Editorial Policies

• Research involving plants
• Studies involving animals
• Studies involving humans
• Research involving human embryos, gametes, and stem cells
• Clinical trials
• Informed consent

• Corrections
• Retractions
• editorial expressions of concern

• Preprints
• Self-archiving of papers published open access

• AI Authorship
• Generative AI images
• AI use by peer reviewers

Peer review policy

All research articles, along with most other article types in ELSP journals, undergo rigorous peer review, typically involving assessment by two independent reviewers to uphold research integrity and quality. Peer review processes may vary by journal (e.g., single-blind or double-blind); please refer to the specific journal for details.

The manuscript undergoes a stringent evaluation first by the journal's editorial office to ensure it meets the basic requirements of the journal. Then, the editorial office assigns it to an editor to decide whether they are suitable for peer review. When an Editor is listed as an author or has any competing interest in a manuscript, another member of the Editorial Board will be assigned to organize the peer review process. The peer review process for these special issues is organized similarly to that of regular papers and is handled by the editorial board.

Conflicts of interests

To ensure transparency and help readers assess potential bias, ELSP journals require authors to declare any competing financial and/or non-financial interests related to the work described. The corresponding author is responsible for submitting a competing interests statement on behalf of all authors. Conflicts can arise from financial interests (e.g., funding, employment, investments) as well as non-financial interests (e.g., personal relationships, affiliations, or loyalty to a particular group).

Research ethics

ELSP maintains the highest standard of publication and research ethics. Authors are expected to comply with the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Publication Standard. By submitting a manuscript to an ELSP journal, authors confirm that all co-authors have reviewed and approved its content and that the manuscript complies with the journal's policies.

Research involving plants

Experimental research and field studies involving plants, whether cultivated or wild, must adhere to institutional, national, and international guidelines and laws. Manuscripts should explicitly state the necessary permissions and licenses for plant or seed specimen collection, with a strong recommendation to follow the IUCN Policy Statement on Research Involving Species at Risk of Extinction and the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. To enhance reproducibility, all wild plant specimens discussed in a manuscript must be deposited in a publicly accessible herbarium or similar collection, accompanied by specimen details and identification information within the manuscript.

Studies involving animals

For research involving animal experiments, authors should observe the ARRIVE guidelines. Research procedures must be conducted in line with national and institutional guidelines. The manuscripts must include a statement that ethical approval was obtained, including the name of the Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board, approval date, and approval number. If ethical approval is not required, authors must provide an exemption from the Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board, or a detailed statement why approval is not required. We recommend that authors comply with the IUCN Policy Statement on Research Involving Species at Risk of Extinction and follow the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals (2020) as veterinary best practice for anesthesia and euthanasia of animals.

Studies involving humans

Research involving human experiments, must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki. An ethical approval statement including the name of the Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board, approval date, and approval number must be included. If the research is granted an exemption of ethical approval, the authors must give a detailed statement of exemption including the name of Ethics Committee.

Research involving human embryos, gametes, and stem cells

Researchers must adhere to all applicable local, national, and international laws, regulations, and ethical standards governing research involving human embryos, gametes, and stem cells. The author must obtain from all recipients and/or donors of cells or tissues. We recommend the authors to follow the principles laid out in the 2016 ISSCR Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation.

Clinical trials

Authors are required to follow the CONSORT statement for comprehensive reporting of randomized controlled trials, and submit the recommended checklist with their manuscripts upon submission. Additionally, clinical trials should be registered in accordance with ICMJE criteria, including the registration number in acknowledgments and providing a citation link to the registration as a reference.

Informed consent

Authors are encouraged to adhere to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and include informed consent information in the method section for experiments involving human participants in the manuscript. For human transplantation studies, it is essential to confirm that organs or tissues were not obtained from individuals in custody and specify the relevant institutions, clinics, or departments from which organs/tissues were sourced. Authors should also be prepared to furnish documentary evidence of obtained consent upon request.

Research data

ELSP is determined to improve knowledge exchange among scientists and facilitate open science. We encourage authors to share the research data to the open repository, such as general data, Figshare, Dryad, Harvard Dataverse, Zenodo, computer software or code, GitHub.

The research data could be published as Supporting Information together with the paper if there are limited research data.

Duplicate submission/publication

Duplicate submission or publication refers to the act of submitting or publishing the same work in more than one place. This practice is generally considered unethical in academic and professional settings.

