To assure the integrity of our publishing process and contents, Acadlore fully adheres to the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), a global not-for-profit organization which aims to support publishers and editors to achieve high standards in publishing ethics. The editors of our journals enforce a strict peer-review process, under rigorous ethical policies and standards. Acadlore is committed to investigate into and address any ethical issue to maintain the integrity of research and ensure the safety of researchers.

Acadlore upholds high standards of research integrity, and expects any research published in our journals to be honest in all aspects, excellent in practice, transparent in communication, respectful for all subjects, and accountable for substandard behaviors. Moreover, our editorial teams are expected to clearly inform contributors of the importance of obeying the guidelines and policies for research integrity and ethics. Any concern about the research integrity of our published works will be addressed by following COPE guidelines.

Acadlore requires every contributor to our journals to observe strict ethical guidelines, which include but are not limited to:

(1) submit the manuscript to only one journal at a time;

(2) ensure the originality of research results;

(3) obtain permission from the copyright holder to publish any previously published content;

(4) describe his/her findings and highlight the significance of the findings in the manuscript;

(5) list all those qualifying for authorship and clearly state their contribution in the manuscript;

(6) disclose every potential conflict of interest in the manuscript;

(7) present replicable research data and methodologies in the manuscript;

(8) abide to the local regulations and academic norms.

The authorship of a manuscript belongs to the authors have contributed substantially to the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) the drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; (3) the final approval of the version to be submitted; (4) the agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

The corresponding author is responsible for: (1) correcting and proofreading the manuscript; (2) revising and resubmitting the revised manuscript up to acceptance; (3) paying the APC as required; (4) responding to post-publication queries related to publishing ethics, content reuse, data availability, etc. This is not an exhaustive list.

Author contributions

For full transparency, it is recommended that each manuscript explicitly specify the contributions of each author in the statement. Each author is expected contribute significantly to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or the creation of new software used in the work; or have drafted the work or substantively revised it; and has approved the submitted version (and version substantially edited by journal staff that involves the author's contribution to the study); and agrees to be personally accountable for the author's own contributions and for ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and documented in the literature.

The following statements should be used: “Conceptualization, X.X. and Y.Y.; methodology, X.X.; software, X.X.; validation, X.X., Y.Y. and Z.Z.; formal analysis, X.X.; investigation, X.X.; resources, X.X.; data curation, X.X.; writing—original draft preparation, X.X.; writing—review and editing, X.X.; visualization, X.X.; supervision, X.X.; project administration, X.X.; funding acquisition, Y.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.”

To increase transparency in authorship, Acadlore integrates with established industry standards to increase transparency in authorship, e.g., ORCID, and supports CRediT taxonomy, which enables transparency in authorship and contributorship.

Changes to authorship

The authors must consider authorship carefully before manuscript submission. Any change to the author list should be made during the editorial process, before manuscript acceptance, and be approved by all authors, including any who have been removed from the list. The corresponding author should act as a point of contact between the journal editor and the other authors, and send to the journal editor the requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names.

Deceased author

The corresponding author or co-authors must inform the editorial office, if the manuscript is submitted with a deceased author in the authorship, or if an author unfortunately passes away during the editorial process. If the deceased author was a corresponding author, the authorship group should nominate a co-author for this role. The new corresponding author must state the contribution of the deceased author and any potential conflict of interest. The manuscript will be published with a note below the list of authors.

Affiliations

Any article affiliation should represent the institute(s) at which the research was conducted and/or supported and/or approved. For non-research content, any affiliation should represent the institution(s) with which each author is currently affiliated.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism can occur all types of sources and media, including but not limited to:

(1) text, illustrations, musical quotations, extended mathematical derivations, and computer code;

(2) material downloaded from websites or drawn from manuscripts or other media;

(3) published and unpublished materials.

Acadlore does not tolerate any form of plagiarism. Others' work and/or words cannot be used without explicit citation or quotation. Any text, image, data, or idea borrowed from others' work or even your previous work must be credited to the original source.

We reserve the right to screen for unoriginal material through appropriate plagiarism checking tools, e.g., CrossRef and iThenticate. If plagiarism is detected during the peer review, the manuscript will be rejected; if plagiarism is detected after publication, we will launch an investigation and may retract the publication. We welcome readers, reviewers, and editors to raise any suspicions of plagiarism via info@acadlore.com.

