Policy
Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement
Fringe Global Scientific Press is committed to the highest standards of publication ethics, aligned with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
COPE Member · CrossRef · DOAJ · ROAD Indexed
Last reviewed: September 2026
Core Principles
Editorial Independence
Editorial decisions are made solely on academic merit, free from commercial, political, or personal influence. The publisher does not interfere with individual editorial decisions.
Authorship Criteria
All listed authors must meet ICMJE criteria: substantial contribution to conception/design/analysis; drafting or critically revising the work; final approval; and accountability for all aspects.
Peer Review Integrity
All submissions undergo double-anonymous peer review by at least two independent experts. Reviewers declare conflicts of interest and treat manuscripts as confidential. Editorial decisions rest with the Editor-in-Chief.
Conflict of Interest
Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial competing interests. Editors and reviewers must recuse themselves from manuscripts where a conflict exists. Funding sources must be stated.
Plagiarism & Originality
Submissions must represent the authors' own original work not published elsewhere in substantially the same form. All sources must be cited. We screen for similarity and reject evidence of plagiarism.
Corrections & Retractions
Significant errors are corrected promptly via formal Errata. Articles are retracted when findings are no longer reliable. Retraction notices link to the original article with a clear explanation.
Duties of Editors
- Evaluate manuscripts solely on intellectual merit, regardless of the authors' race, gender, nationality, religion, or political views.
- Keep information about submitted manuscripts confidential — disclosed only to the corresponding author, reviewers, and the publisher.
- Recuse themselves from processing manuscripts where competitive, collaborative, or personal relationships could bias the decision.
- Take prompt action in response to ethical complaints about submitted or published work, following COPE flowcharts as appropriate.
Duties of Reviewers
- Treat any manuscript received for review as confidential. Do not share or discuss its content before publication.
- Conduct reviews objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate — opinions must be expressed with supporting arguments.
- Identify any published or submitted work substantially similar to the manuscript under review and alert the editor.
- Decline to review manuscripts in which a conflict of interest could bias the assessment.
- Not use unpublished data or interpretations from a submitted manuscript in their own research without express written consent of the author.
Duties of Authors
- Present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Papers should contain sufficient detail to permit replication.
- Not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal (simultaneous submission).
- Acknowledge the work of others through proper citation. Authors should cite all publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.
- Promptly notify the editor if a significant error is discovered after publication and cooperate to issue a correction or retraction.
- Disclose all sources of financial support and any potential conflicts of interest that might influence the results or their interpretation.
Handling Misconduct Allegations
Allegations of misconduct — including fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate submission, authorship disputes, or undisclosed conflicts of interest — are investigated according to COPE guidelines. We may contact the authors' institutions, funding bodies, or other parties when appropriate.
If misconduct is confirmed in a published article, we will issue a retraction with a clear explanation. Articles discovered to have been submitted simultaneously elsewhere will be rejected or retracted without further review.
Data Integrity & Reproducibility
Authors are encouraged to deposit research data, code, and materials in recognised public repositories with persistent identifiers (DOIs). Data availability statements are required for all empirical articles. FGSP supports open science practices and encourages pre-registration of study designs where applicable.
Human and Animal Research
Research involving human subjects must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki. Authors must state that the study received approval from an appropriate ethics committee and that all participants gave informed consent. Research involving animals must comply with national and institutional guidelines; relevant approvals must be cited in the manuscript.
Reporting Concerns
Concerns about publication ethics — whether about a submitted or published article — should be directed to the journal's Editor-in-Chief or to editor@fringeglobal.com. All concerns are acknowledged within 5 working days and investigated in confidence.