1) Editorial Independence & Decision Integrity

• Decisions are based solely on scientific merit, clarity, rigor, and relevance—never on commercial, institutional, or personal interests.
• Avoid coercive citation or pressuring authors to cite the journal without scholarly justification.
• Never guarantee acceptance (including for special issues); uphold identical standards across all submissions.

2) Conflicts of Interest (COIs) & Recusal

• Declare all relevant financial and non-financial COIs yearly and per-manuscript.
• Recuse from handling manuscripts involving your institution, recent collaborators/coauthors (last 3–5 years), students/mentors, family, or close personal relationships.
• Guest Editors must not handle their own submissions or those with material COIs; assign to an independent editor.

3) Confidentiality, Privacy & Data Protection

• Treat manuscripts, reviewer identities, and communications as confidential materials.
• Use the journal system for handling files and correspondence; avoid sharing outside the platform unless required and authorized.
• Do not use unpublished findings for personal advantage or share with third parties.
• Respect data protection laws; minimize local storage and purge temporary files after decisions.

4) Fairness, Inclusivity & Bias Mitigation

• Strive for diversity among reviewers (geography, gender, career stage, methodology) to reduce systemic bias.
• Write respectful, actionable decision letters; avoid dismissive language.
• Provide reasonable accommodations and timelines where warranted (e.g., caregiving, accessibility needs).

5) Research Integrity & Misconduct Handling

• Screen for plagiarism/similarity, image manipulation, statistical inconsistencies, and ethical approval issues.
• When credible concerns arise (fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate publication, undisclosed COIs), pause processing and initiate a documented inquiry with the editorial office.
• Maintain neutrality during investigations; contact institutions/funders where appropriate; preserve an audit trail of communications and evidence.

6) Human Participants, Animal Research & Sensitive Data

• Verify IRB/REC/IACUC approvals, consent processes, and trial/protocol registrations where required.
• Ensure de-identification and respect for privacy; avoid publishing identifiable information without explicit consent.
• For sensitive topics (e.g., vulnerable populations, biosecurity/dual-use research of concern), escalate to the EiC for additional oversight.

7) Use of AI Tools in Editorial Work

• AI may assist with routine checks (language clarity, format prechecks) but must not replace editorial judgment.
• Do not input confidential manuscripts into third-party tools without appropriate agreements.
• Editors remain accountable for all actions informed by AI outputs; verify facts and citations.

8) Ethical Peer Review Oversight

• Select qualified, non-conflicted reviewers; avoid author-suggested reviewers with non-institutional emails unless verified.
• Monitor tone and content of reviews; remove inappropriate or abusive remarks before forwarding to authors.
• Do not permit reviewers to demand citation of their own work without clear relevance.
• Protect double-blind integrity where applicable (check files for identifiers and metadata).

9) Appeals, Complaints & Corrections

• Provide an avenue for authors to appeal with evidence-based rationale; assign to an uninvolved senior editor or EiC.
• Log and investigate complaints about process, bias, or editor conduct; ensure timely, neutral responses.
• For post-publication issues, act promptly to correct the record and link notices bidirectionally with the Version of Record (VoR).

10) Professional Conduct & Communication

• Communicate clearly, courteously, and promptly with authors and reviewers.
• Avoid public commentary on active submissions (including social media) that could compromise confidentiality or fairness.
• Disclose any gifts, benefits, or attempts at undue influence to the editorial office immediately.

11) Special Issues & Guest Editorship

• Apply the same ethical standards as regular issues; no guaranteed acceptance.
• Document COIs for Guest Editors; assign conflicted manuscripts to independent editors.
• Maintain reviewer diversity and timelines; prevent topic- or network-driven bias.

12) Working Checklists