Role and Responsibilities of Editorial Board Members (EBMs)

The Editorial Board comprises researchers, academics, and subject-matter experts with relevant qualifications and expertise in the journal's field of interest. Editorial Board Members are appointed by the publisher in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief (EiC), taking into consideration their academic background, research contributions, professional experience, and alignment with the journal's aims and scope.

The Editorial Board supports the Editor-in-Chief in maintaining the journal's scholarly quality, editorial integrity, and continued development. Members contribute their subject expertise, support rigorous peer-review practices, help identify emerging research priorities, and encourage constructive engagement within the academic community.

1. Contributing to Expert Peer Review

Editorial Board Members may review manuscripts within their areas of expertise or recommend suitably qualified independent reviewers. Their evaluations should be objective, constructive, evidence-based, and consistent with the journal's peer-review policies. Members are expected to maintain confidentiality, disclose relevant conflicts of interest, and assess submissions on their scholarly merit rather than personal preferences or institutional affiliations.

2. Supporting Special Issues and Emerging Research Themes

Editorial Board Members may propose or contribute to special issues, themed collections, and focused research topics that align with the journal's aims and scope. They can help identify emerging developments, research gaps, and interdisciplinary opportunities that may be valuable to the journal's readership. Special issues and themed collections must follow the journal's established editorial procedures and publication ethics requirements.

3. Engaging Authors and Sharing Academic Expertise

Editorial Board Members are encouraged to engage constructively with the research community and may invite qualified researchers to consider submitting relevant work to the journal. They may also contribute their own research, reviews, perspectives, or other scholarly content, subject to the journal's submission requirements and independent editorial evaluation. Board membership does not guarantee acceptance or preferential treatment of any submission.

4. Identifying and Recommending Peer Reviewers

Editorial Board Members may assist the editorial team by identifying qualified reviewers whose expertise is appropriate to a manuscript's subject matter. Where additional specialist insight is required, they may provide further academic advice or recommend an additional independent assessment. All reviewer recommendations should be based on relevant expertise, impartiality, and the absence of disqualifying conflicts of interest.

5. Promoting Scholarly Awareness and Engagement

Editorial Board Members may help increase awareness of the journal by sharing its published research, calls for papers, special issues, and other relevant academic announcements with appropriate professional networks. Such engagement should support the dissemination of credible research and foster meaningful scholarly exchange. Any promotional activity must accurately represent the journal's scope, peer-review practices, publication policies, and indexing status.

6. Strengthening Editorial Expertise and Diversity

Editorial Board Members may recommend qualified researchers and subject specialists for future editorial roles. Recommendations should consider academic competence, research experience, professional integrity, disciplinary relevance, and diversity of expertise and perspectives. All appointments remain subject to the journal's established selection and approval procedures.

7. Advising on Editorial Policies and Journal Development

Editorial Board Members may provide advice on the journal's aims and scope, author guidelines, peer-review procedures, research integrity standards, and other editorial policies. Their feedback can help the journal respond to developments in scholarly publishing, maintain transparent editorial practices, and improve the quality and relevance of its published content.

8. Upholding Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

Editorial Board Members are expected to support the journal's publication ethics policies and contribute to the responsible handling of potential concerns relating to plagiarism, duplicate publication, authorship disputes, undisclosed conflicts of interest, research misconduct, or other breaches of publication standards. Concerns should be reported through the appropriate editorial channels and handled in accordance with the journal's established procedures.

9. Collaborating with the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Team

Editorial Board Members work collaboratively with the Editor-in-Chief, associate editors, reviewers, and publisher, as appropriate to their roles. They may provide specialist advice on difficult editorial questions, contribute to discussions about the journal's priorities, and support consistent application of editorial policies. Final decision-making authority rests with the editor or designated editorial authority specified in the journal's governance structure.

10. Supporting Continuous Improvement

Editorial Board Members may offer constructive feedback on editorial workflows, reviewer engagement, publication quality, and the journal's service to the research community. Their experience and recommendations can help identify opportunities for improvement while ensuring that scholarly standards and editorial independence remain central to the journal's development.

Commitment to Scholarly Integrity

Editorial Board Members play an important advisory and scholarly role in supporting the journal's credibility, quality, and academic contribution. Through their expertise, impartial judgment, ethical conduct, and collaboration with the editorial team, they help promote responsible research communication and maintain the trust of authors, reviewers, readers, and the wider academic community.

