Ethics Policy

READS adopts a policy of ethics and quality in its publications:

Confidentiality: The editor and editorial team are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of all information related to submitted manuscripts. Such information should only be shared with the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Editors must obtain the author’s explicit written consent before using any unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes. Moreover, editors should avoid handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions involved.

Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations: Editors are required to respond promptly to ethical concerns raised about submitted or published manuscripts and to take appropriate action to address these issues.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and can also provide constructive feedback to authors to help improve the quality of their manuscripts.

Promptness: Reviewers should inform the editor if they feel unqualified to review the manuscript or know that they will not be able to complete the review within the required timeframe.

Confidentiality: All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.

Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. They should also notify the editor of any significant similarity or overlap with other manuscripts.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers must not use privileged information obtained through peer review for personal gain. They should avoid reviewing manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the work.

Responsibilities of Authors

Reporting Standards: Authors of original research articles must provide an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to replicate the findings.

Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original. If they use the work or words of others, appropriate citations must be provided. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication: Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously, or publishing substantially the same research in multiple journals, is considered unethical and unacceptable.

Acknowledgment of Sources: Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have influenced the reported work. Information obtained privately (e.g., through conversations, correspondence, or discussions with third parties) must not be used without explicit written permission. This also applies to information gained in the course of confidential services, such as manuscript reviewing or grant application evaluations.

Authorship of the Manuscript: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All contributors who have made substantial contributions should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in certain aspects of the project should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Proper management of conflicts of interest is essential for maintaining the credibility of the peer review process and published research. Conflicts may arise from personal, financial, academic, or political relationships. Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest when submitting their manuscripts. Reviewers must also inform the editor of any conflict that could affect the impartiality of their review. Authors unsure about a potential conflict should contact the journal’s editorial office for guidance.

 

Duties of Editors (Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, and Section Editors):

Independence of editorial decisions: Editors must ensure that editorial decisions are not influenced by commercial considerations.

Peer review: Manuscripts must undergo peer review to ensure the scientific quality of the publication.

Compliance with ethical guidelines: Editors must comply with and apply the journal's ethical guidelines.

Conflicts of interest: In the event of a conflict of interest (e.g., co-authorship), the editor must declare the conflict of interest and transfer editorial responsibility for the manuscript to another designated editor.

 

 Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

READS endorses the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) position statement on the use of artificial intelligence in the preparation of scholarly articles (https://publicationethics.org/cope-position-statements/ai-author):

"Authors who use AI tools to assist in writing a manuscript, generating images or graphical elements, or collecting and analyzing data must clearly disclose this usage in the Materials and Methods section (or a similar section) of the article. Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, including parts generated with the assistance of AI tools, and are accountable for any violations of publication ethics."

For more information, please refer to: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy