# Publication Ethics

Editorial Integrity & Ethical Standards

## Our Ethical Standards

All parties in the publishing process must adhere to these standards

### Authors’ Responsibilities

- Submit only original, unpublished work free from plagiarism
- Accurately represent research data — no fabrication or falsification
- Acknowledge all sources and avoid duplicate submissions
- Declare conflicts of interest that may influence results
- Ensure all co-authors have reviewed and approved the manuscript
- Report any errors discovered in published work promptly

### Reviewers’ Responsibilities

- Provide objective, unbiased, and constructive reviews
- Maintain confidentiality of manuscript content throughout
- Declare conflicts of interest and recuse if necessary
- Complete reviews within the stipulated time frame
- Alert editors to any suspected ethical violations
- Not use unpublished information for personal advantage

### Editors’ Responsibilities

- Ensure fair, unbiased evaluation of manuscripts on academic merit
- Maintain confidentiality of reviewer and author identities
- Disclose and manage conflicts of interest appropriately
- Base publication decisions on quality and scope relevance
- Respond appropriately to concerns about ethical violations
- Foster editorial independence from commercial interests

### Publisher’s Responsibilities

- Support editorial independence in all publishing decisions
- Ensure compliance with ethical standards across all publications
- Maintain transparency in corrections, retractions, and concerns
- Protect reviewer identities and author information
- Investigate all reported cases of ethical misconduct
- Follow COPE guidelines for all editorial procedures

## Policies

Our complete publishing policies covering every stage of the editorial process

All manuscripts submitted to NEMETH PUBLISHERS journals undergo rigorous double-blind peer review. Both the identities of authors and reviewers remain anonymous throughout the review process, ensuring unbiased evaluation based purely on the scientific merit of the work.

Each manuscript is reviewed by a minimum of two and a maximum of four independent expert reviewers selected based on their subject expertise. Reviewers evaluate the originality, technical quality, scientific soundness, and overall contribution of the manuscript. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision based on reviewer recommendations.

All articles published by NEMETH PUBLISHERS journals are freely available online immediately upon publication under an open access license. Readers worldwide can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to the full texts without any subscription or paywall.

This aligns with the Budapest Open Access Initiative, the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing, and the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities - supporting the global movement for open scholarly communication.

All manuscripts are screened through Turnitin software for plagiarism before peer review. Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding 20% will be returned to the corresponding author for revision or rejected outright.

Self-plagiarism, text recycling, and duplicate submissions are not permitted under any circumstances. Any detection of plagiarism after publication will result in retraction of the article.

Authors are allowed to withdraw their manuscript without paying any withdrawal penalty if the withdrawal request is made within three days of submission. If withdrawal is requested after the peer review process, in the production stage, or after online publication, a withdrawal penalty will apply.

For genuine withdrawal, the corresponding author must submit a request signed by all co-authors stating the reason for withdrawal. The request will be processed by the editorial board and the decision of the board will be final.

NEMETH PUBLISHERS follows the standards and guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to address any ethical concerns. Any malpractice - including data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate submission, or authorship disputes - will be thoroughly investigated.

Proven cases of malpractice will result in rejection of the manuscript or retraction of the published article, along with formal notification to the authors' institution where necessary.

Authorship should be limited to those who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research. All persons listed as authors must qualify as authors and those who qualify must be listed.

Any changes in authorship after manuscript submission (addition, removal, or reordering) require written approval from all authors and approval from the Editor-in-Chief. The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the journal throughout the review process.

Corrections in published articles must be reported within 5 days of online publication via the corresponding author to the chief editor. A small portion of an otherwise reliable publication that proves to be misleading (due to honest error) or authorship list corrections (omitted or incorrectly included authors) may be issued as corrections.

Corrections will be published with a clear link to the original article and a note explaining the nature of the correction.

Retraction is used to correct the literature and alert readers to publications with seriously flawed or erroneous data. Retractions are issued in accordance with COPE Retraction Guidelines for cases including research misconduct, plagiarism, redundant publication, or undisclosed conflicts of interest.

Retracted articles are not deleted. Instead, they remain online with a clear "RETRACTED" watermark and the retraction notice specifies the reason and date.

