modification, or removal of features from the original image.
• Grouping of images that should be presented separately.
• Modification of contrast, brightness, or color balance to obscure or enhance specific information.

Data Integrity

All presented data must be original and not inappropriately selected, manipulated, enhanced, or fabricated. This includes exclusion of data points to enhance significance, fabrication of data, selective results reporting, and deliberate selection of analysis tools to support a particular conclusion (including p-hacking).

4. Data Availability and Deposition

SCIRP is committed to supporting open scientific exchange. Authors should share their research data — including protocols, analytic methods, raw data, processed data, code, software, algorithms, and study materials — following FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable).

4.1 Data Availability Statements

Data Availability Statements are required for all articles. During peer review, authors may be asked to share existing datasets or raw data.

4.2 Data Preservation

Authors are encouraged to preserve their datasets on laboratory or institutional servers for at least five years after publication.

4.3 Choosing an Appropriate Repository

Authors should visit re3data.org or fairsharing.org to identify registered and certified data repositories relevant to their subject area.

4.4 Data Repository Criteria

Repositories should:

• Ensure long-term persistence and preservation of datasets.
• Provide stable identifiers (usually DOIs).
• Allow public access without barriers.
• Support open licenses (CC0 and CC-BY or equivalents).
• Provide confidential reviews of submitted datasets.

4.5 Data Citation

Authors are encouraged to formally cite any datasets stored in external repositories. For previously published datasets, authors should cite both the related research articles and the datasets themselves.

5. Research Involving Human Subjects

5.1 Institutional Review Board Statement

Research involving human subjects must follow the Declaration of Helsinki (revised 2013). Approval from the local IRB or Ethics Committee must be obtained before undertaking the research.

5.2 Informed Consent Statement

Manuscripts involving human participants must include a statement of informed consent. For manuscripts including identifiable patient/participant information, written informed consent for publication must be obtained.

Example statements:

• "Informed consent for participation was obtained from all subjects involved in the study."
• "Informed consent for participation is not required as per local legislation [provide legislation]."
• "Verbal informed consent was obtained from the participants. Verbal consent was obtained rather than written because [state reason]."

5.3 Vulnerable Groups and Organ Transplants

Studies involving vulnerable groups undergo additional review. SCIRP does not accept manuscripts reporting data on organs obtained from illegal commercial activity, executed prisoners, or other unethical practices.

6. Registration of Clinical Trials

SCIRP follows ICMJE guidelines requiring registration of clinical trials in a public trial registry at or before first patient enrollment. Suitable databases include:

• ClinicalTrials.gov
• EU Clinical Trials Register
• WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform databases

Purely observational studies do not require registration. SCIRP reserves the right to decline any paper without trial registration.

7. Research Involving Animals

Authors must ensure compliance with the 3Rs principles:

• Replacement of animals by alternatives wherever possible.
• Reduction in the number of animals used.
• Refinement of experimental conditions and procedures to minimize harm.

Authors must include details on housing, husbandry, and pain management. SCIRP endorses the ARRIVE guidelines for reporting experiments using live animals.

8. Research Involving Cell Lines

The Materials and Methods section should state the origin of any cell lines. For established cell lines, the provenance and references to a published paper or commercial source must be provided. If previously unpublished de novo cell lines of human origin were used, IRB or Ethics Committee approval and confirmation of written informed consent must be provided.

9. Research Involving Plants

Experimental research on plants must comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines, including the Convention on Biological Diversity and CITES. For rare and non-model plants, voucher specimens must be deposited in an accessible herbarium or museum with full collection details.

10. Dual-Use Research of Concern

Research that could pose a significant threat to public health or national security should be clearly indicated in the manuscript and explained in the cover letter. Potential areas include biosecurity, nuclear and chemical threats, and research with military application. The benefits to the public must outweigh the risks.

11. Sex and Gender in Research

Authors are encouraged to follow the SAGER guidelines and include sex and gender considerations where relevant. Authors should use the terms "sex" (biological attribute) and "gender" (shaped by social and cultural circumstances) carefully. Article titles and abstracts should indicate clearly what sex(es) the study applies to.

12. Borders and Designations of Territories

SCIRP's policy is to take a neutral stance in relation to territorial disputes or jurisdictional claims in published content, including in maps and institutional affiliations.

13. Potential Conflicts of Interest

Authors must identify and declare any personal circumstances or interests that may be perceived as influencing the reported research results, including:

• Financial interests: membership, employment, consultancies, stocks/shares, honoraria, grants, paid expert testimonies, patent-licensing arrangements.
• Non-financial interests: personal or professional relationships, affiliations, personal beliefs.