Manuscripts submitted to any ELSP journal must be original works that have not been published or are not under consideration elsewhere. Authors are expected to disclose any potential overlap with previous publications or submissions. Such publications should be clearly declared at the time of submission and cited appropriately. ELSP reserves the right to evaluate cases of potential overlap or redundant publication on an individual basis.

Please note that translated works without permission or notification are also considered duplications

ELSP takes publication misconduct seriously. Suspected cases of covert duplicate manuscript submission will be investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines. ELSP fully endorses the ICMJE's policies regarding overlapping publications.

Redundant publication

The redundant publication includes “Salami Slicing” and “Self-Plagiarism”. “Salami Slicing” typically refers to dividing a single study into multiple smaller parts and submitting each part as a separate publication. While each part may be valid on its own, the practice is considered ethically questionable when the parts are published separately without a clear scientific rationale. “Self-Plagiarism” that is reusing substantial portions of one's own previously published work without proper citation or acknowledgment is also considered a form of redundant publication. Authors should always disclose if they are building upon or reusing their own prior work.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism detection is performed at ELSP using the iThenticate- Crossref Similarity Checking tool. This web-based tool is employed in the editorial process to identify potential text plagiarism. It's important to note that while iThenticate can identify matching text, it cannot independently determine whether plagiarism has occurred. Manual examination of the matching text is still necessary, and judgment must be exercised to ascertain the presence or absence of plagiarism. The similarity report might be sent to the author for revision whenever needed.

Data fabrication including image manipulation

Data fabrication refers to the act of inventing, altering, or falsifying data or results in research, experiments, or any form of data-driven work including manipulating images like micrographs, gels, and radiological images. This unethical practice undermines the integrity of scientific, academic, and professional endeavors, as it misrepresents the truth and can lead to inaccurate conclusions or interpretations. Authors are expected to adhere to strict ethical standards when collecting, analyzing, and presenting data. Fabricating data can have severe consequences, including damage to one's reputation, loss of credibility, and potential legal or professional consequences.

Any concerns about data integrity raised during or after the peer review process will be referred to the Editor. The Editor may request anonymized underlying study data from the author(s) for inspection or verification. If the original data cannot be provided, the manuscript may be rejected, or if the article has already been published, it may be retracted. ELSP would follow the guidelines of COPE in handling suspected data fabrication cases in published papers and submitted papers.

Authorship issues

Authorship provides credit for a researcher’s contributions to a study and carries accountability. The Authorship problems usually would be detected following the COPE guidelines: How to spot authorship problems, How to recognise potential authorship problems.

Each author is expected to have made substantial contributions to one or more of the following: the conception or design of the work; the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; the creation of new software used in the work; or the drafting or substantial revision of the manuscript. Additionally, each author must have approved the submitted version, including any substantially modified version that involves their contribution to the study. Any changes to the author list after submission, such as altering the order of authors, adding or removing authors, or changing the corresponding author, must be approved by all authors and require the completion of a change of authorship form. Once a manuscript has been accepted, no further changes to authorship, including additions, deletions, or reordering of authors, are permitted.

Usually, authorship problems involve guest, ghost, gift, authors, author changes during the manuscript processing period or after the paper is published. ELSP follows COPE guidelines in handling these cases:

Corresponding author requests addition of extra author before publication

Corresponding author requests removal of author before publication

Request for addition of extra author after publication

Request for removal of author after publication

Suspected guest, ghost or gift authorship

Proper citation

It is the authors' responsibility to fully disclose all sources, including obtaining permissions from original authors and publishers for reproducing figures or significant extracts. References should be relevant, recent, and easily accessible, contributing to the article's advancement for the reader's benefit. Authors must responsibly acknowledge all work, whether published or unpublished, that has influenced their research.

When preparing the manuscripts, authors are expected to adhere to the following guidelines to maintain the integrity and quality of citations:

• Any statement within the manuscript that references information derived from external sources (beyond the authors' original ideas, findings, or general knowledge) must be appropriately cited.
• Authors should prioritize citing original works rather than secondary sources, such as review articles, that reference the original work.
• It is imperative that authors ensure their citations are accurate and directly support the statements made in their manuscript. Misrepresenting another work through improper citation is unacceptable.
• Authors should only cite sources they have personally reviewed.
• Authors should not engage in preferential citation practices, such as excessively citing their own publications or those of colleagues, peers, or institutions.
• Authors should avoid the excessive use of citations to support a single point.
• Wherever possible, authors should cite sources that have undergone rigorous peer review, ensuring the reliability of the referenced material.
• Advertisements and advertorial content are not considered credible sources and should not be cited.

