The Gufo is committed to the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). This statement sets out the duties of everyone involved in publishing with The Gufo.
Duties of authors. Submit original work that has not been published or submitted elsewhere. Cite all sources correctly. Report data honestly; fabrication, falsification and manipulation of data or images are not acceptable. List as authors only those who made a substantial contribution, with the agreement of all. Declare funding, conflicts of interest, ethical approval and informed consent where relevant, and disclose any use of generative AI. Notify the editor promptly of any significant error found after publication.
Duties of reviewers. Review objectively and constructively, within the agreed time. Keep manuscripts confidential; do not share them or upload them to any external tool, including generative AI tools. Declare conflicts of interest and decline where one exists. Point out relevant unpublished or uncited work, and report suspected misconduct to the editor.
Duties of editors. Judge manuscripts on their academic merit, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, religion, nationality, ethnicity or political views. Keep submissions confidential. Declare conflicts of interest and step aside where one exists. Ensure fair, timely peer review and base decisions on it. Investigate concerns about misconduct in line with COPE guidance.
Duties of the publisher. Support editors in maintaining independence and integrity; ensure permanent availability of published content; issue corrections, expressions of concern or retractions where required; keep editorial decisions separate from commercial matters.
Misconduct. Suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, citation manipulation, authorship disputes or undisclosed conflicts of interest are investigated following COPE flowcharts. Outcomes may include correction, retraction, or notification of the author’s institution.
Corrections and retractions. Errors are corrected by a published correction linked to the article. Articles found to be seriously flawed or unethical are retracted; the retraction notice is published and the original article remains available, clearly marked as retracted.
Complaints and appeals. Complaints and appeals are handled under our appeals procedure (see Policies and Standards). Contact: [email protected].