Role and Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief (EiC)

The Editor-in-Chief (EiC) is the principal academic leader of a journal and is responsible for overseeing its editorial direction, scholarly quality, and long-term development. Working in collaboration with the editorial board, reviewers, authors, and publisher, the EiC ensures that the journal maintains rigorous academic standards, follows established publication ethics, and operates through transparent, fair, and consistent editorial procedures.

The EiC exercises editorial judgment independently and ensures that publication decisions are based on the manuscript's scholarly merit, originality, relevance, methodological rigor, and compliance with the journal's editorial policies, without inappropriate influence from commercial, personal, or other non-academic considerations.

1. Ensuring Scholarly Excellence

The EiC is responsible for maintaining and improving the journal's academic quality and reputation. This includes overseeing the editorial evaluation of submitted manuscripts, promoting originality and methodological rigor, and ensuring that published research meets the journal's standards for accuracy, relevance, and scholarly contribution.

2. Developing and Maintaining Editorial Policies

The EiC contributes to the development, implementation, and periodic review of the journal's editorial policies, author guidelines, peer-review procedures, and publication ethics requirements. The EiC helps ensure that these policies remain clear, consistent, transparent, and appropriate to the journal's disciplinary scope.

3. Overseeing Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

The EiC oversees the peer-review process to help ensure that manuscripts receive fair, timely, confidential, and appropriately independent evaluation. The EiC may make final editorial decisions or delegate specific decisions to qualified editors, according to the journal's established procedures. All decisions should be based on scholarly merit and documented editorial criteria.

4. Upholding Publication Ethics and Editorial Independence

The EiC promotes adherence to recognized standards of publication ethics, including appropriate authorship practices, research integrity, conflict-of-interest disclosure, confidentiality, and the responsible handling of allegations of misconduct. Where concerns arise, the EiC ensures that they are assessed fairly and handled in accordance with the journal's policies.

The EiC also safeguards editorial independence and works to ensure that publication decisions are not improperly influenced by financial interests, institutional relationships, personal preferences, or pressure from external parties.

5. Engaging with the Research Community

The EiC supports constructive engagement with researchers, academics, professional associations, and relevant institutions. Activities may include participating in scholarly conferences, academic discussions, and research events; encouraging high-quality submissions; and identifying emerging topics relevant to the journal's scope.

6. Facilitating Communication and Collaboration

The EiC helps maintain effective communication among editors, authors, reviewers, readers, and the publisher. The role includes supporting clear editorial correspondence, providing appropriate guidance on publication procedures, and helping ensure that questions and concerns are addressed professionally and within reasonable timeframes.

7. Managing Conflicts, Complaints, and Appeals

The EiC helps oversee the fair and impartial handling of editorial disputes, complaints, appeals, and potential conflicts of interest. When the EiC is personally involved in a matter or has a relevant conflict of interest, the matter should be referred to an appropriately independent editor or designated authority to avoid compromised decision-making.

8. Encouraging Editorial Innovation and Development

The EiC may recommend improvements to the journal's editorial and publishing practices, including the responsible use of digital publishing tools, supplementary research materials, multimedia content, interactive features, and data visualizations where appropriate. Such initiatives should support accessibility, research transparency, and the effective communication of scholarly findings.

9. Mentoring and Supporting the Editorial Team

The EiC provides academic guidance to associate editors, section editors, and other editorial team members, as applicable. This may include supporting consistent editorial judgment, encouraging professional development, sharing good editorial practices, and promoting a collaborative and respectful working environment.

10. Developing Academic Partnerships

The EiC may help establish and strengthen appropriate collaborations with universities, research institutions, professional societies, and academic organizations. These partnerships should support scholarly exchange, interdisciplinary dialogue, and the journal's academic development while preserving editorial independence.

11. Contributing to Special Issues and Themed Collections

The EiC may propose or encourage special issues and themed collections that address significant developments, emerging research areas, or important questions within the journal's scope. The EiC may contribute to topic selection, guest-editor appointments, and oversight of the editorial process. All submissions to special issues must meet the same ethical and scholarly standards as regular submissions and undergo appropriate independent peer review.

12. Supporting the Journal's Strategic Development

The EiC contributes to the journal's long-term development by advising on its aims and scope, editorial priorities, publication quality, research visibility, and engagement with the academic community. The EiC may also recommend qualified editorial board members and initiatives that strengthen the journal's scholarly standing, while ensuring that growth objectives do not compromise publication ethics or editorial standards.

