Ethics & disclosures

The journal is committed to maintaining the highest level of integrity in the content published.

This journal has a competing interest policy in place.

All Springer Nature journals require authors to comply with international, national and/or institutional standards of research reporting. This is particularly important for studies involving human and/or animal participants, their data and biological material, and Informed Consent.

The journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). It subscribes to COPE's principles for addressing misconduct. This means the journal is committed to investigating any allegations of misconduct, to maintain the integrity of research.

The journal may use plagiarism detection software to screen submissions. If plagiarism is identified, the (COPE) guidelines on plagiarism will be followed.

Content published in this journal is peer reviewed (single-anonymous).