14. Intellectual Property (Copyright, Patent and Licensing)

For all articles published in SCIRP journals, copyright is retained by the authors. Articles are licensed under an open access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.

Permission Required For:

• Your own work published by other publishers where you did not retain copyright.
• Substantial extracts from another author's work.
• Unaltered or slightly modified tables, graphs, charts, schemes, and artworks.
• Photographs for which you do not hold copyright.

Permission Not Required For:

• Reconstruction of your own table with previously published data (cite as "Data from..." or "Adapted from...").
• Very short quotes (fair use).
• Graphs, charts, schemes, and artwork completely redrawn and significantly changed beyond recognition.

14.1 Preprints

SCIRP accepts submissions previously made available as preprints, provided they have not undergone peer review. Authors must disclose any preprint posting (DOI and licensing terms) during submission.

14.2 Translations

SCIRP journals may consider high-quality content previously published in a different language, provided appropriate permission and referencing are in place.

14.3 Patents

Authors are responsible for ensuring all patent applications and intellectual property issues are resolved prior to publication. Publication will not be postponed due to pending patent issues.

15. Citation Policies

Authors must cite relevant, timely, and verified literature to support claims. Authors must avoid:

• Excessive and inappropriate self-citation.
• Prearrangements among author groups to cite each other's work.
• Copying references from other publications without reading the cited work.

For review articles, references should provide a fair and balanced overview of the current state of research.

16. Ethical Guidelines for Reviewers and Editors

All participants in the peer review process must oversee the integrity of SCIRP's editorial process. The Editorial Office performs the following checks:

• Ethics approval and permissions for research involving human subjects, animals, or cell lines.
• Plagiarism, duplicate publication, and copyright permissions.
• Registration of clinical trials.
• Other compliance, ethics, and research integrity checks.

16.1 Types of Conflicts of Interest

16.2 Confidentiality and Anonymity

All correspondence between editors, authors, and peer reviewers is confidential. SCIRP journals perform single- or double-blind peer review. Reviewers should be careful not to reveal their identity in comments or metadata.

17. Comments and Complaints

Readers with concerns about published papers should first contact the corresponding author. If unresolved, the Editorial Office can be contacted.

All complaints are investigated, including anonymous complaints. Decisions about Corrections, Expressions of Concern, or Retractions are made by Editors-in-Chief or Editorial Board Members.

18. Updating Published Papers

18.1 Non-notified Updates

Minor updates made directly to the publication where deemed reasonable by the Editorial Office.

18.2 Corrections

• Minor corrections: Do not impact scientific content; updated with a footnote. No separate correction notice.
• Major corrections: Affect scientific interpretation; published as a separate correction notice linked to the updated paper.

18.3 Author Name Change Policy

SCIRP will update and republish articles for author name changes without publishing a Correction notice, recognizing that name changes can be sensitive and private.

18.4 Retractions

SCIRP follows COPE recommendations for retraction. Retracted articles receive a "RETRACTED" watermark but remain available for reference. Complete removal occurs only in exceptional circumstances (court order, privacy threats, illegal research, public safety risk).

18.5 Expression of Concern

Issued for complex or prolonged situations where investigations are incomplete or inconclusive. May be replaced by a Correction, Retraction, or clarifying statement.

18.6 Comments and Replies

Readers may submit a Comment (a short letter to the editors questioning a specific paper). Authors of the original paper are invited to prepare a Reply. Both are reviewed for appropriateness and scholarly merit. No more than one round of Comment and Reply is facilitated per reader.

19. Funding

Authors must declare all sources of financial support, including:

• Internal funds: Grants from institutions, employers, or affiliated organizations.
• External funds: Charities, non-profits, private foundations, for-profit companies, government bodies.

Declarations must include the full name(s) of the funding body, grant number(s), and the person/group to whom the grant was awarded. Failure to disclose funding may be considered misconduct.

20. Images and Figures

• Only use images and figures that are relevant and valuable to the reported work.
• Obtain written permission for third-party copyrighted material.
• Content revealing patient/participant identity requires informed consent.
• Re-used images require copyright permissions and proper citation.
• SCIRP does not permit the use of Generative AI in the creation and manipulation of images, figures, or original research data.

21. Special Issues, Supplements, Article Collections and Conference Proceedings

SCIRP journals may publish articles as part of special issues, article collections, or supplements. All content is subject to the usual standards of the journal (aims, scope, thresholds), editorial policies, and peer review policies.

Guest Editors involved in handling submissions must recuse themselves from handling their own articles. For all articles in a collection, the final decision is approved by the journal Editor.

Conference proceedings must meet the same editorial and ethical standards as standard peer-reviewed content. Transparency statements listing the event name, organizers, and editorial responsibility should be included.