Self-plagiarism

Self-plagiarism refers to the repeated publication by the authors of a work or substantial parts of a work without appropriate cross-referencing or justification for the overlap, whether in the same language or in a different language. Substantial overlap between publication can only be accepted if:

(1) the academic discourse can be strengthened editorially;

(2) the original publication grants the approval;

(3) the original source is clearly cited.

Note that self-plagiarism does not include:

(1) a preprint deposited on the personal website of the author;

(2) a preprint deposited in an institutional repository;

(3) a preprint deposited in a preprint archive. We welcome readers, reviewers, and editors to raise any suspicions of plagiarism via info@acadlore.com.

If your manuscript is based on a thesis, it should be a reworking of the material in the thesis, and follow the style required by the journal. Remember to inform us that the manuscript draws on the thesis in the cover letter. Do not cite or reference any extracts copied or adapted from the thesis. If the thesis was published previously and is publicly accessible, please obtain the permission from the publisher.

Data fabrication

Acadlore requires that all data presented in the manuscript must be original. Inappropriate selection, manipulation, enhancement, and fabrication of data are not acceptable, e.g., overstating the significance of conclusions by excluding data points, supporting a conclusion by selecting partial results from contradictory data, supporting a conclusion by choosing tools or methodologies, and deliberately fabricating data.

Image manipulation

Sometimes, research data are presented in the form of images. The results or their significance may be misrepresented if these images are modified. Although there can be legitimate reasons for image modification, Acadlore expect authors to avoid irregular manipulation of images that could cause the misinterpretation of the information in the original image.

The specific forms of irregular manipulation include:

(1) introducing, enhancing, and moving/removing image features;

(2) grouping images that should be presented separately;

(3) obscuring, hiding, or highlighting some information by modifying the contrast, brightness, or color balance.

Any research involving humans, animals, or plants must receive approval from relevant ethics committees, and obey the ethical and legal standards for research. Acadlore expects authors to respect the privacy of human subjects, and gain the necessary consent before submission.

Research with humans

Any research involving human subjects, human material, human tissues, or human data must be carried out in line with the rules of the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975, and the following statement must be included in the manuscript: “Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.”

For questionnaire survey and other non-interventional studies, every participant must be fully informed of:

(1) the assurance of anonymity or not;

(2) the reasons for carrying out the research;

(3) the utilization of their data;

(4) the risks (if any) associated with their data.

For any research involving humans, the authors must obtain a written informed consent for publication from the participants before submitting to an Acadlore journal. The private information identifying participants need not be included, unless the identifiable materials are related to the study. The details of patients, such as age, race, and occupation, should be kept anonymous as far as possible.

In addition, if groups are classified by race, gender, disability, etc., the authors must explain clearly in the manuscript why such categorization was necessary.

Research with animals

To minimize the harm to animals, and avoid offense to most readers, the authors must replace animals by alternatives wherever possible, reduce the number of animals used, and refine experimental conditions and procedures. Housing, husbandry and pain management must be detailed in the manuscript.

The procedures of any research involving animals must be in line with all relevant national and institutional regulations. If client-owned animals are involved in the research, the owners must be fully informed of any risk associated with the research procedures, and the future publication of the research. The highest standard of veterinary care should be provided, if available.

The authors must observe the ARRIVE guidelines (arriveguidelines.org/) for reporting experiments using live animals. Acadlore reserves the right to reject submissions based on concerns of ethics or animal welfare.

Research with plants

If cultivated or wild plants are involved in an experimental research, the authors should comply with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and provide supporting genetic information and origin in the manuscript. For research with rare and non-model plants, voucher specimens must be deposited in an accessible herbarium or museum. Acadlore reserves the right to reject submissions that fail to meet the above requirements.

Acadlore is strongly against any discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, religion, or socioeconomic status. The authors are expected to write in inclusive language, which acknowledges diversity, and conveys respect to all people. Do not contain anything in your manuscript that may imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of race, gender, culture, or any other characteristic.

Acadlore stays neutral regarding jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. If your manuscript involves any potential dispute over borders and territories, our editorial team will attempt to find a resolution that satisfies parties involved.

Acadlore recognizes freedom of expression as a fundamental right. However, we reject any false statement that tarnishes the reputation of any person, group, or organization. Our legal team can advise on pre-publication libel reviews, and address allegations of libel in any publication.

