Publication Ethics

Royal Scientific Publishing LLC is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, research integrity, transparency, and responsible scholarly communication.

Our publication ethics framework applies to authors, editors, reviewers, volume editors, series editors, and all other individuals involved in the publication process. We expect everyone involved in our publications to act with honesty, fairness, accountability, and respect for the scholarly record.

This policy applies to books, book chapters, edited volumes, book series, and other scholarly publications published by Royal Scientific Publishing LLC.

1. Our Commitment to Research Integrity

Royal Scientific Publishing LLC seeks to ensure that published scholarly content is:

Original and appropriately attributed
Scientifically and academically responsible
Transparently developed and reviewed
Free from intentional falsification or fabrication
Compliant with applicable copyright requirements
Produced through responsible editorial practices
Corrected when significant errors are identified

We encourage authors, editors, and reviewers to raise legitimate concerns about potential ethical issues at any stage of the publication process.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted and published work meets appropriate standards of academic integrity.

Authors should:

Submit original work
Properly acknowledge the contributions of others
Cite relevant sources accurately
Obtain appropriate permissions for copyrighted material
Ensure that submitted content has not been improperly duplicated
Disclose relevant conflicts of interest
Provide accurate author information
Ensure that all listed authors have made appropriate contributions
Approve the final version before publication
Cooperate with reasonable editorial inquiries
Correct significant errors identified after publication

Authors must not knowingly submit fabricated, falsified, plagiarized, or misleading material.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should reflect substantial intellectual or scholarly contribution to the work.

Individuals listed as authors should have made an appropriate contribution to the publication and should be able to take responsibility for their contribution.

Authors should agree on:

Author order
Authorship attribution
Corresponding-author responsibilities
Contributions of each author
Changes to authorship, where applicable

Individuals who provided assistance but do not qualify for authorship may be acknowledged appropriately.

Changes in Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission should be supported by an appropriate explanation and, where applicable, approval from all affected authors.

4. Plagiarism

Royal Scientific Publishing LLC does not tolerate plagiarism.

Plagiarism includes presenting another person's ideas, words, data, figures, or other intellectual contributions as one's own without appropriate acknowledgment.

Examples may include:

Copying text without attribution
Improper paraphrasing
Using another author's ideas without citation
Reusing figures or tables without appropriate permission or attribution
Presenting previously published material as original

Where plagiarism concerns arise, the publisher may conduct an appropriate investigation and take action consistent with applicable policies.

5. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Authors should not submit substantially identical work to multiple publishers or publication venues simultaneously without appropriate disclosure and permission.

Duplicate or redundant publication may include substantial reuse of previously published material without appropriate disclosure, citation, or justification.

Authors should clearly disclose significant prior publications or related manuscripts when relevant to the submitted work.

6. Fabrication and Falsification

Royal Scientific Publishing LLC considers fabrication and falsification serious breaches of research integrity.

Fabrication

Fabrication involves creating data, results, experiments, sources, or other research information that did not actually exist.

Falsification

Falsification involves manipulating, omitting, altering, or misrepresenting research materials, data, methods, results, or other scholarly information in a way that can mislead readers.

Such concerns may result in investigation and appropriate editorial action.

7. Citation and Attribution

Authors are expected to provide accurate and appropriate citations.

References should:

Support relevant claims
Be sufficiently complete
Accurately represent the cited work
Be presented consistently
Give appropriate credit to previous research

Authors should avoid inappropriate citation practices, including excessive self-citation or citation manipulation intended primarily to influence metrics.

8. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, editors, and reviewers should disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could reasonably influence their judgment.

Potential conflicts may include:

Financial interests
Employment relationships
Personal relationships
Professional collaborations
Institutional interests
Competitive relationships
Funding relationships

Disclosures should be made as early as reasonably possible in the publication process.

9. Funding Disclosure

Authors should disclose relevant funding or financial support associated with the research or publication where applicable.

Funding information may include:

Funding organization
Grant or project information, where appropriate
Institutional support
Other material financial support

Authors should accurately describe the role of the funding organization where such information is relevant.

10. Ethical Research Practices

Authors are responsible for ensuring that research involving human participants, animals, personal data, or other regulated research activities complies with applicable ethical requirements.

Where applicable, authors should provide appropriate information regarding:

Institutional ethics approval
Informed consent
Participant privacy
Data protection
Animal welfare
Research permissions
Relevant regulatory requirements

The specific requirements depend on the nature of the research and applicable laws, regulations, institutional policies, and disciplinary standards.

11. Data and Reproducibility

Where appropriate and legally permissible, authors are encouraged to provide sufficient information about:

Research methods
Data sources
Analytical procedures
Software and computational methods
Experimental conditions
Supporting materials

Authors should not knowingly manipulate or misrepresent data or research results.

