Publication Ethics

Authors should observe high standards with respect to publication ethics. Falsification or fabrication of data, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the authors' own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of the work are all unacceptable practices. Any cases of ethical misconduct are treated very seriously and will be dealt with in accordance with the COPE guidelines.

By submission of a manuscript, the authors guarantee to the journal that the work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or dissertation); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; and that its publication has been approved by all coauthors, if any, as well as by the responsible authorities at the institute where the work has been carried out. Appropriate identification of previously published preliminary reports should be provided in a title page footnote.