Publishing Ethics and Research Integrity

Qiuzhen Academic Publishing follows COPE-aligned publishing ethics standards, maintains zero tolerance for academic misconduct, and is committed to a fair, transparent, and rigorous scholarly environment.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are original works. Any use of third-party text, data, images, or ideas must be cited accurately and transparently. Qiuzhen Academic Publishing uses professional similarity-checking tools to review accepted manuscripts. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate submission, data fabrication, or data manipulation may result in immediate rejection or post-publication retraction.

Authorship

All listed authors must have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study and must accept shared responsibility for the integrity of the work. Honorary authorship, guest authorship, and ghost authorship are not acceptable. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any relationships or circumstances that could influence the interpretation of findings, including funding sources, employment, consultancies, patents, or commercial affiliations. Sources of research support should be stated clearly within the manuscript.

Data Access and Retention

Authors should be prepared to provide underlying data, analytic materials, and supporting documentation for editorial review when reasonably requested. We encourage responsible data sharing wherever ethically and legally feasible, and authors should retain core research materials for at least five years or according to stronger disciplinary norms.

2. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Objectivity

Peer review must be conducted objectively and professionally. Reviewers should provide well-reasoned evaluations focused on research design, evidentiary strength, methodological clarity, and scholarly contribution, and should avoid personal criticism or discriminatory language.

Confidentiality

All manuscripts under review and their associated materials are confidential documents. Reviewers may not share, discuss, reproduce, or use unpublished data or arguments from the manuscript without explicit editorial authorization.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

If reviewers recognize any personal, institutional, financial, or competitive conflict that could compromise impartiality, they should notify the editor immediately and decline the review assignment.

3. Responsibilities of Editors

Publication Decisions

Editors and Editors-in-Chief are responsible for decisions on manuscript handling and publication. These decisions must be based on originality, scholarly value, clarity of argument, and relevance to the journal’s scope, without discrimination based on nationality, affiliation, gender, religion, or political position.

Peer Review Quality

The editorial office ensures that research papers sent for external review are evaluated by at least two independent experts through a double-blind peer-review process wherever applicable, with due attention to rigor, consistency, and professional quality.

Investigation of Misconduct

Where concerns arise regarding plagiarism, citation manipulation, duplicate publication, fabricated data, or other misconduct, editors will act in accordance with COPE flowcharts and internal procedures, and may request clarification, corrections, rejection, or retraction as appropriate.

4. Corrections and Retractions

If a published article contains major scientific errors, ethical breaches, or other issues that compromise the reliability of the scholarly record, Qiuzhen Academic Publishing may issue an erratum, corrigendum, expression of concern, or formal retraction.

All post-publication notices will explain the reason for the action taken and will remain permanently linked to the original publication in order to preserve transparency, continuity, and traceability.

Related Policies

Authorization Statement

To support lawful and transparent publication, this page outlines the authorized parties, dissemination rights, license terms, reserved author rights, and dispute resolution arrangements for formally published works.

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