Citation Manipulation

Inappropriate citation practices, such as excessive self-citation or coordinated efforts to collectively self-cite, gratuitous citation of articles from the submitting journal, and other forms of citation manipulation, are unacceptable. Such manipulation will lead to article rejection and may be reported to authors' institutions. Authors should report any attempts by peer reviewers or editors to encourage such practices to the publisher.

Copyright

Papers are published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-4.0) license, which means the authors retain the copyright. This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator.

Process for handling corrections, retractions, and editorial expressions of concern

Correction

In rare instances, it may be necessary for ELSP to issue corrections or retractions for articles published in its journals to uphold the integrity of the academic record.

When errors or inaccuracies are discovered post-publication, such as mistakes in data, misinterpretation of findings, errors in authorship, or editorial oversights. These corrections, made at the discretion of the Editor(s), aim to rectify issues that impact the interpretation and conclusions of the article without fully invalidating it. Corrections are promptly published with an explanation of the error, the corrected information, and a directionally linked note indexed to the original article.

Authors, readers, or organizations who identify errors or ethical concerns in a published article are encouraged to first contact the respective journal using the contact details provided on the journal's website. All reports will be thoroughly evaluated by the editors, and additional expert advice may be sought to determine the most appropriate course of action.

Retraction

Editors should consider retracting a publication under several circumstances, including when there is clear evidence of unreliable findings due to major errors, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, unauthorized use of material or data, copyright infringement, serious legal issues (e.g., libel, privacy), unethical research, compromised peer review, or failure to disclose significant conflicts of interest. Notices of retraction should be linked to the retracted article, clearly identify it, and be distinct from other corrections or comments. The original article is watermarked as retracted and the title is amended with the prefix “Retracted article:”. They should be published promptly, freely accessible, and include information about who is retracting the article, the reasons for retraction, and should be objective and factual, avoiding inflammatory language to minimize harmful effects. ELSP follows the COPE Retraction guideline in handling retraction.

Editorial expressions of concern

When an Editor becomes aware of serious concerns regarding the interpretation or conclusions of a published article, they may choose to publish an editorial expression of concern to alert the readership. This action is considered in scenarios where prolonged investigations are required for complex cases, or when the concerns have significant and immediate implications for public health or public policy. An editorial expression of concern is a temporary measure that may later be resolved by a subsequent correction or retraction, but it will remain a part of the permanent published record.

Self-Archiving

Preprints

ELSP encourages the posting of preprints of primary research manuscripts on preprint servers of the authors' choosing, as well as on authors' personal or institutional websites. We support open communication between researchers, whether via community preprint servers or preprint discussion platforms, as part of our commitment to fostering early and open dissemination of scientific knowledge.

A preprint is defined as an author’s version of a research manuscript that is publicly available prior to formal peer review at a journal (as described in Preprints for the life sciences. Science 352, 899–901; 2016). Preprints may be posted at any stage of the peer review process. ELSP does not consider the posting of preprints as prior publication, and it will not affect the manuscript’s consideration at our journals.

ELSP is pleased to consider manuscripts that have been previously posted on preprint servers such as arXiv, bioRxiv, BioRN, ChemRxiv, ChemRN, or SSRN. Upon publication of your paper, we encourage authors to update the preprint record to include a link to the final published article. This practice not only enhances the visibility of your research but also contributes to the integrity and accessibility of the scientific record.

Disclosure of preprints: Upon submission of a manuscript to an ELSP journal, authors must disclose any details of preprint posting, including the DOI and licensing terms. It is the author’s responsibility to update the preprint record with a publication reference, DOI, and a link to the final published article once the manuscript is accepted and published in an ELSP journal.

Licensing and citation of preprints: Authors are free to choose the license for their preprint, including Creative Commons licenses, which dictate how the preprint can be shared and reused. Authors should ensure that the chosen license complies with the terms of the preprint server they use. Guidance on selecting appropriate licenses can be found in resources like those developed by the ASAPbio licensing taskforce.

Preprints can be cited in the reference lists of submissions to ELSP journals. A typical citation format is as follows:

Hu Y, Seneviratne S, Thilakarathna K, Kensuke F, Aruna S. Characterizing and detecting money laundering activities on the bitcoin network. arXiv 2019, arXiv:1912.12060.

