Editorial Integrity

Integrity is the foundation upon which Oxton Journals operates. Across all hosted journals, the platform follows the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and applicable international standards on research and publication integrity. Our commitment extends to every actor in the editorial process — authors, reviewers, editors and editorial staff.

Obligations of Authors

Authors must guarantee the originality of submitted work, the accuracy of data and the integrity of reported results. Submissions require formal declarations of research ethics approval (for studies involving human participants or animals), informed consent where applicable, funding sources, conflicts of interest, data availability, author contributions following ICMJE criteria, and any use of artificial intelligence tools. Duplicate submission, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation and undisclosed conflicts are unacceptable and are investigated under COPE guidance.

Obligations of Reviewers

Reviewers must declare conflicts of interest before accepting an assignment, treat manuscripts as confidential documents, evaluate the work objectively and constructively, refrain from using unpublished information for personal advantage and never attempt to identify the authors of an anonymized manuscript.

Obligations of Editors

Editors are responsible for the impartial and timely conduct of the editorial process. They must base decisions exclusively on scientific merit and fit to scope, recuse themselves from manuscripts in which they hold a conflict of interest, protect the confidentiality of submissions and the anonymity of reviewers, and document every editorial decision with a formal justification.

Independence of Editorial Decisions

Editorial decisions at Oxton Journals are never influenced by fees, fast track status, institutional affiliation or any commercial consideration. The financial administration of the platform is structurally separated from the editorial evaluation of manuscripts.

Corrections, Retractions and Misconduct

Honest errors that affect the interpretation of published work are corrected through formal correction notices. Serious concerns about validity or integrity may lead to an expression of concern, and proven fatal flaws or misconduct result in retraction following COPE guidelines — always with a public, permanent notice linked to the original article. Allegations of misconduct may be reported to editorial@oxtonjournals.com and are acknowledged, investigated and resolved with due process for all parties involved.