Ethics

Basic editorial ethical guidelines

1. Originality and authorship
   All manuscripts submitted to Infonomy must be original and unpublished. Authors must ensure that their work has not been published elsewhere and is not under simultaneous consideration by another journal. Authorship must reflect substantial contributions to the article.
2. Transparency and conflicts of interest
   Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could affect the content or evaluation of the manuscript. Infonomy promotes transparency to ensure academic integrity.
3. Fair peer review
   All articles are evaluated through peer review by subject experts. This process is confidential, fair, and objective. Editorial decisions are based solely on the academic merit of the work. The editors are committed to handling peer review as quickly as possible.
4. Research ethics
   Studies involving human subjects, animals, or sensitive data must have prior approval from an institutional ethics committee, and this must be stated in the manuscript. Compliance with international ethical standards in research is expected.
5. Prevention of plagiarism and misconduct
   Infonomy does not tolerate plagiarism, data fabrication or manipulation, or any form of scientific misconduct. All manuscripts are screened using iThenticate (Crossref Similarity Check).
6. Corrections and retractions
   If significant errors or misconduct are discovered after publication, the journal will publish the appropriate corrections or retract the article, as necessary.
7. Confidentiality
   Editors and reviewers must respect the confidentiality of the editorial process and must not use the information in the manuscripts for personal or professional gain without authorisation.
8. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
   The editorial team values and considers the significant improvements that can be achieved with the use of AI and recommends its use in the various stages of research (idea, prior literature search, sorting or classification, etc.) and in the writing of the article (grammatical correction, etc.). However, authors are required to declare that in each case its use has been complementary and that the results have been thoroughly reviewed and verified.
   This journal adheres to the recommendations on the use of AI made by organizations such as COPE, STM, WAME, and ICMJE:
   https://publicationethics.org/cope-focus/cope-focus-artificial-intelligence
   https://stm-assoc.org/document/recommendations-for-a-classification-of-ai-use-in-academic-manuscript-preparation/
   https://wame.org/page3.php?id=106
   https://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf

Responsibilities of Authors, Editors and Reviewers
Responsibilities of authors

• Ensure the originality of the manuscript and avoid plagiarism, redundant publication or unjustified salami slicing.
• Include only those who have made substantial contributions to the design, analysis, drafting, or critical revision of the content.
• Disclose all conflicts of interest and sources of funding.
• Ensure the accuracy of data and retain original records, available for review if requested.
• Obtain necessary ethical approvals and state compliance with international ethical standards.
• Ensure a thorough review of the results obtained through artificial intelligence.

Responsibilities of the editorial team

• Make editorial decisions impartially and based on academic criteria, without discrimination based on gender, nationality, ideology or institutional affiliation.
• Ensure a confidential, transparent, and ethical peer-review process.
• Detect and prevent misconduct through similarity checks and active vigilance.
• Address ethical concerns promptly and publish corrections, clarifications, or retractions when appropriate.
• Protect the confidentiality of manuscripts and reviewer identities.

Responsibilities of reviewers

• Evaluate manuscripts objectively, constructively and within the agreed timeframe.
• Identify potential ethical issues (plagiarism, redundant publication, data manipulation) and report them to the editor.
• Maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript and refrain from using its content for personal purposes.
• Declare any conflict of interest that may interfere with a fair assessment.

Further information on publication ethics

i) Journal Policies on Authorship and Contributorship
The journal adheres to the authorship criteria established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Authorship should be based on the following: (1) substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; (2) drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; (3) final approval of the version to be published; and (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the acknowledgments. Corresponding authors must ensure that all listed authors have approved the manuscript and meet authorship criteria. Changes in authorship after submission must be approved by all authors and explained in writing to the editorial office.

ii) Handling of Complaints and Appeals
The journal takes complaints and appeals seriously and handles them in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. Complaints related to editorial decisions, publication ethics, or other journal policies should be submitted in writing to the editorial office. Appeals of editorial decisions must provide a detailed justification. All complaints and appeals will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and/or a designated independent member of the editorial board, and a response will be provided within a reasonable timeframe.

iii) Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests
All authors, editors, and reviewers are required to disclose any financial or non-financial competing interests that could be perceived to influence the work. Authors must declare any relationships or activities that might bias or be seen to bias their work, including employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patents, and grants.
Editors and reviewers must also recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest.

iv) Data Sharing and Reproducibility
The journal encourages authors to share data, code, and other relevant materials to promote transparency and reproducibility. Where applicable, authors should include a data availability statement describing where and how the data can be accessed, or provide a justification if data cannot be shared due to ethical, legal, or commercial constraints.

Replication studies and negative results are welcome when methodologically sound. Authors are encouraged to follow FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable).

v) Ethical Oversight
The journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct in research and publishing. All submitted research involving human participants or animals must comply with institutional and national ethical standards and must have been approved by a recognized ethics committee. A statement on ethics approval and informed consent must be included in the manuscript.

Cases of suspected misconduct, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, or unethical research practices, will be investigated in line with COPE procedures.

vi) Intellectual Property
The journal respects the intellectual property rights of authors and others. Authors retain copyright of their work unless otherwise specified, and license the journal to publish the article under terms agreed upon at submission (e.g., a Creative Commons license).

The journal does not accept manuscripts that infringe upon third-party copyrights, and authors are responsible for obtaining permissions for any copyrighted material used. Plagiarism detection tools may be used during the review process.

vii) Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections
The journal supports transparency and scholarly dialogue after publication. Readers may submit letters or comments related to published articles. Where appropriate, these will be published as responses or commentaries.

If a significant error or ethical issue is identified post-publication, the journal will issue a correction, retraction, or expression of concern, as warranted by the nature of the issue, following COPE guidelines. Authors and readers are encouraged to report any such concerns to the editorial team.