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Policies and Ethics

1. Authorship and Authorship Criteria

Listing authors’ names on an article is an important mechanism to give credit to those who have significantly contributed to the work. It also ensures transparency for those who are responsible for the integrity of the content. Authors listed in an article must meet all the following criteria:

  1. Made significant contributions to the work reported, whether that’s in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation, or in all these areas.
  2. Have drafted or written, substantially revised, or critically reviewed the article.
  3. Have agreed on the journal to which the article will be submitted.
  4. Reviewed and agreed on all versions of the article before submission, during revision, the final version accepted for publication, and any significant changes introduced at the proofing stage.
  5. Agree to take responsibility and be accountable for the contents of the article and to share the responsibility to resolve any questions raised about the accuracy or integrity of the published work.

Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship. Each contributor should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content of the manuscript. The order of naming the contributors should be based on the relative contribution of the contributor towards the study and writing the manuscript. Once submitted the order cannot be changed without the written consent of all the contributors.

1.1 Contribution Details

Authors must provide a clear statement describing the contributions of each author to the manuscript. This statement will be published as part of the article. All authors should have approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for the integrity of the work.

1.2 Changes in authorship

Any changes in authorship before or after publication must be agreed upon by all authors, including those being added or removed. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to obtain confirmation from all co-authors and to provide a full explanation about why the change was necessary. If a change in authorship is necessary after the publication of the article, this will be amended via a post-publication notice. Any changes in authorship must comply with our criteria for authorship, and requests for significant changes to the authorship list after the article has been accepted may be rejected if clear reasons and evidence of author contributions cannot be provided.

1.3 Acknowledgment of Individuals and Organizations

Acknowledgements must be included as a separate section in the manuscript before the references. Individuals who contributed to the development of the manuscript but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged, with their permission. Organizations that provided non-author support or other resources may also be acknowledged where appropriate.

1.4 Author affiliations

Authors must list all relevant affiliations to attribute where the research was approved and/or supported and/or conducted. For non-research articles, authors must list their current institutional affiliation. In cases where an author has moved to a different institution before the article has been published, the affiliation where the work was conducted, along with the current affiliation and contact details, should be listed in the acknowledgment section. Change of affiliation alone is not a valid reason to remove an author from a publication if he or she meets the authorship criteria.

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2. Conflicts of Interest

2.1 Submissions by Authors

All listed authors must declare any competing interests relevant to, or which can be perceived to be relevant to the article. A competing interest can occur where the authors (or their employer, sponsor, or family/friends) have a financial, commercial, legal, or professional relationship with other organizations, or with the people working with them which could influence the research or interpretation of the results. Competing interests can be financial or non-financial in nature. To ensure transparency, any associations which can be perceived by others as a competing interest must also be declared.

Examples of financial competing interests include (but are not limited to):

  1. Employment or voluntary involvement
  2. Collaborations with advocacy groups relating to the content of the article
  3. Grants from an entity paid to the author or organization
  4. Personal fees received by the author/s as honoraria, royalties, consulting fees, lecture fees, testimonies, etc
  5. Patents held or pending by the authors, their institutions or funding organizations, or licensed to an entity whether earning royalties or not
  6. Royalties being received by the authors or their institutions
  7. Stock or share ownership
  8. Benefits related to the development of products as an outcome of the work

Examples of non-financial competing interests include (but are not limited to):

  1. Receipt of drugs, equipment, or access to data by an entity that might benefit or be at an advantage financially or reputationally from the published findings.
  2. Holding a position on the boards of industry bodies or private companies that might benefit or be at an advantage financially or reputationally from the published findings.
  3. Writing assistance or administrative support from a person or organization that might benefit or be at an advantage from the published findings.
  4. Personal, political, religious, ideological, academic, and intellectual competing interests are perceived to be relevant to the published content.
  5. Involvement in legal action related to the work.

All manuscripts submitted to the journal must include a Conflict of Interest statement within the article. Authors are required to disclose any competing interests relevant to the manuscript. This statement will be published as part of the article. If authors are unsure whether a competing interest should be disclosed, they should consult their institution or the journal Editor. If there are no competing interests to declare, authors should state: “The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.”

2.2 Submissions by Editors

A paper submitted by one of the Editors will be handled by another Editor who is not at the same institution. The other Editor will select referees and make all decisions on the paper. The decision process will be handled in such a way that the submitting Editor does not have access to information or correspondence relating to the submission.

