Reviewer Ethics

 

Peer review must be conducted according to principles of integrity, impartiality, fairness, respect, and academic responsibility. Reviewers must avoid behavior that could compromise the independence or credibility of the review process.

Ethical Conduct
  • Provide an honest and independent assessment.
  • Base criticism on evidence, methodology, logic, and scholarly standards.
  • Use respectful and professional language.
  • Avoid discriminatory, offensive, insulting, or personal comments.
  • Do not use the review process to promote personal, institutional, commercial, or political interests.
  • Do not appropriate the authors' ideas, data, methods, or unpublished findings.
  • Do not request unnecessary citations to the reviewer's own publications.
  • Do not recommend citations for the purpose of artificially increasing citation counts.
  • Declare conflicts of interest promptly.
  • Do not attempt to influence editorial decisions for personal advantage.
Handling Ethical Concerns

If reviewers identify suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated or falsified data, undisclosed conflicts of interest, serious ethical concerns, or other forms of research misconduct, they should report the concern confidentially to the Editorial Office and provide sufficient information to support further assessment.