Media communications regarding preprints: Authors are free to engage with the media in relation to their preprints or conference presentations. However, they should clarify that the preprint has not yet undergone peer review, that the findings are preliminary, and that the conclusions may be subject to change. Media coverage of preprints will not affect the editorial process at ELSP, but researchers should be mindful that early media exposure may reduce or preempt coverage when the research is formally published.

Self-archiving of papers published open access

For content published open access under a Creative Commons license in ELSP journals, authors are encouraged to immediately deposit the published version of their article upon publication. This should be done alongside a link to the URL of the published article on the journal's website.

The requirement to provide a link to the journal's website is intended to protect the integrity and authenticity of the scientific record, ensuring that the online published version hosted on the ELSP website is clearly identified as the definitive version of record.

AI use

AI Authorship

Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, do not meet the authorship criteria set by ELSP. Authorship implies accountability for the work, a responsibility that cannot be assigned to LLMs or other AI tools. The use of LLMs must be clearly documented in the Methods section of the manuscript, or in another suitable section if not applicable. However, the use of LLMs or other AI tools for “AI-assisted copy editing” does not require specific disclosure.

"AI-assisted copy editing" refers to AI-supported improvements to human-generated text, focused on enhancing readability, style, grammatical accuracy, spelling, punctuation, and tone consistency. Such improvements may involve minor wording or formatting adjustments but do not include generative editorial work or independent content creation by AI tools.

In all cases, human authors retain full responsibility for the final version of the manuscript. Authors must ensure that any AI-assisted edits accurately reflect their original work and intentions.

Generative AI images

The rapidly evolving field of generative AI image creation raises significant legal and research integrity concerns. At ELSP, we adhere to strict copyright laws and uphold best practices in publication ethics. Due to the current lack of resolution regarding the legal implications of AI-generated images and videos, the use of such content is not permitted for publication in our journals.

Exceptions to this policy may be granted for images or artwork sourced from agencies with which ELSP has established contractual agreements, provided that these images are created in full compliance with legal requirements. Additionally, images and videos directly referenced in manuscripts that specifically address AI topics may be considered for publication, subject to careful review on a case-by-case basis.

As developments in generative AI progress, ELSP will continuously review and update this policy to remain aligned with legal and ethical standards.

Please note that not all AI tools are generative. The use of non-generative machine learning tools to manipulate, combine, or enhance existing images or figures must be disclosed in the figure captions upon submission. This transparency ensures a thorough evaluation on a case-by-case basis.

As generative AI technology progresses, ELSP will regularly review and update this policy to ensure alignment with evolving legal and ethical standards.

Please note that not all AI tools are generative. The use of non-generative machine learning tools to manipulate, combine, or enhance existing images or figures must be disclosed in figure captions upon submission. This transparency enables a thorough, case-by-case evaluation.

AI use by peer reviewers

Peer reviewers are integral to the integrity of scientific publishing. Their expert insights and evaluations guide editorial decisions, ensuring that research is published with the highest standards of validity, rigor, and credibility. At ELSP, peer reviewers are carefully selected for their specialized expertise in the relevant subject areas or methodologies. This expertise remains a cornerstone of the peer review process, which is built on mutual trust between authors, reviewers, and editors. Reviewers are responsible for the accuracy of the assessments and recommendations they provide.

With the emergence of generative AI tools, it is important to acknowledge their current limitations. These tools may lack up-to-date information and can generate erroneous, biased, or misleading content. Additionally, manuscripts often contain confidential or proprietary information that must remain secure throughout the review process. To preserve confidentiality and ensure the highest standards of evaluation, ELSP strictly prohibits the submission of manuscript content to generative AI tools.

In cases where AI tools are used to assist in the evaluation of a manuscript’s claims, reviewers are required to disclose this usage in their review reports, maintaining full transparency.

Copyright

Papers published in ELSP is under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-4.0) license, which means the authors retain the copyright. This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator.

For articles published in ELSP journals, authors retain the copyright to their work. By publishing with ELSP, authors grant the publisher a license to distribute their article and acknowledge ELSP as the original publisher. Authors maintain extensive rights to reuse their article content in future publications. Upon publication, ELSP will apply a Creative Commons license, permitting third parties to reuse the article for designated purposes.

Copyright permission

Note that it is the author’s responsibility to obtain written permission from the copyright holder for any figures reused from other sources. Please include references in the figure captions and add appropriate credit lines, for example: Reprinted with permission [2]. Copyright 2021 Elsevier.