13. Accountability and Continuous Improvement

The EiC is expected to uphold the journal's editorial policies, communicate responsibly with relevant stakeholders, and support the periodic evaluation of editorial practices. The role requires professional integrity, sound academic judgment, impartiality, and a sustained commitment to improving the quality and credibility of the scholarly record.

Commitment to Editorial Integrity

The Editor-in-Chief plays a central role in protecting the journal's academic integrity and supporting the responsible dissemination of research. Through independent editorial judgment, ethical oversight, and collaboration with the editorial team, the EiC helps ensure that the journal serves authors, reviewers, readers, and the wider research community with fairness, transparency, and scholarly responsibility.

Editorial Policies

Scholarly Summit is committed to transparent editorial practices, responsible research, fair peer review, and the integrity of the scholarly record. These policies describe the ethical responsibilities of authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher throughout the submission, review, publication, and post-publication process.

Scholarly Summit expects everyone involved in publishing to act honestly, disclose relevant interests, protect confidential information, and address substantiated concerns in a fair and appropriate manner. The procedures described below are implemented through the publisher's individual journal policies and editorial processes.

1. Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

Authors must submit work that is original, accurately reported, appropriately referenced, and prepared in accordance with relevant research ethics requirements. Plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, inappropriate image manipulation, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, and deliberate manipulation of peer review are unacceptable.

Scholarly Summit may assess concerns raised before or after publication, request supporting evidence, and consult relevant experts or research institutions where appropriate. Depending on the findings and stage of publication, action may include rejection, correction, an expression of concern, retraction, or referral to an appropriate institution.

Further information is available in the Plagiarism and Research Misconduct Policy and Article Retraction Policy.

2. Authorship and Contributorship

Authors must meet the journal's authorship requirements and take appropriate responsibility for their contributions to the work. All listed authors must approve the submitted manuscript and the final version intended for publication.

Contributors who do not meet the authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately, with their permission where required. Changes to authorship after submission must be explained and approved by the relevant parties in accordance with the journal's procedures.

Authorship disputes will be assessed impartially. Where the dispute cannot be resolved through the journal's process, Scholarly Summit may seek guidance from the relevant institution or other appropriate body.

3. Funding and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose relevant financial and non-financial competing interests and all sources of funding or material support for their research. Where no funding was received, authors should provide an appropriate declaration.

Editors and reviewers must also disclose conflicts that could affect their impartiality. A conflicted editor or reviewer must not participate in a decision where the conflict cannot be appropriately managed.

Undisclosed conflicts may be investigated and, where warranted, may lead to additional review, correction of a published disclosure, or other appropriate action.

See the Conflict of Interest Policy for further details.

4. Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

Scholarly Summit journals apply the peer-review process stated on their respective websites. Journals using double-blind peer review seek to keep author and reviewer identities confidential from one another during the review process.

Reviewers are expected to assess manuscripts objectively, maintain confidentiality, disclose conflicts of interest, and provide constructive feedback. Editors make decisions according to scholarly merit, originality, methodological quality, relevance to the journal's scope, and research integrity.

Editorial decisions must not be improperly influenced by publication charges, commercial interests, personal relationships, institutional status, or external pressure.

Details of reviewer selection, review stages, editorial decisions, and revisions are provided in each journal's Peer Review Process and Reviewer Guidelines.

5. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and proper attribution of their submissions. AI tools must not be listed as authors.

Where generative AI has been used substantively to create or develop manuscript content, research methods, analysis, figures, tables, or other scholarly material, authors must disclose that use in accordance with the applicable journal's AI policy. Any use that is limited to routine language correction should be handled according to that policy.

Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must protect confidential manuscripts and unpublished information. They may use AI or automated tools in editorial work only in accordance with the journal's disclosed procedures, confidentiality safeguards, and requirements for human oversight.

AI-generated text, citations, data, or images must not be used in ways that misrepresent evidence, fabricate sources, or compromise research integrity.

6. Research Ethics and Data Transparency

Research involving human participants, animals, identifiable personal information, or other regulated activities must comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements. Authors must provide ethics approval, informed consent, consent for publication, or evidence of exemption where relevant.

Authors are encouraged to make supporting data, materials, and methods available where ethically and legally appropriate. Data sharing must respect participant privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, and applicable restrictions.

Any limitations on data access should be explained clearly. Authors must not fabricate, selectively misrepresent, or knowingly conceal information necessary to assess their findings.

7. Copyright and Licensing

Copyright ownership and publication rights are governed by the applicable journal terms and the publication agreement accepted for an article. The copyright holder and reuse license must be identified clearly.

