Synergy Publishers adheres to the “Code of Conduct for Journal Editors and Code of Conduct for Publishers” and Best Practice as stipulated by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to prevent misconduct of research papers. The editorial committee considers ethical publishing practices a fundamental part of ethical responsibilities among authors. The editors are committed to maintaining high standards through a rigorous double-blinded peer review and strict ethical policies.

Author Code of Ethics:

Originality and Attribution:
Authors must ensure that their manuscript is original, and any use of others’ work must be appropriately cited and quoted.
Redundant, multiple, or concurrent publication is not allowed. Authors must not submit the same research to multiple journals or primary publications simultaneously.
The manuscript submitted to Synergy Publishers must not have been previously submitted, uploaded, or published elsewhere, in whole or in part, including book chapters or paragraphs of text.

Ethical Conduct:

Authors should not split a single study into multiple parts to increase the number of submissions or submit the same work to different journals over time.
Authors should not submit their work to Synergy Publishers if it is under review, previously published, or uploaded to other platforms (e.g., preprints) without proper justification.
Authors must withdraw articles under review with other journals or any manuscripts uploaded to other platforms before submitting them to Synergy Publishers.
If there is any overlap between the manuscript and previously published, in-press, or under-consideration work, it must be cited, and the Editor of Synergy Publishers should be informed.

Handling of Rejected Manuscripts:

Authors should not resubmit a manuscript to Synergy Publishers if Synergy Publishers previously rejected it.
If the earlier version of the manuscript was rejected with the decision of “Rejected and Resubmit,” authors must communicate this fact and justify resubmission in the cover letter.

Conflict of Interest:

Authors should avoid conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts of interest throughout the research process, such as personal, commercial, political, academic, or financial conflicts.
Authors must address any queries about potential conflicts of interest with Synergy Publishers’s Editor, who reserves the right to request further information before reviewing the paper.

Authorship and Contributions:

Co-authors and corresponding authors should contribute to the research work and the submitted manuscript.
All authors are collectively responsible for the published work, and authorship should be based on substantial contributions to the research.

Corresponding Author’s Responsibilities:

The corresponding author must confirm that the manuscript has not been uploaded or published elsewhere and is not under consideration by any other journals.
The corresponding author is responsible for communication with Synergy Publishers and managing communication between co-authors.
Before submission, the corresponding author ensures that all authors are included in the author list, the order of authors has been agreed upon, and authors are aware of the submission.

Copyright and Permissions:

Authors should ensure compliance with copyright law, obtaining necessary permissions for quotations, artwork, tables, or other copyrighted materials before submission.
Authors must submit the Synergy Publishers’s Copyright Transfer Agreement to the Editor once the manuscript is accepted for publication.
Authors must seek permission from Synergy Publishers’s Editor before submitting, presenting, uploading, or publishing the manuscript elsewhere.

Research Ethics Policies:

If the manuscript presents results of studies involving human subjects, it should be clearly stated in the materials and methods section that the study received approval from the appropriate institutional review board (IRB) and/or that informed consent was obtained from the human subjects.
To ensure compliance with ethical standards, copies of signed consent forms from identifiable individuals featured in any submitted photographs must be submitted to the Synergy Publishers editorial office or included in the submission file at the time of submission.
Alternatively, a letter from a member of the institution’s IRB can be provided, confirming that signed consent forms have been obtained from the individuals appearing in the manuscript without disclosing their names. The processing of a manuscript will commence only upon receipt of these consent forms or the IRB letter.
For experiments involving animals such as live vertebrates or higher invertebrates, it is essential to conduct the research in accordance with relevant institutional and national guidelines and regulations. The materials and methods section of the manuscript should include a statement identifying the approving committee for the experiments and confirming that all experiments were conducted in compliance with the appropriate regulatory standards. In cases where concerns arise, the Synergy Publishers editors reserve the right to seek feedback from reviewers or request additional information from authors.

Plagiarism Check:

To avoid plagiarism, the author shall provide all the information about the novelty and importance of the findings, including the similarity index report by iThenticate/Turnitin of 30% or less.
Authors are strongly encouraged to use plagiarism detection software to check for possible plagiarism in their manuscripts before submitting them to Synergy Publishers.

Process for post-publication issues

The journal editors do their best to ensure fair, unbiased, and transparent peer review and editorial decisions. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper. Any detected misconduct cases by authors, reviewers, or editors will be vigorously pursued.

