Publication Ethics

This Journal adheres to the highest ethical standards, as outlined by bodies such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

If an ethical concern arises regarding a submitted or published article, the Editor-in-Chief will evaluate the issue based on the guidelines set forth by these organizations and take appropriate action.

Authors should be familiar with the following ethical principles to ensure responsible and transparent publication practices.

Ethical Considerations for Authors

Originality: The journal is committed to publishing only original material that has not been previously published or is under consideration for publication elsewhere. Plagiarism detection software is employed to identify instances of overlapping or similar text. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarized content will incur sanctions.
Duplicate Submission: Manuscripts that have been published elsewhere or are under review elsewhere will not be considered for publication in this journal. Authors must disclose any previously published work or work under review that is related to the submitted manuscript and clearly indicate how the new work offers novel contributions.
Citation Manipulation: Manuscripts that include citations primarily intended to inflate the citation count of a particular author or journal will not be accepted.
Data Fabrication and Falsification: Manuscripts found to have fabricated or falsified experimental results, including manipulated images, will incur sanctions.
Redundant Publications: This journal does not accept manuscripts that represent an inappropriate division of study outcomes into multiple articles.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Objectivity: Editors must evaluate manuscripts without bias or discrimination based on the author’s ethnicity, geographical origin, religious beliefs, political views, gender, or sexual orientation.
Standards: Editors must adhere to consistent standards for reviewing both regular and special issue submissions, focusing on the quality of the presented material without commercial influence.
Academic Integrity: Editors must uphold the integrity of the academic record and maintain intellectual standards.
Ethical Complaints: Editors must follow established procedures for handling ethical complaints.
Corrections and Apologies: Editors must promptly publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when necessary.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

Accuracy: Reviewers must provide accurate personal affiliations and professional information.
Review Process: Reviewers share responsibility for the quality of published papers and must make informed decisions to improve the manuscripts they review.
Timeliness: Reviewers must complete reviews promptly and adhere to agreed-upon deadlines.
Confidentiality: Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts during the peer-review process.
Plagiarism Detection: Reviewers must be vigilant in identifying similarities between submitted manuscripts and previously published or under review work and report any concerns to the responsible editor.
Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must declare any potential conflicts of interest, including financial, institutional, or collaborative ties, and may decline to review manuscripts if conflicts arise.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Originality: Authors must confirm that the submitted manuscript is not under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere.
Plagiarism: Authors must acknowledge and cite any content reproduced from other sources and obtain permission for reusing copyrighted material.
Disclosure of Funding and Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose funding sources or financial support and any potential competing interests that could influence their work.
Authorship: Only individuals who have made significant contributions to the manuscript should be listed as authors. Authors who have contributed equally must be identified and acknowledged.
Errors and Retractions: Authors must promptly notify the journal editor or publisher if they discover a significant error in their published work and cooperate in publishing errata, addenda, corrigenda notices, or retractions when necessary.
Ethical Research Practices: Authors must adhere to ethical principles when conducting research, acquiring data, and presenting information.

Identifying and Addressing Unethical Behavior

Identifying Violations: When informed of misconduct or unethical behavior, the editor or publisher should gather sufficient information and evidence to facilitate investigations.

Investigating Allegations: Investigations must be conducted accurately and confidentially, avoiding the spread of unverified allegations.

Sanctions: Documented violations will result in the following sanctions:

Immediate rejection of the infringing author(s)’ manuscript
Rejection of any future manuscripts submitted to any ESPET journal by the infringing author(s)
Prohibition of the infringing author(s) from submitting to any journal for a minimum of 36 months
Exclusion of the infringing author(s) from serving on the Editorial Board of any journal

In cases of particularly egregious violations, additional sanctions may be imposed.