Publication Ethics

Journal policy on authorship and contributorship. Any submission of co-authors must include a statement on contributions of each author, e.g., using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework. All authors must have had a significant role in contributing to the manuscript or work described therein. Changes in authorship are only possible during the peer-review process and if accepted by the handling Senior Editor. Authors need to provide a written justification in case.

Journal policy on authorship and contributions by Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI tools cannot be listed as author or co-author of a submission. AI tools cannot meet the requirements for authorship because they cannot take responsibility, accountability and liability 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. If AI tools were used during the preparation of a submission, this must be clearly labelled as described in the Author Guidelines (Submission Checklist).

Journal policy on conflicts of interest/competing interests. All authors must disclose any financial, organizational or personal relationships with people or organizations that might invoke or enforce biases, or could inappropriately have influenced an author’s work.

Journal policy on data sharing and reproducibility. When relying on empirical data, on request of the handling Senior Editor, the authors grant insight into empirical data to the extent required to evaluate the correctness of the scientific method used.

Journal policy on ethical oversight. The journal is committed to values such as diversity, inclusion, and equitable treatment. Authors and editors engage towards implementing these values. In the case of arising ethical issues, authors and editors can turn to the Editor-in-Chief or the GWS Senior Advisory Board to bring the issue to their knowledge. These roles will engage in bringing the issue to clarification; a documentation of the case is prepared.

Journal policy on use of inclusive language. Authors need to make sure that their essays or multi-media contributions are free from advancing dominant assumptions about culture, biases, stereotypes, or abusive, offensive or exclusionary language. Inclusive language should be used to forward an equitable approach to issues such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition. Apply gender neutrality and respect and validity when using personal attributes. This code of conduct also applies to editorial board members, members of other boards, reviewers and other stakeholders involved with the journal.

Journal policy on intellectual property. The journal is committed to value creativity and intellectual property. The journal therefore encourages use of the open peer review process in order to avoid common biases, ghostwriting, unrecognized labor or other forms of detrimental practices in the scientific community (see also McDowell et al. 2019).

Journal's options for post-publication discussions and corrections. The journal encourages post-publication discourse on the published papers. To this end, editors will seek to advance a valid and respectful dialogue and actively invite peers to contribute. The journal publishes corrections to errors that manifest in published articles post publication. Authors who have detected an error in their published article should contact the Editor-in-Chief to request the publication of a correction. Note that no change may be made to the original article after it is published.