PUBLISHING ETHICS

We encourage the best standards of publication ethics and take all possible measures against publication malpractices.

Peer Review Process
All of a proceeding’s content should be subjected to peer-review. Articles submitted for possible publication are subjected to a double-blind peer-review process. Articles are first reviewed by editors. The editor may reject it out of hand either because it is not dealing with the subject matter for that proceeding or because it is manifestly of low quality, so that it cannot be considered at all. Articles that are found suitable for review are then sent to two experts in the field of the paper. Referees of a paper are unknown to each other. Referees are asked to classify the paper as publishable immediately, publishable with amendments and improvements, or not publishable. Referees’ evaluations usually include an explicit recommendation of what to do with the manuscript. The author then sees the referees’ comments.
Editors should be ready to justify any important deviation from the described process. Editors should not reverse decisions on publication unless serious problems are identified.

Originality and plagiarism
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism takes many forms, from „passing off‟ another´s paper as the author´s own paper, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another´s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication
An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one proceeding or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one proceeding concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour. In general, an author should not submit for consideration in another proceeding a previously published paper. The copyright remains with the publisher.

Acknowledgement of sources
Proper acknowledgement of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in scientific writing
This policy has been triggered by the rise of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies which are expected to increasingly be used by content creators. The policy aims to provide greater transparency and guidance to authors, readers, reviewers, editors and contributors.
Please note the policy only refers to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyse and draw insights from data as part of the research process.
Where authors use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, these technologies should only be used to improve readability and language of the work. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control and authors should carefully review and edit the result, because AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete or biased. The authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.
Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies and a statement will appear in the published work. Declaring the use of these technologies supports transparency and trust between authors, readers, reviewers, editors and contributors and facilitates compliance with the terms of use of the relevant tool or technology.