Ethical Code of Conduct

Introduction

The Progress in Computational Intelligence and Intelligent Technologies book series is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in academic publishing. This code of conduct outlines the responsibilities of authors, editors, reviewers, and publishers involved with our series.

All stakeholders are expected to adhere to these principles to ensure the integrity, quality, and credibility of our publications.

Author Responsibilities

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors should ensure that their work is entirely original, and if they have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

AI-Generated Content Policy

Image and Media Usage Rights

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors should not submit manuscripts describing essentially the same research to more than one book or journal. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one publisher concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Proper acknowledgment 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.

Authorship of the Manuscript

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the series editor and cooperate to retract or correct the paper.

Editor Responsibilities

Publication Decisions

The series editors are responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the series should be published. The editors may be guided by the policies of the series' editorial board and constrained by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.

Fair Play

Editors should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and may also serve the author in improving the paper.

Promptness

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.

Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

Publisher Responsibilities

Editorial Autonomy

Taylor & Francis is committed to working with editors to define clearly the respective roles of publisher and of editors in meeting the responsibilities of the series.

Intellectual Property and Copyright

Taylor & Francis protects the intellectual property and copyright of the series, its titles, and content.

Scientific Misconduct

In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question.