Where datasets or supplementary materials are shared, authors must ensure that sharing complies with applicable privacy, confidentiality, copyright, and licensing requirements.

12. Editors' Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for maintaining appropriate academic and editorial standards.

Editors should:

Evaluate submissions fairly
Maintain confidentiality
Manage conflicts of interest
Select appropriate reviewers where peer review is applicable
Consider reviewer recommendations objectively
Avoid discrimination or inappropriate bias
Protect editorial independence
Address credible ethical concerns
Ensure appropriate corrections when significant errors are identified

Editorial decisions should be based on relevant scholarly and publishing considerations.

13. Reviewers' Responsibilities

Reviewers are expected to:

Provide objective and constructive assessments
Maintain confidentiality
Identify significant methodological or ethical concerns
Avoid personal criticism
Disclose conflicts of interest
Avoid using unpublished information for personal advantage
Complete reviews responsibly and within agreed timelines where possible

Detailed reviewer expectations are provided in the Peer Review policy.

14. Copyright and Permissions

Authors and editors are responsible for ensuring that submitted material complies with applicable copyright requirements.

Permission may be required for third-party:

Text
Figures
Tables
Photographs
Illustrations
Maps
Previously published content
Other protected materials

Authors should retain appropriate documentation of permissions where required.

15. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors, editors, and reviewers should use artificial intelligence tools responsibly and transparently.

AI tools may assist with activities such as:

Language improvement
Formatting
Literature organization
Research support
Data analysis or coding, where appropriate

However, AI-generated or AI-assisted content must not be used to fabricate research, citations, data, results, or scholarly claims.

AI tools should not be listed as authors. Human authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and final approval of the submitted work.

Where AI use materially contributes to the development of a manuscript, appropriate disclosure may be required in accordance with the applicable publication and discipline-specific requirements.

16. Corrections and Post-Publication Issues

Royal Scientific Publishing LLC recognizes the importance of maintaining the integrity of the published scholarly record.

If a significant error is identified after publication, appropriate action may include:

Correction
Author correction
Publisher correction
Editorial notice
Retraction
Other appropriate post-publication action

The action taken will depend on the nature and significance of the issue.

17. Retraction

Retraction may be considered where a publication contains serious problems that substantially undermine its reliability or integrity.

Potential reasons may include:

Major fabrication or falsification
Serious plagiarism
Significant methodological or data-related problems
Unethical research
Major copyright violations
Serious publication misconduct
Other circumstances that materially compromise the scholarly record

Where appropriate, the original publication record will remain identifiable, with a clear indication of the relevant post-publication action.

18. Handling Ethical Concerns

Concerns regarding potential publication misconduct should be reported to Royal Scientific Publishing LLC with sufficient information to allow an appropriate assessment.

Reports should, where possible, include:

Publication title
Author or editor information
Description of the concern
Relevant evidence
Supporting documentation or references

The publisher may request additional information where necessary.

All concerns will be considered carefully and handled with appropriate confidentiality.

19. Investigations

Where a credible ethical concern is identified, Royal Scientific Publishing LLC may conduct an appropriate investigation.

Depending on the circumstances, the publisher may:

Contact the author or editor
Request supporting documentation
Seek clarification from reviewers or contributors
Consult relevant institutions
Request information from research organizations
Review publication records
Take appropriate editorial action

Investigations should be conducted fairly and with appropriate consideration for all parties involved.

20. Editorial Independence and Fairness

Royal Scientific Publishing LLC seeks to ensure that publication decisions are based on scholarly quality, relevance, originality, integrity, and suitability for publication.

Editorial decisions should not be improperly influenced by:

Personal relationships
Commercial interests
Institutional pressure
Discriminatory considerations
Political influence
Financial incentives

Authors, editors, and reviewers are expected to respect the independence and integrity of the editorial process.

Ethical Publishing Workflow

Submission
↓
Editorial Screening
↓
Ethical & Integrity Checks
↓
Editorial Assessment
↓
Peer Review, Where Applicable
↓
Revision
↓
Final Editorial Decision
↓
Production & Publication
↓
Post-Publication Monitoring & Corrections, Where Required

Our Commitment to Ethical Publishing

Royal Scientific Publishing LLC is committed to fostering a trustworthy, responsible, transparent, and academically rigorous publishing environment.

We expect authors, editors, reviewers, and contributors to uphold the principles of honesty, originality, accountability, transparency, confidentiality, respect for intellectual property, and research integrity.

Our Publication Ethics policy is intended to protect both the quality of scholarly communication and the integrity of the academic record.