Requests for Additions and Corrections:

Requests for Additions and Corrections can be initiated by the author(s) or the Editor to address important issues or rectify significant errors and omissions. All Additions and Corrections must receive approval from the Editor and should provide new and directly relevant information or corrections that rectify scientific facts. Minor corrections and additions will not be published. Readers who identify consequential errors in the work of others are encouraged to contact the corresponding author of the respective work.

To submit Additions and Corrections:

Additions and Corrections must be submitted as new manuscripts by the Corresponding Author to the Chief Editor of the journal. The corresponding author should get approval from all co-authors before submission or provide evidence of having asked for such approval. The manuscript should include the original article title and author list, citation with DOI, and details of the correction.

Retractions:

Articles may be retracted for scientific or ethical reasons, and the request for retraction can come from the article author(s) or the journal Editor(s). However, the decision to retract an article lies with the Editor. Articles containing seriously flawed or erroneous data that render their findings and conclusions unreliable may be retracted to correct the scientific record. When an article is retracted, a Retraction notice will be published, explaining the reason for the retraction. In most cases, the originally published article will remain accessible online, unless exceptional circumstances arise where legal requirements or public health risks demand its removal.

Expressions of Concern:

Expressions of Concern may be issued at the discretion of the Editor under certain circumstances, including:
Inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors.
Unreliable findings, but the authors’ institution fails to investigate the case.
An ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct is unfair, impartial, or unlikely to provide a conclusive judgment.
Investigations that are in progress but will take considerable time to reach a final determination.
The editorial expression of concern alerts the community that an investigation is ongoing. At any point during this process, authors will be informed to alert their institution and funding bodies if the investigation uncovers potentially serious issues.
Once any related investigation is completed and a final decision about the article’s outcome is made, the Expression of Concern may be replaced with a Retraction notice or Correction notice as appropriate.

Scientific Misconduct Policies

Plagiarism, Data Fabrication, and Image Manipulation:
Synergy Publishers maintains a strict policy against plagiarism, data fabrication, and image manipulation. These practices are not tolerated under any circumstances.
Plagiarism is defined as the use of text, images, data, or ideas from any source—including the author’s own previous publications—without appropriate attribution. Any reused text must be placed within quotation marks and properly cited. If the design of a study, the manuscript’s structure, or its language is influenced by previously published work, those sources must be explicitly acknowledged.
All submissions to Synergy Publishers are screened for plagiarism using Turnitin, an industry-standard detection software. If plagiarism is identified during the peer review process, the manuscript will be rejected. If discovered post-publication, a formal investigation will be conducted, and appropriate action will be taken in line with journal policies, which may include retraction.
Image manipulation is also strictly prohibited. Authors must not alter image files in any way that may misrepresent or distort the original data. Unacceptable manipulations include:
• Enhancing, introducing, removing, or relocating features within the original image
• Combining multiple images that should be presented independently
• Modifying brightness, contrast, or color balance to obscure, highlight, or eliminate specific details
If irregular image manipulation is detected and verified during peer review, the manuscript would be rejected. If identified after publication, the journal would issue a correction or retract the paper.
Authors are expected to adhere to the highest standards of ethical publishing when submitting work to Synergy Publishers.

Advertising and Marketing

Advertising
Synergy Publishers shall state the advertising policy if relevant, including what types of adverts will be considered, who makes decisions regarding accepting adverts, and whether they are linked to content or reader behaviour (online only) or are displayed at random. Advertisements should not be related to editorial decision-making and shall be kept separate from the published content.

Direct marketing
Any direct marketing activities, including soliciting manuscripts conducted on behalf of the Synergy Publishers, shall be appropriate, well-targeted, and unobtrusive. Information about the publisher or journal is expected to be truthful and not misleading for readers or authors.

Generative AI Use

Declaration of Generative AI in Scientific Writing
The following guidelines pertain to the writing process and exclude using AI tools for data analysis and research insights. When authors employ generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies during writing, their usage should be limited to improving readability and language. It is crucial to exercise human oversight and control when applying these technologies. Authors must diligently review and edit AI-generated output, as it may produce text that sounds authoritative but lacks accuracy and completeness or may be biased. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be cited as authors or co-authors or cited as authors. Authors must disclose the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process within their manuscript. A statement acknowledging this usage will be published alongside the work. It is important to note that authors hold ultimate responsibility and accountability for the content of their work.