Publication ethics

Originality and accurate reporting

Authors must present their work accurately, identify reused material, and acknowledge sources. Fabricated or falsified data, plagiarism, misleading authorship, and references added solely to manipulate citation metrics are unacceptable.

Authorship and competing interests

List only authors who contributed to the work and accept responsibility for it. Obtain approval from every author. Disclose funding and financial or non-financial interests that could affect interpretation.

Participants and community knowledge

Where applicable, report ethics approval or exemption and informed consent. Respect privacy, cultural protocols, community permissions, and restrictions on sensitive knowledge. Do not make identifiable or restricted research data public without appropriate permission.

Data, materials, and AI use

Explain whether supporting data and materials are available, and state reasons for restrictions. Disclose substantive AI assistance. AI tools cannot take responsibility as authors; human authors must verify the text, analyses, and citations.

Corrections and concerns

Report a suspected error or ethical concern to XXY@ickb.com. Include the article title, URL, affected passage, supporting evidence, and a way to contact you. Avoid sending confidential participant data in an initial message.

Substantive published corrections or withdrawals should be identifiable to readers, linked to the affected article, and accompanied by an explanation rather than silently changing the scholarly record.

Complaints and appeals

Use the same contact for a complaint or appeal, identifying the decision or issue and your grounds. An independent appeals route, investigation workflow, and response timetable have not yet been published; request these details from the editorial contact.