2.3 Submission by family member of Editor or by author whose relationshipwith Editor might create the perception of bias

If a paper is submitted by a family member of one of the Editors, or by an author whose relationship with one of the Editors might create the perception of bias (e.g. in terms of close friendship or conflict/rivalry), the Editor will declare a conflict of interest and the paper will be handled by one of the other Editors. The Editor who has declared a conflict of interest will not be involved in selecting referees or making any decisions on the paper.

2.4 General policy

If an Editor feels that there is likely to be a perception of a conflict of interest in relation to their handling of a submission, they will declare it to the other Editors, and the paper will be subject to rules stated in 2.2.

2.5 Reviewers

The invitation letter to reviewers will include the following wording: ‘If you think you know the identity of the author and if you feel there is a strong conflict of interest in your refereeing of this paper, please declare it. By accepting this invitation, it is assumed there is no such conflict of interest.’ Standard policy will be not to use a referee if a conflict of interest has been declared, but the Editors may use their discretion.

3. Ethics Information

Authors must include a statement confirming that the study complied with relevant ethical standards and guidelines. Where applicable, approval from an institutional review board or ethics committee must be stated in the manuscript.

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4. Funding

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support for the research. A funding statement must be included in the manuscript and will be published within the article. Grant numbers should be provided where applicable. Authors should also describe the role of the funder or sponsor, if any, in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funder or sponsor had no such involvement, this should also be stated. Authors should ensure that this information is accurate and consistent with funder requirements.

5. Copyright and Licensing Policy

5.1 Who can Submit?

Anyone may submit an original article to be considered for publication in the Journal of African Trade, provided he or she owns the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception might exist if the work is a work for hire or under a certain agreement.) If you are unsure about the ownership of copyright, consult your institution for any existent agreements.

5.2 Author rights

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the Journal of African Trade an exclusive license to publish and distribute the article

5.3 User Rights

The Journal of African Trade is an Open Access Journal. Users have the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles under the following conditions: Creative Commons Attribution - (CC BY

It is possible for others to distribute and copy the article, and to include it in a collective work (such as an anthology), as long as they credit the author(s) and provided they do not alter or modify the article.

Paraphrasing and citing the journal articles is considered fair use, thus it is permissible.

5.4 Use of third-party material

You must obtain the necessary permission to reuse third-party material in your article. These materials may include – but are not limited to – text, illustration, photographs, tables, data, audio, video, film stills, screenshots, or musical notation.

The use of short extracts of text and some other types of material is usually permitted, on a limited basis, for the purposes of criticism and review without securing formal permission. If you wish to include any material in your paper for which you do not hold copyright, and which is not covered by this informal agreement, you will need to obtain written permission from the copyright owner prior to submission.

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6. Misconduct

The journal takes all forms of misconduct seriously and will take all necessary action, in accordance with COPE guidelines, to protect the integrity of the scholarly record. Examples of misconduct include (but are not limited to):

  • Affiliation misrepresentation
  • Breaches in copyright/use of third-party material without appropriate permissions
  • Citation manipulation
  • Duplicate submission/publication
  • “Ethics dumping”
  • Image or data manipulation/fabrication
  • Peer review manipulation
  • Plagiarism
  • Text-recycling/self-plagiarism
  • Undisclosed competing interests
  • Unethical research

6.1 Duplicate Submission

Manuscripts that are found to have been published elsewhere, or to be under review elsewhere, will incur duplicate submission/publication sanctions. If authors have used their own previously published work, or work that is currently under review, as the basis for a submitted manuscript, they are required to cite the previous work and indicate how their submitted manuscript offers novel contributions beyond those of the previous work. If the justification is not accepted by the editorial board, the journal maintains the right to refuse the manuscript.

6.2 Citation Manipulation

Submitted manuscripts that are found to include citations whose primary purpose is to increase the number of citations to a given author’s work, or to articles published in a particular journal, will incur citation manipulation sanctions.

6.3 Data Fabrication and Falsification

Submitted manuscripts that are found to have either fabricated or falsified experimental results, including the manipulation of images, will incur data fabrication and falsification sanctions.