NEMETH PUBLISHERS ensures long-term digital preservation of all published content. Articles are archived through recognized digital preservation services and indexed in major international databases to guarantee perpetual access.

All published articles are also preserved through CLOCKSS, Portico, and similar long-term archiving systems where applicable.

Authors are permitted to self-archive the published version of their article (the Version of Record) in their personal websites, institutional repositories, or subject-specific repositories immediately upon publication.

Self-archived copies must include a link to the original published version and a clear attribution to NEMETH PUBLISHERS journal.

All articles published by NEMETH PUBLISHERS are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Under this license, users may share, copy, redistribute, adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose - including commercially - as long as appropriate credit is given and any derivative works are distributed under the same license.

NEMETH PUBLISHERS journals maintain strict editorial independence from all commercial interests. Advertisements (when accepted) are clearly marked and kept separate from editorial content.

No advertising content influences editorial decisions. Advertisements for products or services related to research integrity, pharmaceuticals, or medical devices undergo additional scrutiny.

NEMETH PUBLISHERS respects the privacy of authors, reviewers, and readers. Personal information collected during submission, review, or registration is used solely for the stated purposes of the journal and is not shared with any third party for commercial purposes.

All data is stored securely and handled in accordance with applicable data protection regulations.

NEMETH PUBLISHERS is committed to transparency in all aspects of the editorial and publication process. Editorial decisions, policies, and workflows are clearly documented and made publicly available.

Journal ownership, governance, funding sources, and editorial board composition are openly disclosed on our journal websites.

Authors, reviewers, and editors must declare any financial, personal, or professional relationships that might influence their judgment. Such relationships include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, patents, or any other interests.

Undisclosed conflicts of interest discovered at any stage may result in rejection of the manuscript or retraction of the published article.

For research involving human participants, authors must provide a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from all participants. Consent must be obtained for publication of any identifiable information including photographs, videos, or case details.

For studies involving minors or individuals unable to provide consent, appropriate guardian or legal representative consent must be obtained and documented.

Authors who disagree with editorial decisions may submit a formal appeal to the Editor-in-Chief, clearly stating the reasons for their appeal and providing supporting evidence. Appeals are reviewed independently and a final decision communicated within a reasonable time frame.

Complaints about editorial content, review processes, or handling of manuscripts may be addressed to the journal's editorial office.

All allegations of research or publication misconduct are taken seriously and investigated following COPE guidelines. The process includes a fair review, opportunity for the accused to respond, and an impartial decision based on the evidence.

Substantiated misconduct may result in rejection, retraction, notification of the authors' institution, and in serious cases, a ban on future submissions.

NEMETH PUBLISHERS journals offset all production costs, hosting, indexing, and copy-editing expenses through Article Processing Charges (APCs) levied after manuscript acceptance. APCs are the only source of finance for the production cost of the journal.

The publication charges for each journal are mentioned in the "Instructions to Authors" section on the respective journal website.

NEMETH PUBLISHERS considers fee waiver requests on a case-by-case basis. Authors from low-income countries, early-career researchers, or those facing genuine financial hardship may request a full or partial waiver of the Article Processing Charge.

Fee waiver decisions are made independently of the peer review process and do not affect the editorial decision on the manuscript.

The primary revenue source for NEMETH PUBLISHERS journals is the Article Processing Charges (APCs) paid by authors or their funding agencies for accepted manuscripts. This revenue supports editorial operations, peer review management, production, hosting, and indexing services.

NEMETH PUBLISHERS does not accept revenue that may compromise editorial independence.

Authors are required to disclose all sources of funding for their research in the acknowledgments section of the manuscript. This includes grants, institutional funding, industry support, and any other financial assistance that contributed to the research.

Funders' role in the study design, data collection, analysis, or decision to publish must also be disclosed where applicable.

By submitting a manuscript to any NEMETH PUBLISHERS journal, authors agree to comply with our editorial policies, peer review process, publication ethics, and the Creative Commons license under which the article will be distributed.

NEMETH PUBLISHERS reserves the right to update these terms and policies. Any substantive changes will be communicated to authors at the point of submission.