The authors retain the copyright for their articles published in Acadlore journals. The articles can be downloaded for free, and reused and quoted with a citation of the original published version, under an open access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. The authors consent to publishing their articles under this license. Acadlore will include the following note in the published text:

© 2024 by the author(s). Published by Acadlore Publishing Services Limited, Hong Kong. This article is available for free download and can be reused and cited, provided that the original published version is credited, under the CC BY 4.0 license.

Please inform the editorial office of the journal, if the license does not apply to your situation. Exceptions may be granted at the discretion of the publisher.

Reproducing copyrighted work

Permission should be sought from the rights holder to reproduce any substantial part of a copyrighted work. Unless explicated stated otherwise, the rightsholder of published material is the publisher (please refer to the imprint of the individual publications to identify the copyright holder). Copyrighted material can include figures, tables, photos, and text excerpts. Acadlore cannot publish material from other publications without permission.

Permission is required for:

a) Your own works published elsewhere and for which you did not retain copyright.

b) Unaltered or slightly modified images, tables, and artworks.

c) Photos for which you do not hold copyright.

Permission is not required for:

a) Your own figures and tables published by other publishers. Please cite the data source in the form of “Adapted from…”

b) Images, tables, and artworks completely redrawn or significantly changed. Please cite the data source in the form of “Adapted from…” Please cite the data source in the form of “Adapted from…”

c) Reasonably short quotes.

Translations

You may publish a high-quality article that you have published previously in another language, provided that:

a) Obtain permissions from the publisher and copyright holders.

b) Upload these permissions in the additional materials section during the submission.

c) Inform the journal editor about the publishing history of the original article.

d) Mention the original article in the Acknowledgements:

Patents

Once your manuscript is accepted, Acadlore provides rapid publication services. The accepted article will be online with a DOI in the upcoming issue. The authors must resolve all issues related to patent applications and intellectual property before publication. The entire publication procedure, including editorial process and production process, will be not postponed for such issues.

Any publication of Acadlore should be free from undue influence. It is mandatory for all authors to disclose any relationship or interest that may bias their work. Conflicts of interests refer to the situations that could be perceived to exert an undue influence on the presentation, review or publication of a work.

The typical conflicts of interest include financial interests like membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, and grants, and non-financial interests like personal connections, professional relationships, and affiliations. Please declare conflicts of interest as follows:

A (author name) serves as a consultant to X (entity name);

B (author name) is a member of Y (entity name);

C (author name) is a paid expert of Z (entity name).

If there are no conflicts of interest, please state:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

We welcome readers, reviewers, and editors to raise any suspicions of conflicts of interests via info@acadlore.com.

In addition to the statement of conflicts of interest, Acadlore requires the inclusion of a funding declaration, which clarifies the funding sponsors in the design of the study, in the collection, analyses or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

The authors must state how the research and publication of their article was funded, by naming each funder followed by the associated grant number in round brackets. All funding sources of the study should be listed in this standard way: “This work is funded by name of funder (Grant No.: XXX).” Do not include details on the program or type of grants and awards. Please use the standard spelling of funding agency names at search.crossref.org.

Following COPE Guidelines, Acadlore expects the authors to take original wording from publications by other researchers, and their own work, in quotations marks with proper citations. If any material in your manuscript is taken from another source, including your own published article, please cite the source clearly, and obtain the appropriate permission.

a) Do not cite your own work excessively.

b) Do not cite advertisements or advertorial material.

c) Do not copy references from other articles without reading the cited work.

d) Put the original wording taken directly from others' publications in quotation marks, with proper citations.

Acadlore advocates transparency and openness around data, code, and other materials associated with research, which enable our authors to achieve best practices in sharing and archiving research data. We expect all authors to record the supporting evidence to allow others to understand, verify, and replicate new findings, and to share the evidence on reasonable request, except in the presence of ethical, legal or privacy issues. In accordance with TOP Guidelines, our authors are encouraged to (1) deposit evidence in a suitable repository or storage location, for sharing and further use by others, and (2) describe where the supporting evidence may be found in a data availability statement.

Below are template examples of a data availability statement:

The authors are permitted to submit and publish additional materials that are not essential for inclusion or that cannot be accommodated in the main text, but that would benefit the understanding of the research. Unless otherwise stated, these additional materials will not be peer-reviewed.

Acadlore attaches great importance to peer review, which is crucial to the quality of the manuscript. Our peer review process involves at least two independent reviewers selected by the professional in-house editor. The reviewers are preferably experts in the relevant fields. The reviewers must be independent from the authors and their institutions, qualified for evaluating the technical aspects of the article, and available to evaluate the article within the required period.

To ensure the rigor, fairness, and effectiveness of peer review, we provide sufficient trainings and support to familiarize our editors and peer reviewers with the best practices of peer review, and with the COPE's Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers, and welcome the reporting of any sign of manipulated peer review to info@acadlore.com.

Before inviting a person as reviewer, the editorial team will check whether he/she holds any conflict of interest, which may bias the reviewer comments. Reviewers who are invited to assess a manuscript they previously reviewed for another journal does not constitute a conflict of interests.

Every reviewer is expected to keep the confidentiality of the manuscript contents, including the abstract. If he/she wants to have another person (e.g., a junior colleague) to complete the review on his/her behalf, he/she must inform the journal editor. The co-reviewing needs to be approved by the editorial office of the journal. The co-reviewer must also declare any relevant competing interests.

The peer review of Acadlore journals is double-blind. The reviewers should not reveal their identity to the authors in any file. Acadlore will not reveal the name or any other personal information of reviewers.

Acadlore is fully committed to editorial independence, and embedding diversity and promoting equity in our editorial process. We strongly prohibit any discrimination against any party, namely, authors, reviewers, and editors, based on personal features or identity. Diversity of our contributors is highly valued. We welcome submissions from contributors of diverse backgrounds, including nationality, religion, race, and gender identity, to name but a few.

We do not tolerate any abusive behavior or correspondence towards our staff members, and reserve the right to take actions against this abuse, such as manuscript withdrawal or challenging abusive comments of peer reviewers. The integrity of our editorial process is overseen by the entire editorial team.

If any ethical concern is raised about a manuscript during the editorial process, or any report about a possible ethical problem is received after publication, the editorial team of Acadlore will carry out an investigation following COPE guidelines.

Our editors will check the following ethical concerns: (1) background and qualification of authors; (2) permissions for research with humans; (3) plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and permission for use of previously published images.

During the decision of whether to accept a manuscript, the academic editor must consider the following ethical issues: (1) whether any fact that may be perceived as a conflict of interest of the authors is disclosed in the manuscript; (2) whether the research results are presented accurately, and the significance of the results are discussed objectively; (3) whether the data and methodologies are introduced in sufficient details to enable replication by other researchers in future.

Acadlore will consider corrections, retractions, and expression of concern in accordance with COPE's Retraction Guidelines. Any publication found to include fraudulent results will be retracted, or an appropriate correction or expression of concern will be issued.

If an error does not affect readability or meaning, the published papers will not be updated. Examples of such errors include typos, grammatical mistakes, and spacing errors. The metadata of a paper, such as title and abstract, can be corrected on a reasonable request. The paper will be updated on our website.

The following errors will be corrected with a Correction notice: (1) errors that affect scientific interpretation (e.g., incorrect data that does not affect the final conclusions); (2) formatting errors related to science (e.g., missing figures); (3) adding or removing a reference; (4) adding or removing a significant amount of text in author contributions, funding statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgements, conflicts of interest, etc.

The Correction notice will appear in the most current issue of the journal, as a separate publication linked to the updated paper. The aim of Correction is to inform readers that the paper has been changed significantly.

Retractions are reserved for articles involving inadvertent research errors, gross ethical breaches, data fabrication, outlandish plagiarism, or other problems.

Once a Retraction is published, the original publication is added a “RETRACTED” watermark, but still be available on the journal website. The retracted publication should not be cited for future research, because they are so seriously flawed that their findings or conclusions should not be relied upon. The Retraction notice will appear in the most current issue of the journal.

In exceptional cases, Acadlore may remove an article from online publication, where it is necessary to comply with our legal obligations. For example, the article is defamatory, violates personal privacy or confidentiality laws, is the subject of a court order, or might pose a serious health risk to the general public. In this case, the reason for removing the article will be explained in a Retraction notice.

Acadlore may publish an Expression of Concern for complex, inconclusive, or prolonged situations. If a suspected research misconduct has not been fully investigated, or the investigation is inconclusive, the points of concern and countermeasures may be described in an Expression of Concern.

Acadlore welcomes readers, reviewers, and editors to help us adhere to the core principles of COPE's publication ethics. To maintain the research integrity of all our publications, we encourage everyone to enquire anything related to the integrity of our published contents, raise concerns related to publishing ethics, report counterfeiting, copyright infringement or suspected piracy, etc. via info@acadlore.com.