6.4 Improper Author Contribution or Attribution

All listed authors must have made a significant scientific contribution to the research in the manuscript and approved all its claims. It is important to list everyone who made a significant scientific contribution, including students and laboratory technicians.

6.5 Redundant Publications

Redundant publications involve the inappropriate division of study outcomes into several articles.

6.6 Image manipulation

Deliberate action through inappropriate manipulation or fabrication of an image regarded as serious misconduct. This is a serious form of misconduct as it misleads others and damages the integrity of the scholarly record.

The journal expects all images contained within manuscripts to be accurate and free from manipulation. Specific features within an image may not be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced without adequate notification of what the alteration is. Adjustments to the brightness, contrast, or color balance of an image are acceptable if they do not obscure, eliminate, or misrepresent information present in the original.

If the original, unedited images cannot be produced on request, acceptance of a manuscript or paper may be declined or retracted.

6.7 Plagiarism

This applies to data, images, words, or ideas taken from any materials in electronic or print formats without sufficient attribution. This can include abstracts, seminar presentations, laboratory reports, thesis or dissertation, research proposals, computer programs, online posts, grey literature, and unpublished or published manuscripts.

The use of any such material either directly or indirectly should be properly acknowledged in all instances and the source of content must always be cited.

The journal uses plagiarism-checking tools to screen all submitted manuscripts and will deal with cases of plagiarism according to COPE guidelines. Any manuscript found to contain plagiarized material will not be considered for publication.

The journal uses iThenticate to screen all submitted manuscripts and will handle suspected plagiarism in accordance with COPE guidelines. Cases are assessed by the editorial team in context. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarized material may be rejected or otherwise handled in accordance with the journal’s ethics procedures.

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7. Publication Ethics

The journal and its editorial board fully adhere to and comply with the policies and principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

7.1 Duties of Editors

7.1.1 Publication decisions

The editorial board of the journal is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. Members of the board confer and refer to reviewer recommendations in making this decision, constrained by legal requirements related to libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Editorial decisions are not affected by the origins of the manuscript, including the nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, or religion of the authors.

7.1.2 Confidentiality, disclosure, and conflicts of interest

During the review process, editors must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and other editorial advisers. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's, reviewer’s, or any other reader’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Readers should be informed about who has funded the research or other scholarly work and whether the funders had any role in the research and its publication and, if so, what this was.

7.1.3 Author relations

Editors strive to ensure that peer review at the journal is fair, unbiased, and timely. The journal has established policies for handling submissions from editorial board members to ensure unbiased review. Author instructions provide guidance about the criteria for authorship.

7.1.4 Reviewer relations

The Journal encourages reviewers to comment on ethical questions and possible misconduct raised by submissions (e.g., unethical research design, and inappropriate data manipulation), and to be alert to redundant publication and plagiarism. Reviewers’ comments should be sent to authors in their entirety unless they contain offensive or libelous remarks. Contributions of reviewers to the journal are regularly acknowledged and cease to use reviewers who consistently produce discourteous, poor quality, or late reviews.

7.1.5 Quality assurance

Editors should take all reasonable steps to ensure the quality of the material they publish, recognizing that different sections have different aims and standards. Editors should seek assurances that the research they publish has been approved by an appropriate body (e.g., research ethics committee, institutional review board) where one exists. Editors should be alert to

intellectual property issues and work with their publishers to handle potential breaches of laws and conventions. Errors, inaccurate, or misleading statements must be corrected promptly and with due prominence.

7.2 Duties of Reviewers

7.2.1 Contribution to editorial decisions

Reviewers assist the editorial board in making editorial decisions. Reviews should be conducted objectively, and observations should be formulated clearly with supporting arguments so that authors can use them for improving the paper. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate.

7.2.2 Qualification of reviewers

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process. Reviewers should not consider 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 connected to the papers.

7.2.3 Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

7.2.4 Acknowledgment of sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. References to the ideas of others should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

7.3 Duties of Authors

7.3.1 Reporting standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. Authors should be prepared to provide public access to raw data in connection with a paper and retain such data for at least two years after publication. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

7.3.2 Originality, plagiarism, and concurrent publication

Authors should ensure their work is entirely original and that any work and/or words of others have been appropriately acknowledged. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Submitting essentially the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

7.3.3 Disclosure and conflicts of interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

7.3.4 Authorship of the paper

The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

7.3.5 Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in the published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor and work with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

7.3.6 Policy Briefs

Authors are expected to present not more than one-page non-technical policy implications extracted from their paper. This will be used to inform policy makers about the major findings and policy implications of the study in non-technical terms.

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8. Peer Review Policy

All manuscripts submitted to the Journal of African Trade undergo a rigorous peer review process designed to assess their originality, scholarly quality, methodological soundness, and relevance to the journal’s scope. The review process is intended to ensure that published articles meet high standards of academic integrity, relevance, and contribution to the field.

8.1 Type of Peer Review

The Journal of African Trade operates a single-blind peer review system. In this model, reviewers know the identities of the authors, while authors do not know

the identities of the reviewers. Reviewer identities are kept confidential throughout and after the review process.

8.2 Initial Editorial Screening

Upon submission, each manuscript is first assessed by the editorial team to determine whether it falls within the journal’s scope and meets the required standards for quality, structure, and ethical compliance. Manuscripts that do not meet these requirements may be rejected at this stage without being sent for external review.

8.3 External Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent to at least two independent expert reviewers with relevant subject expertise. Reviewers are invited to evaluate the manuscript’s originality, academic merit, clarity, methodology, interpretation of results, and overall contribution to the literature.

8.4 Reviewer Recommendations

Based on their assessment, reviewers may recommend one of the following outcomes:

  • Accept
  • Minor revisions
  • Major revisions
  • Reject

Reviewer comments are shared with the authors and editors, while reviewer identities remain confidential.

8.5 Revisions and Further Review

Where revisions are requested, authors are invited to revise their manuscript in light of the reviewer comments and to submit a response explaining how the comments have been addressed. Revised manuscripts may be returned to the original reviewers or assessed further by the editorial team, depending on the nature and extent of the revisions.

8.6 Editorial Decision-Making

Final decisions on submitted manuscripts are made by the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately designated editor, based on the reviewers’ reports and the journal’s editorial standards. The editorial team may seek additional expert advice where necessary. Editorial decisions are made independently and in accordance with the journal’s policies on academic integrity, confidentiality, and conflicts of interest.

8.7 Confidentiality and Conflicts of Interest

All manuscripts under review are treated as confidential documents. Reviewers and editors are expected to disclose any conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves from handling a manuscript where such conflicts may affect, or be perceived to affect, the fairness of the review process.

8.8 Review of Supplementary Materials

Authors may submit supplementary materials, such as datasets, appendices, figures, tables, or other supporting files, alongside the manuscript where relevant. These materials may be shared with reviewers during the peer review process where appropriate. While supplementary materials may support the evaluation of the submission, the primary focus of peer review remains the main manuscript. Authors are responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and relevance of all supplementary materials provided.

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9. Desk Rejection Policy

The Journal of African trade retains the right to refuse any manuscript that fails to meet one or more of the following criteria.

  1. The topic / scope of the study is not relevant to the field of the journal.
  2. There are publication ethics concerns, including possible plagiarism, substantial text overlap, or non-adherence to recognized ethical standards and guidelines. Manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism-detection software (iThenticate), but similarity scores are assessed case by case and in context by the editorial team. As a general screening benchmark, manuscripts with a similarity index higher than 30% may be subject to additional review.
  3. The topic does not have a sufficient impact, nor does it sufficiently contribute new knowledge to the field.
  4. There are flaws in the study design.
  5. The objective of the study is not clearly stated.
  6. The study of the organization is problematic and/or certain components are missing.
  7. There are problems in writing or series of infelicities of in the style of grammar.
  8. The manuscript does not follow the submission guideline of the Journal.
  9. The submission has been previously published.
  10. The manuscript is not in English.

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10. Appeals and Complaints

The journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on

appeals to journal editor decisions and complaints about a journal’s editorial management of the peer review process.

We welcome genuine appeals to editor decisions. However, you will need to provide strong evidence or new data/information in response to the editor’s and reviewers’ comments.

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11. Duplicate submission/publication

Authors are required to declare upon submission that the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere, and as such the detection of a duplicate submission or publication is typically considered to be a deliberate act. This includes articles previously published in another language. For acceptable forms of secondary submissions or publications (e.g., an article translated into English), in accordance with COPE guidance, authors must seek permission from the publisher and copyright holder of the original article and must inform the Editor of the receiving journal about the history of the original article. It must also be made clear to readers that the article is a translated version, with a citation provided to the original article. For more about our anti-misconduct methods, kindly check our misconduct policy.

