Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics

Still Know Little of Science (SKLS) Publisher is committed to research integrity, editorial independence, confidentiality, transparency, and responsible scholarly communication. Authors, reviewers, editors, and readers are expected to act according to accepted standards of ethical publication practice.

The publisher aims to maintain a fair editorial process and to protect the integrity of the scholarly record before and after publication.

Author Responsibilities

• Submitted manuscripts must represent original work and must not contain plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate image or data manipulation.
• The manuscript must not be under consideration by another journal or publisher at the time of submission.
• All listed authors should have made a meaningful scholarly contribution to the work.
• All authors should approve the submitted version and agree to its submission.
• Authors should provide accurate affiliations, funding statements, conflict-of-interest declarations, ethics approval details, and consent statements where applicable.
• Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all submitted manuscript files, metadata, references, figures, tables, and supplementary material.

Authorship and Contributions

Authorship should be limited to individuals who made a substantial scholarly contribution to the work and who accept responsibility for the submitted and published content. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria may be acknowledged where appropriate and with permission.

Any authorship changes after submission should be explained to the editorial office and approved by all relevant authors.

Ethics Approval and Consent

Research involving human participants, patient data, animals, biological material, or sensitive data should include appropriate ethics approval, institutional approval, informed consent, or waiver statements where applicable.

Case reports or manuscripts containing potentially identifiable information should include appropriate consent or a clear explanation according to applicable ethical and institutional requirements.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors should disclose any financial, personal, academic, institutional, or professional relationships that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the submitted work, peer review, or editorial decision-making.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, confidential, and timely evaluations. Reviewers should decline assignments if they lack relevant expertise, cannot meet the deadline, or have a conflict of interest that could affect impartiality.

• Reviewer comments should be respectful, evidence-informed, and focused on the manuscript.
• Reviewers must keep submitted manuscripts and review materials confidential.
• Reviewers should not use unpublished manuscript information for personal or professional advantage.
• Reviewers should alert editors to suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data concerns, ethical issues, or undeclared conflicts.

Reviewer Anonymity

The publisher follows a single-blind peer-review model unless otherwise stated for a specific journal, article type, or editorial policy. Reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors. Authors may receive reviewer comments labelled as Reviewer #1, Reviewer #2, and so on.

Reviewer comments intended for authors are shared anonymously. Confidential comments submitted to the editor are used only for editorial decision-making and are not shared with authors. Editors and authorized editorial staff may access reviewer identities for workflow management, conflict-of-interest assessment, quality assurance, and editorial accountability.

Editorial Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for managing manuscripts fairly, confidentially, and independently. Editorial decisions should be based on scholarly merit, relevance, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and reviewer feedback where applicable.

• Editors should assess manuscripts without inappropriate discrimination or bias.
• Editors should maintain confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and peer-review communications.
• Editors should declare conflicts of interest and avoid handling manuscripts where impartiality may be compromised.
• Editors should take appropriate action when publication ethics concerns are identified.

Similarity Screening and Plagiarism

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-checking software as part of the editorial assessment process. Similarity reports support editorial judgement and do not automatically determine whether plagiarism has occurred.

Editors may request clarification, revision, or take further action where substantial unattributed overlap, duplicate publication, text recycling, inappropriate paraphrasing, or other publication ethics concerns are identified.

Research Misconduct

Concerns related to plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, falsification, image manipulation, authorship disputes, undisclosed conflicts of interest, unethical research conduct, or other forms of misconduct may be investigated according to the publisher’s editorial procedures.

Corrective action may include requesting an explanation, requesting revision, rejecting the manuscript, notifying relevant parties where appropriate, issuing a correction, publishing an expression of concern, or retracting an article.

Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

Authors are responsible for the integrity, accuracy, originality, and validity of all submitted content. Any use of artificial intelligence tools in writing, editing, data processing, image generation, or analysis should be disclosed where relevant.

Artificial intelligence tools should not be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the submitted work, approve the final manuscript, or be accountable for research integrity.

Data, Images, and Figures

Authors should present data, figures, and images accurately. Manipulation that misrepresents the original data or findings is not acceptable. Authors may be asked to provide original data, image files, ethics documentation, or additional clarification during editorial assessment.

Corrections, Retractions, and Editorial Notices

When significant errors or ethical concerns are identified after publication, the publisher may issue corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or other editorial notices to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

Minor errors that do not affect the interpretation of the work may be corrected through an appropriate correction notice. Serious concerns affecting reliability, validity, originality, or ethical acceptability may require further editorial action.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors may contact the editorial office if they believe an editorial decision, review process, or publication ethics matter requires reconsideration. Appeals should provide a clear explanation and should focus on scholarly, procedural, or ethical grounds.

Complaints and appeals will be reviewed according to the publisher’s editorial procedures. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee a change in editorial decision.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts submitted to the publisher are treated as confidential documents. Editors, reviewers, and authorized editorial staff should not disclose manuscript content, review comments, or editorial communications except as required for the editorial and publication process.