Policies

Publishing Policy

All journal submissions are processed entirely online. Please use the following guidelines to prepare your article. For specific details, refer to the author guidelines on the website of the journal to which you wish to submit.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors must ensure their submission complies with all the following items. Submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines may be returned to the authors.

The submission has not been previously published, nor is it under consideration by another journal (unless an explanation is provided in the Comments to the Editor).
The submission file is in Microsoft Word format, created using the appropriate document template for the journal.
The text is written in English and adheres to the journal’s formatting requirements as outlined in the Author Guidelines.
The author has read and understood the copyright and license agreement.
The author has read and agreed to the Conflicts of Interest Policy. Any conflicts involving the author or co-authors must be declared in the “Comments for the Editor” field. If there are no conflicts, this should also be stated in the same field.
An author biography (optional) is encouraged to be included with the submission.

Revisions

If your manuscript needs revision to meet the journal’s requirements, please prepare and include the following files when uploading your revised submission:

Author Response Letter: Provide detailed responses addressing each editor and reviewer comment. If you disagree with any comments, include a polite, objective rebuttal.

Revised Manuscript (Tracked Changes Copy): Include a marked-up copy of your manuscript file showing the modifications you have made.
Revised Manuscript (Clean Copy): Upload an unmarked copy of your revised manuscript.

After Acceptance

Check by Editorial Office: Once your paper is accepted, it will be reviewed by the editorial office to ensure it is ready for production. If updates are needed, you may be contacted. Otherwise, your paper will be forwarded to the production team.
Publishing License and Payment: Upon receiving the accepted article, the corresponding author will be contacted via email to sign a publication license and pay the Article Processing Charges.
Proofs: The corresponding author will receive an email with the proofs for approval before typesetting. Authors should carefully review the proofs to ensure all information is accurate. Proofs must be returned within 5 working days of receiving the email.

Authorship

We adhere to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines, which specify the following requirements for authorship of a manuscript:

Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
Drafting the work or critically reviewing it for important intellectual content; AND
Final approval of the version to be published; AND
Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Authors are expected to carefully consider the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide a definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Those who contributed to the work but do not qualify for authorship should be listed in the acknowledgments.

Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should only occur prior to the manuscript’s acceptance and with the specific approval of the Journal Editor-in-Chief. To request such a change, the corresponding author must provide the Journal Editor-in-Chief with:

Proofs: The corresponding author will receive an email with the proofs for approval before typesetting. Authors should carefully review the proofs to ensure all information is accurate. Proofs must be returned within 5 working days of receiving the email.
The rationale for the revised author list.
Written confirmation (e-mail or letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal, or rearrangement.

Artificial Intelligence

We follow Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence in manuscript writing, which state that authors should not list a generative AI technology as a co-author or author of any submitted manuscript:

AI tools cannot meet the requirements for authorship as they cannot take responsibility for the submitted work. As non-legal entities, they cannot assert the presence or absence of conflicts of interest nor manage copyright and license agreements.

Authors who use AI tools in the writing of a manuscript, the production of images or graphical elements of the paper, or the collection and analysis of data must be transparent in disclosing in the Materials and Methods (or similar section) of the paper how the AI tool was used and which tool was used. Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, even those parts produced by an AI tool, and are thus liable for any breach of publication ethics.

Long-Term Digital Preservation

Digital preservation is a crucial aspect of scholarly communications infrastructure. Our commitment is to ensure the long-term maintenance of all academic resources. To guarantee the continued accessibility of digital content, we work with the following providers of digital archives:

CLOCKSS
Portico
PKP Preservation Network

Supplementary Material

To enhance content, authors may include supplementary materials like applications, images, and videos. Submitted supplementary materials are published exactly as provided. Please submit these materials along with the article and include a brief, descriptive caption for each supplementary file. If authors need to make changes to supplementary materials at any stage of the process, please submit an updated file.

Information of Consent

Authors must ensure the protection of individual rights for all study participants. Identifiable details (e.g., names and dates of birth) should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, or genetic profiles unless essential for scientific purposes. In such cases, written informed consent for publication must be obtained from the participant or, if the participant is incapable, from a parent or guardian.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with individuals or organizations that could be perceived as improperly influencing their work. Potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include, but are not limited to, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.

Deposit Policy

Authors are encouraged to deposit the final published PDF in the following ways:

on a public eprint server
on a non-profit server
on their personal website
on a company or institutional repository

Authors should also include a link from the deposited version to the URL of the journal’s website.