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12. Confidentiality

All submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential and are accessible only to individuals directly involved in the editorial and peer review process. In cases of suspected misconduct, the Journal may share relevant materials with appropriate ethics bodies or institutions in accordance with COPE guidelines. Withdrawn or rejected manuscripts are removed from the Journal’s active editorial systems upon completion of the review process. The Journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity, transparency, and ethical publishing practices.

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13. Citations

Research and non-research articles must cite relevant, timely, and verified literature (peer-reviewed, where appropriate) to support any claims made in the article. The formal citation style used by the Journal of African Trade is the American Psychological Association.

You must avoid excessive and inappropriate self-citation or prearrangements among author groups to inappropriately cite each other’s work, as this can be considered a form of misconduct called citation manipulation.

If you are unsure about whether to cite a source, you should contact the journal editorial office for advice.

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14. Consent for Publication

If a manuscript includes identifiable personal information (for example, interview excerpts, photographs, or case descriptions involving individuals), authors must obtain written consent from those individuals (or legal guardians for minors). A statement confirming that consent was obtained must be included in the manuscript. Consent forms should be made available to the editor upon request.

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15. Images and figures

You should only use images and figures in your article if they are relevant and valuable to the work reported.

Please refrain from adding content of this type which is purely illustrative and does not add value to the scholarly work.

As a warranty in the Journal Author Publishing Agreement, you make with us, you must obtain the necessary written permission to include material in your article that is owned and held in copyright by a third party, including – but not limited to – any proprietary text, illustration, table, or other material, including data, audio, video, film stills, screenshots, musical notation, and any supplemental material.

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16. Preprints policy

Authors may post their preprints (the version submitted to the journal) at any time on any repository, including institutional repositories, subject repositories (e.g., arXiv, RePEc), or personal websites. Posting a preprint does not affect editorial consideration. After acceptance, authors may also post the accepted manuscript, provided they link to the published Version of Record via the article’s DOI. Preprints and accepted manuscripts may remain online indefinitely. Authors may update the preprint record to reflect the accepted version.

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17. Post-Publication Discussions

The journal welcomes post-publication communication regarding articles it has published. Readers may contact the editorial office to submit comments, concerns, or questions about the accuracy, interpretation, or integrity of published work. Such communications will be reviewed by the editorial team, and where necessary, the journal may seek clarification from the authors or other relevant parties.

Where concerns are substantiated, the journal may take appropriate action, including publishing a response, issuing a correction, publishing an expression of concern, or retracting the article, depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue.

The journal also acknowledges that scholarly discussion may take place on external moderated platforms. Where relevant and credible concerns are brought to the journal’s attention through such channels, they may also be considered by the editorial team.

The purpose of post-publication discussion is to support scholarly exchange, improve transparency, and help maintain the reliability of the published record.

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18. Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

The Journal of African Trade is committed to correcting the scholarly record where necessary. When concerns arise after publication, the journal will assess the matter carefully and determine the most appropriate course of action in line with COPE guidance and established editorial practice.

  • Corrections: A correction may be issued when a published article contains an error or omission that affects the accuracy, clarity, or presentation of the work, but does not invalidate the article as a whole. Correction notices will explain the nature of the change and will be permanently linked to the original article.
  • Expressions of Concern: An expression of concern may be issued where there are serious and credible questions about the integrity, reliability, or ethical basis of a published article, but where the matter has not yet been fully resolved. This allows the journal to alert readers while an investigation or further review is ongoing.
  • Retractions: A retraction may be issued when an article is found to be unreliable, whether as a result of misconduct or serious error. Grounds for retraction may include, but are not limited to, plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, duplicate publication, or other serious breaches of publication ethics. Retraction notices will clearly state the reason for the retraction and will be permanently linked to the original article, which will remain part of the scholarly record but will be clearly identified as retracted.

Decisions on corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions are made by the Editor-in-Chief, with input from the editorial team and, where appropriate, consultation with authors, reviewers, institutions, or other relevant parties. All such notices are published in the interest of transparency, accountability, and the integrity of the scholarly record.

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19. Special Issues Policy

19.1 Purpose and Scope

The journal may publish special issues devoted to timely, emerging, or particularly significant themes within its scope. Special issues are intended to bring together high-quality scholarship on a defined topic and to encourage focused academic discussion in areas of current or growing importance. Proposals for special issues may be initiated by the editorial team or submitted by prospective guest editors. All proposals are subject to editorial review and must be approved by the journal before any special issue is commissioned.

19.2 Call for Papers

For each approved special issue, the journal will issue a public call for papers setting out the theme, scope, objectives, and submission requirements. Calls may be announced through the journal website and other appropriate communication channels. Manuscripts submitted for a special issue must fall within the announced theme and comply with the journal’s general author guidelines and editorial policies.

19.3 Guest Editors

The journal may appoint guest editors where subject-specific expertise is needed for a special issue. The appointment of guest editors is at the discretion of the journal, and special issues may also be managed entirely by the Editor- in-Chief and editorial board.

Where guest editors are appointed, they may assist with developing the special issue theme, promoting the call for papers, identifying appropriate reviewers, and overseeing the editorial process in consultation with the journal. Guest editors do not make final publication decisions independently. Responsibility for editorial decisions remains with the Editor-in-Chief or the appropriate editorial representative, in accordance with the journal’s editorial standards and ethical policies.

19.4 Submission and Peer Review

Manuscripts submitted to special issues are processed through the journal’s standard submission system and are subject to the same editorial screening, peer review, and ethical requirements as manuscripts submitted to regular issues. All submissions are assessed according to the journal’s usual standards for originality, scholarly quality, relevance, and integrity. Final decisions on acceptance, revision, or rejection are made by the Editor-in-Chief or a designated editor in line with the journal’s peer review policy.

19.5 Editorial Oversight and Transparency

Special issues are overseen by the journal to ensure consistency with its aims, editorial policies, and publication ethics standards. Where guest editors are involved, the journal retains overall responsibility for the conduct of the editorial and peer review process. Any submission authored or co-authored by a guest editor must be handled independently to avoid conflicts of interest.

19.6 Publication and Promotion

Accepted special issues are published as part of the journal’s normal publication programme and are clearly identified as special issues. The journal may promote special issues through its usual communication channels to enhance their visibility and reach within the scholarly community.

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20. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

The journal recognizes that generative AI and other AI-assisted tools are increasingly used in academic work. Their use must be transparent, limited, and

consistent with the principles of authorship, research integrity, confidentiality, and editorial responsibility.

20.1 Use by Authors

Authors may use generative AI or AI-assisted technologies for limited purposes such as improving language, readability, or presentation. Such tools must not be used in place of the authors’ own scholarly judgment or intellectual contribution. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, interpretation, citations, and overall integrity of the manuscript.

AI tools must not be credited as authors or co-authors, as they cannot take responsibility for the work or meet the journal’s authorship criteria.

Where generative AI or similar tools have made a substantive contribution to the preparation of the manuscript, authors must disclose this clearly in the manuscript or at submission. The disclosure should indicate the name of the tool, the purpose for which it was used, and the extent of its use. Routine tools used only for spelling, grammar, or reference management do not normally require disclosure.

Authors are expected to use such technologies responsibly and in compliance with applicable privacy, confidentiality, and copyright requirements. Confidential, sensitive, or copyrighted materials should not be entered into external AI tools unless the authors are authorized to do so and appropriate safeguards are in place.

20.2 Use in Figures, Images, and Research Methods

Generative AI must not be used to create, modify, enhance, or manipulate images, figures, or other visual materials in a way that could mislead readers or distort the underlying data or findings. If AI-assisted tools are used as part of the research process itself, including for image analysis or other analytical purposes, this should be reported transparently in the manuscript, together with sufficient detail about how the tool was used.

20.3 Use by Reviewers

Reviewers must not use generative AI or external AI-assisted tools to evaluate submitted manuscripts or to generate review reports. Manuscripts under review are confidential documents and must not be uploaded, in whole or in part, to external AI systems for summarization, analysis, rewriting, translation, or any other purpose.

Peer review depends on expert human assessment. Reviewers are personally responsible for the content, quality, fairness, and confidentiality of their reports.

20.4 Policy Development

The journal will continue to monitor developments in generative AI and related technologies and may update this policy as needed to maintain high standards of scholarly integrity, confidentiality, and ethical publishing.

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