Where Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) applies, the license permits sharing and adaptation, including commercial reuse, subject to its terms. Any third-party material excluded from the article's license must be identified appropriately.

The license displayed on the individual article must agree with the journal website, publication agreement, full-text PDF, and relevant publication metadata. Authors and readers should consult the applicable article license before reusing content.

Further details are provided in the Open Access and Licensing Policy and Copyright Agreement.

8. Open Access and Publication Charges

The applicable journal's website states its open-access arrangements, copyright and licensing terms, and author charges.

Where a journal is fully open access, its scholarly articles are made available immediately without subscription charges or an embargo period. Any applicable article processing charges, submission fees, other author charges, waivers, and discounts must be disclosed clearly.

Payment does not guarantee acceptance or influence editorial decisions. Editorial assessment and publication-fee administration must remain appropriately independent.

Authors should consult the relevant journal's APC and Publication Charges Policy before submitting a manuscript.

9. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Concerns

Scholarly Summit is committed to maintaining an accurate and transparent scholarly record. Errors in published work will be assessed according to their significance and the evidence available.

A correction may be issued when an error can be rectified without retracting the article. Retraction or an expression of concern may be considered when serious issues affect the reliability or integrity of the work.

Formal notices should identify the affected article, explain the reason for the action as appropriate, and link to the original publication. Published records should not be silently altered in ways that conceal material changes.

Readers and researchers may raise post-publication concerns through the editorial office.

See the Article Correction Policy and Article Retraction Policy.

10. Complaints, Appeals, and Disputes

Authors may appeal editorial decisions by providing a reasoned explanation and relevant evidence. Complaints may also be raised about editorial conduct, peer review, research-integrity handling, publication procedures, or other aspects of journal operations.

Complaints and appeals will be assessed under the publisher's established procedures. Wherever practicable, a person independent of the matter under review will handle the assessment. Concerns involving an editor or publisher representative should be referred to an appropriate independent person.

Good-faith complaints will be handled without retaliation. An appeal does not guarantee that an editorial decision will be changed.

The Complaints and Appeals Policy explains how to submit a concern and how it will be considered.

11. Privacy and Confidentiality

Personal information collected during submission, peer review, publication, and editorial communication is handled for legitimate publishing and administrative purposes, subject to applicable legal requirements.

Unpublished manuscripts, reviewer reports, editorial discussions, and confidential communications must be protected from unauthorized disclosure. Information may be shared with authorized service providers or appropriate institutions when necessary for publishing, investigation, security, or legal compliance.

The Privacy and Data Protection Policy provides further information about the handling of personal information.

12. Editorial Independence

Editors are responsible for making editorial decisions in accordance with the journal's stated procedures and scholarly standards. Neither publication charges nor commercial, personal, institutional, or other inappropriate interests should determine whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected.

Conflicts must be disclosed and managed, and manuscripts should be assigned to an independent editor when necessary. The publisher supports the integrity of the editorial process and must not require a particular outcome in exchange for commercial benefit or payment.

See the Editorial Independence Statement for further details.

13. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Scholarly Summit aims to provide fair and respectful treatment to authors, reviewers, editors, and readers. Manuscripts are assessed according to scholarly and ethical criteria rather than an individual's nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, institutional affiliation, or other irrelevant personal characteristics.

We welcome contributions from researchers across institutions, disciplines, and geographic regions, subject to each journal's aims, scope, and publication requirements.

14. Special Issues and Guest Editors

Special issues must meet the same standards of editorial oversight, research integrity, and peer review as regular journal content. Guest editors must disclose relevant conflicts and must not control decisions on their own submissions or other manuscripts involving unmanaged conflicts.

The journal's Editor-in-Chief or appropriately designated independent editorial representatives retain responsibility for the editorial standards of special issues.

Further requirements are set out in the Special Issue Guidelines.

15. Policy Implementation and Contact

Scholarly Summit reviews its editorial policies periodically and may update them to reflect changes in publishing practice, ethical guidance, and applicable requirements. The procedures followed by each journal must remain consistent with the policies displayed on its website.

Concerns about publication ethics, editorial conduct, or research integrity may be submitted to:

Editorial Office
Scholarly Summit
Email: editorial@scholarlysummit.com

Manuscript Preparation and Submission Guidelines

Scholarly Summit welcomes original scholarly contributions that fall within the scope of its journals. Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are clearly written, methodologically sound, ethically conducted, accurately referenced, and prepared in accordance with the requirements of the selected journal.

