Foundational Ethical Principles
- Integrity — The scientific record must be accurate, complete, and trustworthy.
- Originality — Published work must represent a genuine new contribution to knowledge.
- Transparency — All parties must be open about methods, funding, conflicts, and AI use.
- Accountability — Authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher are each responsible for their role.
- Fairness — Evaluation based solely on scientific merit, free from all forms of bias.
- Confidentiality — Submitted manuscripts and reviewer identities treated as strictly confidential.
- Independence — Editorial decisions made independent of commercial, financial, or political pressures.
Responsibilities of Authors
Originality & Plagiarism
Submissions must be entirely original. EAP has zero tolerance for plagiarism, self-plagiarism, mosaic plagiarism, or idea plagiarism. All submissions are screened using iThenticate.
Data Integrity
Fabrication, falsification, image manipulation, and selective reporting are serious misconduct. Raw data must be retained for 5 years post-publication.
Authorship (CRediT)
All four ICMJE conditions must be met. Gift, ghost, and honorary authorship are prohibited. CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy required for all articles.
Conflicts of Interest
All financial and non-financial conflicts must be declared at submission. If none, authors must state: "The authors declare no conflicts of interest."
Prohibited Practices
Research Misconduct
- Data fabrication and falsification
- Plagiarism and self-plagiarism
- Image manipulation
- Selective reporting of results
Publication Misconduct
- Duplicate submission or publication
- Salami slicing
- Guest, ghost, or honorary authorship
- Citation manipulation
- Peer-review manipulation
- Undisclosed AI use
Investigation & Sanctions
Suspected misconduct is investigated in accordance with applicable COPE flowcharts. Depending on severity, sanctions may include:
| Action | When Applied |
|---|---|
| Rejection | Desk rejection or post-review rejection of the submitted manuscript. |
| Correction | Significant unintentional error that does not invalidate conclusions. |
| Expression of Concern | Credible concern under active investigation. |
| Retraction | Findings fundamentally unreliable due to errors or misconduct. Permanent. |
| Editorial Ban | Prohibition from submitting or reviewing for EAP publications. |
| Institutional Notification | Formal notification of the authors' employing institution or funding body. |
Publisher Responsibilities
- Absolute non-interference in editorial decisions — commercial considerations have no bearing on acceptance or rejection.
- Active support for editors in investigating and resolving allegations of misconduct.
- Ensuring all ethics policies are publicly available, current, and accessible.
- Cooperating with other publishers and institutions in cross-journal investigations.
- Maintaining permanent digital archives of all published content including retraction notices.
Whistleblower Protection
Individuals who raise concerns about research or publication integrity in good faith are protected by EAP. The identity of complainants is kept confidential to the fullest extent possible. No adverse action will be taken against anyone raising a genuine concern.
Report an Ethics Concern
Journal: [email protected]
Publisher: [email protected]
All reports are treated confidentially and investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines.