Editorial framework
Policies
The journal maintains publicly available policies covering peer review, publication ethics, open access and the responsibilities of editors, reviewers and authors. These policies follow the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
On this site
- Peer review policy
- Publication ethics & malpractice statement
- Editorial policies (authorship, conflicts of interest, data, corrections & retractions, complaints)
- Open access, licensing & copyright
- Use of generative AI
- Privacy notice
- Information for authors
Peer review
All research content is assessed by double-blind peer review with two independent reviewers. See the peer review policy for the full process, timelines and reviewer guidance.
Publication ethics
The journal applies the COPE Core Practices and has a published statement of the duties of editors, reviewers and authors, and of how allegations of misconduct are handled. See the publication ethics and malpractice statement.
Open access
Every article is published open access under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence, with copyright retained by the authors and no charges to authors or readers. See open access, licensing & copyright.
Corrections, retractions and complaints
Procedures for corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, and for complaints and appeals are set out in the editorial policies.