Please read these guidelines carefully before submitting your manuscript. Individual journals may have additional requirements concerning article types, word limits, reference styles, figures, supplementary files, and research ethics. Where journal-specific instructions differ from these general guidelines, authors should follow the instructions published by the selected journal.

1. Pre-Submission Checklist

Before submission, the corresponding author should confirm that:

·         The manuscript falls within the aims and scope of the selected journal.

·         The work is original and is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal, except where a journal has explicitly approved a permitted submission arrangement.

·         All listed authors meet the applicable authorship criteria and have approved the submitted version.

·         The manuscript includes an appropriate title, abstract, keywords, main text, references, tables, figures, and supplementary materials, as applicable.

·         All sources are properly cited and the reference list is complete and accurate.

·         Required ethics approvals, informed consent statements, permissions, and research declarations are included.

·         Funding sources and actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest are disclosed.

·         Any use of artificial intelligence (AI) that requires disclosure under the selected journal's policy has been declared.

·         Figures, tables, and other third-party materials are original or used with the necessary permissions.

·         The manuscript has been checked for spelling, grammar, clarity, and formatting.

·         All required submission files and forms are ready.

Meeting these requirements does not guarantee acceptance. Every submission remains subject to editorial assessment and, where applicable, peer review.

2. Article Types

Scholarly Summit journals may consider research articles, review articles, short communications, case reports, or other scholarly contributions according to each journal's scope and published instructions.

Authors must verify which article types are accepted by their selected journal before submitting. The structure, abstract format, word limit, and required documentation may differ by article type.

3. Reporting Guidelines

Authors should use recognized reporting guidelines appropriate to their study design. These guidelines help ensure that research methods, results, limitations, and conclusions are reported transparently and completely.

The following resources may be relevant:

·         Randomized trials: CONSORT 2025.

·         Observational studies: STROBE.

·         Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: PRISMA.

·         Case reports: CARE.

·         Animal research: ARRIVE.

·         Qualitative research: COREQ, where applicable.

·         Diagnostic accuracy studies: STARD.

·         Prediction model studies: TRIPOD.

·         Economic evaluations: CHEERS.

·         Non-randomized evaluations of behavioral and public-health interventions: TREND, where applicable.

·         Genetic association studies: STREGA, where applicable.

Authors should consult the official resources maintained by the EQUATOR Network to identify the appropriate guideline and its current version.

Where a journal requires a reporting checklist or flow diagram, authors should submit the completed document with their manuscript. A reporting checklist supports transparent reporting but does not replace sound research design or ethical conduct.

4. Submission Process

Manuscripts should be submitted through the Scholarly Summit online submission system:

Submit Your Article

The corresponding author is responsible for submitting the manuscript, providing accurate information for all co-authors, and communicating with the Editorial Office throughout the publication process.

Before submission, authors should confirm that all co-authors have approved the manuscript and agree to its submission. Authors must also disclose any related publications, preprints, previous submissions, or overlapping manuscripts that could be considered duplicate or redundant publication.

If the submission system is unavailable or a technical issue prevents submission, authors may contact the Editorial Office for assistance.

5. Cover Letter

A cover letter should briefly explain the manuscript's subject, significance, originality, and relevance to the selected journal.

The corresponding author should confirm, on behalf of the author group, that:

·         All authors have approved the submission and the author list.

·         The manuscript is original and is not under consideration elsewhere, unless an approved exception applies.

·         Related publications, preprints, or overlapping work have been disclosed.

·         Relevant funding, conflicts of interest, and ethical considerations have been declared.

·         Required permissions and supporting documents have been obtained.

Authors should disclose any previous editorial consideration or relevant concerns about the conduct of the research when required. The cover letter must not contain inaccurate claims about novelty, importance, indexing, or anticipated impact.

6. Title Page and Author Information

The title page should include:

·         The full manuscript title.

·         The full names of all authors.

·         Each author's institutional affiliation at the time the research was conducted.

·         The corresponding author's email address and other contact information requested by the journal.

·         ORCID identifiers, where available or requested.

·         Funding and conflict-of-interest information, as required.

·         Any other information specified in the selected journal's instructions.

Author names, affiliations, and contact details must be accurate. Authors should follow the journal's authorship and contributorship policy when determining the author list.

For journals using double-blind peer review, authors should prepare a separate title page and an anonymized manuscript when instructed. The manuscript file should not contain names, affiliations, acknowledgements, or other identifying details that could unnecessarily reveal author identities.

