Biometrical Letters follows the ethical standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The following statement sets out the responsibilities of all parties involved in the publication process: authors, reviewers, and editors.
Duties of Authors
- Originality. Authors must ensure that submitted work is original and has not been published elsewhere, in whole or in part, in any language. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously is not permitted.
- Authorship. All individuals listed as authors must have made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. Anyone who contributed to the work but does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in the manuscript.
- Data integrity. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the reported data. Fabrication, falsification, or selective reporting of results constitutes research misconduct.
- Plagiarism. Citing others' work without proper attribution, or reproducing text or figures from published sources without permission, is not acceptable.
- Conflicts of interest. Authors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could be perceived as influencing the reported work.
- Errors in published work. If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in a published article, they are obliged to notify the editors promptly and cooperate in the process of issuing a correction or retraction.
Duties of Reviewers
- Confidentiality. Manuscripts submitted for review are confidential documents. Reviewers must not share or discuss them with third parties without the explicit consent of the editors.
- Objectivity. Reviews should be conducted objectively. Reviewers should express their views clearly and support them with evidence.
- Timeliness. If a reviewer is unable to review a manuscript within the agreed time frame, or feels insufficiently qualified to assess the work, they should notify the editors promptly so that an alternative reviewer can be found.
- Conflicts of interest. Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest resulting from a competitive, collaborative, or other relationship with any of the authors.
- Acknowledgement of sources. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. They should also alert editors to any substantial similarity between the manuscript under review and other published work.
Duties of Editors
- Fair evaluation. Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts solely on the basis of their scientific merit, without regard to the authors' race, gender, nationality, institutional affiliation, or any other personal characteristic.
- Confidentiality. Editors and editorial staff must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the authors, reviewers, and publisher.
- Conflicts of interest. Editors must not use unpublished material from a submitted manuscript without the explicit written consent of the authors.
- Publication decisions. The editor-in-chief is responsible for deciding which submitted manuscripts are published, taking into account the advice of reviewers and the policies of the journal.
- Handling misconduct. If misconduct is suspected at any stage — before or after publication — the editors will act in accordance with COPE guidelines, which may include contacting the authors' institutions, issuing corrections, or retracting articles.
Plagiarism Screening
All manuscripts submitted to Biometrical Letters are screened for originality using the Similarity Check system, operated by Crossref. This tool allows comprehensive screening of manuscripts to detect potential plagiarism and ensure the integrity of the peer-review process. Further information is available at crossref.org/services/similarity-check.
Corrections and Retractions
When significant errors are identified in published articles, the journal will issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction as appropriate, in accordance with COPE guidelines. Such notices are linked to the original article and clearly labelled.
AI-Generated Content
AI-based language tools (such as large language models) may not be listed as authors. Authors who use such tools in the preparation of a manuscript must disclose this in the manuscript, specifying the tool used and the nature of its application. Responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the work remains with the human authors.
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