Open Access Policy

This journal is an Open-Access Publication, and all articles published within it are open-access. This journal aligns with the definition of open access as stated in the Bethesda Open Access Publication Statement: An Open Access Publication[1] is one that meets the following two conditions:

1. The author(s) and copyright holder(s) grant(s) to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship[2], as well as the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal use.
2. A complete version of the work and all supplemental materials, including a copy of the permission as stated above, in a suitable standard electronic format is deposited immediately upon initial publication in at least one online repository that is supported by an academic institution, scholarly society, government agency, or other well-established organization that seeks to enable open access, unrestricted distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving (for the biomedical sciences, PubMed Central is such a repository).

Notes:

1. Open access is a property of individual works, not necessarily journals or publishers.
2. Community standards, rather than copyright law, will continue to provide the mechanism for enforcement of proper attribution and responsible use of the published work, as they do now.

Copyright

Unless stated otherwise, all published journals are covered under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License. By agreeing to this license, authors consent to make their articles, including data, graphics, and supplements, legally available for reuse, without the need for permission or fees, for virtually any purpose. Therefore, anyone can copy, distribute, reproduce, or reuse these publications if the source and author are correctly cited.

It's important to note that articles, particularly Reviews, may contain figures, tables, or text from other publications for which Science Publication does not have the copyright or the right to re-license the material. As a result, it's advisable to contact the original copyright holder (usually the initial publisher or author) to confirm whether or not the material can be reused.

Data Available Policy

To promote reproducibility and facilitate data reuse, we strongly encourage authors to share the research data that underlies the results presented in their articles published in Science Publication journals. Authors are urged to provide, at minimum, the essential data necessary to reproduce the reported findings. This may include (but is not limited to) software, code, algorithms, protocols, methods, materials, photographs, videos, gene sequences, and interview transcripts.

Authors should include a Data Availability Statement before the reference list of their article, confirming the existence and accessibility of the underlying data. If the data is available, this statement should detail where and how it can be accessed, including any relevant hyperlinks and persistent identifiers (such as DOI or accession numbers).

In cases where the study did not involve data reporting, authors are encouraged to state this explicitly in the Data Availability Statement.

All publicly available data used in the preparation of an article should be appropriately cited within the manuscript text and included in the reference list. We recommend adhering to the format outlined in the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles for data citations:

Authors; Year; Dataset title; Data repository or archive; Version (if applicable); Persistent identifier (e.g., DOI)

For guidance on crafting a thorough data-sharing statement, authors may refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Data Sharing guidelines.

Preprint Policy

This journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that have been previously shared on preprint platforms such as arXiv, bioRxiv, and others. However, the content submitted this way should not have been published in scientific journals, books, or other recognized publications. Authors must inform the editorial office at the time of submission if the manuscript has been previously posted on a preprint platform.

After the formal publication of the manuscript, authors must update the preprint version and include a link to the final published article. This process ensures transparency and gives readers access to the definitive version of the work.

Research Ethics Policy

Research involving human subjects, materials, tissues, or data must strictly adhere to the Declaration of Helsinki, a cornerstone of ethical research. Before commencing research, approval must be obtained from an institutional review board or equivalent ethics committee. Identifying participant information should not be disclosed unless necessary, in which case written consent must be obtained. If participants cannot provide consent, written consent should be obtained from their legal guardians or relatives. The consent process should involve sharing the article's contents with the individuals. Authors must use a Consent Form template or an adapted version adhering to the same terms and should submit it securely. A statement confirming receipt of written Informed Consent must be included in the manuscript.

For studies involving vulnerable populations, authors must manage potential risks and provide relevant documentation to the journal, including written Informed Consent and documents from the Ethics Committee.

In experiments involving animals, authors must follow the "3Rs" principles:

• Replace animals with alternatives where possible.
• Reduce the number of animals used.
• Refine experimental conditions to minimize harm.

Research with plant subjects should comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines. Voucher specimens must be deposited in a public collection.

For research using cell lines, authors must describe the cell lines used and their origin for reproducibility. For de novo cell lines from human tissue, approval from an ethics committee and donor consent are required.

Authors are encouraged to register clinical trials in publicly available databases on the ICMJE website or WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.

Conflict of Interest Policy

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), in its Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, provides guidance on conflicts of interest: "The potential for conflict of interest and bias arises when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as patients' welfare or research validity) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain). An author's complete disclosure demonstrates a commitment to transparency and helps maintain trust in the scientific process."

Conflicts of interest, also called competing interests, can include financial interests (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, patents, and paid expert testimony) or non-financial interests (such as affiliations, relationships, and beliefs).

Authors play a pivotal role in maintaining transparency and trust in the scientific process. They must provide a detailed declaration of all competing interests related to the article. This includes any patents, patent applications, or products in development, which should be disclosed with relevant information such as patent numbers and titles. If there are no competing interests to report, authors should include a statement confirming this.

The conflict of interest statement should be a separate section in the manuscript, placed before the reference list. Authors can also disclose potential conflicts in a cover letter or during manuscript submission. Editors consider these disclosures during article processing, and they are published online with the article to aid readers in assessing the work.

Update Published Articles

Sometimes, articles in the journal might need corrections or retractions. Editors will carefully consider these actions following COPE guidelines. Any changes will be noted with a permanent post-publication statement linked to the original article, including corrections, retractions, or, in rare cases, removals.

Authors, readers, or organizations are encouraged to report errors or ethical concerns using the contact information on the journal's website. Editors will thoroughly review reports according to COPE guidelines.

Corrections: If changes to a published article impact its interpretation or conclusions while maintaining integrity, a correction notice will be issued. "Correction" is for author-introduced errors, while "Erratum" is for publisher-introduced errors.

Retractions: Articles may be retracted if significant errors affect interpretation or conclusions, or if there are issues of improper research or publishing behavior. Retraction requests will be considered based on COPE guidelines.

Removal: Rarely, articles may be deleted if corrections or retractions cannot resolve issues. This could be due to privacy violations, libel, legal violations, or serious risks. Bibliographic metadata will be retained, and reasons for removal will be explained.

Misconduct

Our journal adheres to core practices outlined by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) when addressing potential misconduct cases.

Misconduct Allegations: Our internal editors conduct thorough investigations when misconduct allegations arise. We may contact the author's institution or funding agency for additional information. Substantiated allegations lead to appropriate actions in line with COPE guidelines to uphold academic integrity.

Multiple Submissions and Publications: We strictly prohibit simultaneous submissions to numerous journals and the republication of non-original content, like translated papers already published elsewhere. If such circumstances arise, we assess the situation comprehensively and act according to COPE guidelines.

Plagiarism: All manuscripts undergo rigorous plagiarism screening using Crossref's Similarity Check service powered by iThenticate. Our journal maintains a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism, which includes replicating content, ideas, imagery, or data without proper attribution.

If plagiarism is detected during peer review, the manuscript may be unsuitable for publication. Post-publication plagiarism findings lead to careful editorial review, with possible corrections or, in severe cases, retraction.

Irregular Image Manipulation: We strictly prohibit any form of image manipulation that distorts the faithful representation of original images. This includes:

• Introducing, enhancing, relocating, or removing elements within images.
• Amalgamating images that should remain separate.
• Adjusting contrast, brightness, or color balance to obscure, eliminate, or accentuate details.

Manuscripts with identified irregular image processing may be rejected during peer review. Post-publication discoveries of such issues can result in corrections or, in severe cases, paper retraction.

We are committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and transparency. Any concerns about published articles should be reported to our editorial office for careful consideration and action as necessary.