7. Manuscript Structure

The structure of the manuscript should reflect its article type and the requirements of the selected journal.

For original research, a common structure is:

1.      Title

2.      Abstract

3.      Keywords

4.      Introduction

5.      Materials and Methods or Methodology

6.      Results or Findings

7.      Discussion

8.      Conclusion, where appropriate

9.      Declarations

10.  References

11.  Tables, figures, and supplementary materials, as required

Some articles may use combined Results and Discussion sections or a different structure. Review articles, case reports, theoretical papers, and humanities or social-science contributions may require alternative formats.

Use clear headings and consistent numbering where appropriate. Avoid unnecessary subdivisions and ensure that headings accurately describe the content of each section.

8. Title

The title should be concise, informative, and representative of the manuscript's principal subject or findings. Avoid unnecessary abbreviations, unexplained acronyms, vague wording, and claims that go beyond the evidence.

The title should help readers understand the topic and find the work through scholarly search services. If the journal specifies a title-length limit or requires identification of the study design, authors should follow that requirement.

9. Abstract

An abstract should summarize the purpose, approach, principal findings, and conclusions of the work without introducing information that is not supported in the main text.

For original research, the abstract should generally identify:

·         The research background or problem.

·         The objective or research question.

·         The study design and methods.

·         The principal findings, including relevant quantitative results where appropriate.

·         The main conclusion and its significance.

Structured abstracts should use the headings required by the selected journal. Review articles and other article types may require different formats.

Unless the journal specifies otherwise, the abstract should generally not exceed 350 words. Avoid unnecessary abbreviations and citations. Authors should ensure that the abstract accurately reflects the manuscript and does not exaggerate the findings.

For registered clinical trials or research using publicly deposited datasets, include the relevant registration number or persistent dataset identifier where applicable and required.

10. Keywords

Provide keywords that accurately describe the manuscript's principal topics, methods, population, or subject area.

Unless the selected journal specifies a different number, authors are encouraged to provide approximately six to eight relevant keywords. Choose specific terms that will help readers discover the work through scholarly searches, and avoid unnecessary repetition of words already prominent in the title.

11. Introduction

The introduction should establish the research background, explain the significance of the problem, and identify the relevant gap in existing knowledge.

It should present the research objective, question, or hypothesis clearly and use appropriate references to situate the work within the existing literature. Avoid an unnecessarily extensive literature review or claims that are not supported by the cited evidence.

12. Materials and Methods or Methodology

Describe the research design, setting, materials, data sources, participants or study population, procedures, measurements, interventions, and analytical methods in sufficient detail for readers to understand and evaluate the research.

Where relevant, include:

·         Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

·         Sampling and recruitment methods.

·         Data collection procedures and instruments.

·         Study outcomes and variables.

·         Statistical or qualitative analysis methods.

·         Software, versions, and relevant technical specifications.

·         Ethics approvals, consent procedures, and trial registration details.

·         Methods used to obtain, process, analyze, or validate data.

Distinguish methods specified before the study from exploratory analyses conducted afterward where appropriate. Cite established methods and describe new or modified methods sufficiently.

Authors should report the use of AI or automated tools in conducting the research when relevant to understanding, reproducing, or evaluating the methods. Follow the selected journal's AI disclosure requirements.

13. Results or Findings

Present findings in a logical order that corresponds to the research questions, objectives, or hypotheses.

Report results accurately and include relevant quantitative or qualitative evidence. Where appropriate, provide effect estimates, uncertainty measures, confidence intervals, and sufficient statistical information to support interpretation.

Tables and figures should clarify the findings rather than unnecessarily duplicate information already presented in the text. Report material results consistently across the abstract, main text, tables, and figures.

Do not omit important findings merely because they do not support the original hypothesis. Avoid presenting unsupported interpretations as established results.

14. Discussion

The discussion should interpret the principal findings in relation to the research question and relevant literature.

Authors should:

·         Explain the principal findings and their significance.

·         Compare results with relevant previous studies.

·         Discuss plausible explanations and implications.

·         Identify methodological limitations and sources of uncertainty.

·         Distinguish evidence-supported conclusions from speculation.

·         Explain implications for practice, policy, theory, or future research where appropriate.

Avoid repeating the Results section in full or making claims that exceed the evidence. Any recommendations should be proportionate to the study's design and limitations.

15. Conclusion

The conclusion should provide a concise answer to the research question and summarize the principal contribution of the work.