Preprint Policy

We accept articles previously published on preprint servers. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article. Authors may also post the final published version of the article immediately after publication.

Correction Policy

To maintain the integrity of the scientific record and avoid inconsistencies, minor corrections that do not affect the scientific understanding of the paper (such as formatting or typographical errors or preference of wording) may be rejected if submitted post-publication.

The correction procedure depends on the publication stage of the article, but in all circumstances, a correction notice is released as soon as possible:

Online First publication: We will consider replacing the Online First version with an updated version that corrects the error and notes the changes that have been made and the date(s) on which the changes were made (in a correction notice at the end of the article).

Publication in an issue: If the article has already appeared in an issue, a correction notice will be released in the next available electronic and print issue. The online version of the article will link to the correction notice.

Retraction Policy

Retractions are considered by journal editors in cases of evidence of unreliable data or findings, plagiarism, duplicate publication, and unethical research. All retraction notices explain why the article was retracted. A retraction notice will also be published in the next available electronic and print issue.

Editors should consider retracting a publication if:

There is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either due to a major error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error) or due to fabrication (e.g., data) or falsification (e.g., image manipulation).
The article constitutes plagiarism.
The findings have been previously published elsewhere without proper attribution to previous sources, disclosure to the editors, permission to republish, or justification (i.e., cases of redundant publication).
It contains material or data used without authorization.
Copyright has been infringed, or there is another serious legal issue (e.g., libel, privacy).
It reports unethical research.
It has been published solely based on a compromised or manipulated peer review process.
The author(s) failed to disclose a major competing interest that would have unduly affected interpretations of the work or recommendations by editors and peer reviewers.

Advertisement Policy

Currently, we have opted not to include advertisements, and no advertisements will be published in the articles or on the official website.

Appeal Policy

Authors may appeal if they believe the decision to reject was based on: i) a major misunderstanding of a technical aspect of the manuscript; or ii) a failure to understand the scientific advance shown by the manuscript. Appeals requesting a second opinion without sufficient justification will not be considered. To lodge an appeal, please contact the journal editorial office by email, quoting your manuscript number. Appeals will only be considered from the original submitting author.

Research Data Policy

We strongly support The FAIR Data Principles and believe that, where ethically and legally feasible, all research data should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.

We encourage authors of articles published in our journals to share their research data, including but not limited to: raw data, processed data, software, algorithms, protocols, methods, and materials. The approach and requirements for sharing data vary among our journals. Most journals adhere to a minimal standard that encourages authors to openly share, cite, and link to their research data when appropriate, subject to ethical and legal considerations. Please refer to the Submission Guidelines of the specific publication you intend to submit to for detailed information on research data sharing policies.

We have three policies on data sharing:

Option 1: Encourages Data Sharing

Authors are encouraged to:

Share your research data supporting the results in the paper in a relevant public data repository.
Provide a data availability statement linking to your data and describe how the data can be accessed, or use the statement to explain why sharing your data is not possible.
Cite this data in your research and include a persistent identifier (e.g., a DOI for the data or an accession number).

Option 2: Expects Data Sharing

As a condition of publication, authors are required to:

Share your research data supporting the results in the paper in a relevant public data repository.
Provide a data availability statement that:
- Indicates if data is available and shared.
- Explains if research data is available but not shared, and why.
- Indicates if data is absent.
Cite this data in your research and include a persistent identifier (e.g., a DOI for the data or an accession number).

Option 3: Mandates Data Sharing

As a condition of publication, authors are required to:

Share your research data supporting the results in the paper in a relevant public data repository.
Provide a data availability statement that:
- Indicates if data is available and shared.
- Explains if research data is available but not shared, and why.
- Indicates if data is absent.
Cite this data in your research and include a persistent identifier (e.g., a DOI for the data or an accession number).

For Option 3, peer reviewers may be asked to review the research data before publication. Please refer to individual journal guidelines for specific details on peer review requirements.

If you cannot share your data and this is a requirement of publication, please consult the journal editorial office.

Data Availability Statement

If you are submitting your paper under a data sharing policy, you will be prompted to provide a data availability statement with your submission. A data availability statement informs the reader where the research data associated with a paper is available and under what conditions it can be accessed. These statements should also include links (where applicable) to the dataset.

Privacy Policy

The names and email addresses entered on our journal websites will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of the journals and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Any personal information received by the journals will only be used to process and publish your manuscript. Specifically, it will be used to:

Enable your access to and use of the website services;
Process your manuscript;
Publish your manuscript.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy regarding your personal information, please send an email to info@symphonypub.com.