It should be consistent with the results and discussion and must not introduce unsupported findings, new evidence, or exaggerated claims. Where relevant, indicate important limitations or priorities for future research.

A separate conclusion section may not be necessary when the selected article format integrates conclusions into the discussion.

16. Declarations and Research Ethics

Authors must include all declarations relevant to their manuscript and the requirements of the selected journal. Depending on the research and article type, these may include:

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Identify the relevant ethics committee or institutional review board, approval number where applicable, and consent procedures. If approval was not required or an exemption was granted, explain this accurately and provide supporting details where requested.

Consent for publication

Confirm that consent for publication has been obtained where identifiable participant information, images, or other relevant material requires it.

Data and materials availability

State whether the supporting data and materials are available, where they can be accessed, and under what conditions. If data cannot be shared, explain the applicable ethical, legal, confidentiality, or other restrictions.

Conflicts of interest

Disclose relevant financial and non-financial interests. If no relevant conflict exists, include an explicit declaration that no competing interests are reported.

Funding

Identify the sources of financial or material support for the research. If the work received no external funding, state this where required.

Author contributions

Describe each author's contribution using a suitable contribution statement. All authors should approve the final manuscript and accept responsibility for their contributions.

Acknowledgements

Recognize individuals or organizations that contributed to the work but do not qualify for authorship, obtaining permission where appropriate.

Trial registration and protocol

For applicable clinical trials or registered studies, provide the registry name, registration number, registration date, and protocol information required by the journal.

Not every declaration applies to every manuscript. Authors must not claim that approval, consent, registration, or permission was obtained if it was not.

17. Authorship, Originality, and Duplicate Publication

All authors must meet the authorship requirements adopted by the selected journal and must have made an appropriate scholarly contribution to the work.

Guest authorship, ghost authorship, inappropriate author-list changes, plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, and duplicate or redundant publication are unacceptable.

Manuscripts should not be submitted simultaneously to multiple journals unless an explicitly permitted arrangement applies. Authors must disclose related manuscripts, prior publications, preprints, and overlapping material so the editor can assess originality and redundancy.

Any request to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be explained and handled under the journal's authorship policy. The journal may request confirmation from affected authors.

18. References and Citation Style

Authors must cite sources accurately and consistently. Every source cited in the text should have a corresponding reference-list entry, and every reference-list entry should be cited in the manuscript, except where the selected journal expressly permits otherwise.

Follow the reference style specified by the selected journal. If a journal requires APA Style, 7th edition, use the author–date system and format references according to the official APA guidance. If a journal requires a numbered citation system, references should be numbered and presented according to that journal's instructions. Do not combine APA author–date citations with sequential numbered citations unless a journal explicitly requires a hybrid format.

Authors should:

·         Verify author names, publication titles, dates, volume and issue numbers, page ranges, and other bibliographic details.

·         Include a DOI in URL format where one is available.

·         Provide a stable URL for relevant online sources where appropriate.

·         Ensure that citations support the claims for which they are used.

·         Clearly identify preprints and other non-final research outputs.

·         Identify articles that have been retracted when they are cited in a context relevant to the retraction.

·         Avoid citation manipulation and irrelevant self-citation.

Use authoritative sources and original research where appropriate. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all citations, including references suggested or generated with the assistance of AI tools.

For APA guidance, consult the official APA Style website.

19. Manuscript File Format and Formatting

The preferred manuscript format is Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), unless the selected journal permits or requires another editable format, such as LaTeX.

Unless otherwise specified:

·         Use consistent font, spacing, margins, and heading styles.

·         Use double-line spacing where requested by the journal.

·         Include page numbers and line numbers when required for peer review.

·         Use editable text for the main manuscript, tables, and other elements where possible.

·         Ensure that special characters, mathematical symbols, equations, and non-Latin scripts display correctly.

·         Avoid unnecessary manual page breaks, complex layouts, and formatting that may interfere with production.

·         Identify supplementary files clearly and ensure that they correspond to references in the manuscript.

If a PDF is supplied for review or reference, an editable source file may still be required for peer review or production. Follow the submission instructions of the relevant journal.

20. Figures and Images

Figures should be clear, legible, relevant to the research, and cited in the text in the order in which they appear.

Authors should:

·         Number figures consistently and provide an informative caption for each.

·         Define abbreviations, symbols, colours, scales, and other elements needed to interpret the figure.

·         Include units and axis labels where appropriate.

·         Supply images at a resolution suitable for the intended publication format.

·         Ensure that labels remain legible at the expected display size.

·         Provide original or appropriately licensed images and obtain permission where required.

·         Disclose any material image processing or manipulation where relevant to interpreting the results.

Images must not be manipulated in ways that misrepresent the underlying evidence. Editors may request original images, source data, or clarification where necessary to assess integrity.

Exact dimensions, resolution, file-size limits, and accepted formats may vary by journal and should be confirmed in its production instructions.

21. Tables

Tables should present data clearly and efficiently without unnecessarily repeating information in the main text or figures.

Authors should:

·         Number tables consecutively in the order of their first citation.

·         Provide a concise, descriptive title for each table.

·         Use clear row and column headings.

·         Explain abbreviations, symbols, statistical measures, and relevant notes.

·         Cite all tables in the manuscript.

·         Submit editable tables rather than screenshots wherever possible.

·         Identify and acknowledge data obtained from other sources and secure any required permissions.

Large or supplementary tables may be submitted as separate files if permitted by the selected journal.

22. Equations, Units, and Abbreviations

Equations should be clearly presented, consistently numbered where necessary, and explained in the surrounding text. Authors should ensure that mathematical symbols and special characters display correctly in the submitted file.

Use standard units and identify the units associated with reported measurements. For medical and scientific research, follow the relevant journal's conventions for SI units and any additional units required for clarity.

Avoid unnecessary abbreviations, especially in titles and abstracts. Define an abbreviation at first use unless it is a universally recognized unit or term, and use it consistently thereafter. Include a list of abbreviations when required or when it materially improves readability.

23. Supplementary Materials and Data

Authors may submit supplementary material that supports or extends the main article, including datasets, questionnaires, code, additional tables, figures, videos, protocols, or methodological details.

Supplementary files must be clearly named, cited in the manuscript, and submitted in the formats accepted by the selected journal. Authors should ensure that files are complete, readable, and free from confidential or identifying information that should not be published.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, permissions, ethical compliance, and appropriate anonymization of supplementary content. Any restrictions on data sharing should be explained in the manuscript's data-availability statement.

The journal should communicate any file-size limits, accepted formats, or production limitations before submission. Authors should not assume that supplementary files will be edited or reformatted unless the journal explicitly offers that service.

24. Copyright and Permissions

Authors must ensure that they have the right to submit and publish all text, figures, tables, photographs, datasets, and other materials included in their manuscripts.

Written permission must be obtained where required for the reproduction or adaptation of copyrighted material. Appropriate attribution must be provided, and licence conditions must be respected.

Authors should review the selected journal's copyright agreement and open-access licence before submission or acceptance. The rights granted to the publisher and the licence applying to the published article will be governed by the applicable agreement and journal policy.

25. Language and Presentation

Manuscripts should be written in clear, precise, and professional English or in the language accepted by the selected journal.

Authors are encouraged to proofread their work carefully or seek appropriate language-editing assistance before submission. Language quality may be considered during editorial screening, and manuscripts requiring substantial clarification may be returned for revision before further assessment.

Language editing does not guarantee acceptance and does not replace the author's responsibility for the accuracy of the content.

26. Artificial Intelligence and Automated Tools

Authors must follow the selected journal's AI policy and remain fully responsible for the submitted work.

Where disclosure is required, authors should identify the AI tool used and describe its role in preparing or analysing the manuscript. AI systems must not be listed as authors. Authors must independently verify AI-assisted text, citations, calculations, images, code, and other outputs for accuracy, originality, and compliance with research ethics.

Confidential manuscripts, personal data, or restricted research information must not be entered into external AI services in ways that breach confidentiality, consent, legal obligations, or the journal's policies.

AI-assisted work must not be used to fabricate evidence, invent references, conceal plagiarism, or misrepresent how research was conducted.

27. Editorial Screening and Peer Review

All submissions are subject to an initial editorial assessment for completeness, scope, scholarly suitability, and compliance with journal requirements.

Manuscripts that meet the initial requirements may proceed to the journal's stated peer-review process. The journal may request revisions, additional documentation, ethics clarification, permissions, or supporting data during assessment.

Acceptance is based on the authorized editor's evaluation of scholarly quality, reviewer input where applicable, and compliance with editorial and ethical requirements. Submission, payment of any fee, or completion of formatting requirements does not guarantee acceptance.

28. Final Submission Responsibility

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the submitted files are complete, accurate, and approved by all co-authors. Authors should retain copies of the submitted manuscript, supporting documents, permissions, and relevant correspondence.

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