Publication Ethics
Mining and Metallurgy adheres to recognized publication ethics (COPE), continuously strengthening industry self-discipline, promoting academic integrity, and improving long-term development mechanisms. This statement is formulated with reference to the publication ethics standards of some internationally renowned publishing groups. It primarily consists of the journal's publication ethics policies and systems, aiming to serve as a reference for various parties, including authors, academic communities, editors, research sponsors, and readers.
1. Rights and Responsibilities of Agents
1) Author Responsibilities
(1) Authorship should accurately reflect the work and contributions of the listed authors. However, listed authors must:
- Make substantial contributions to the paper's design concept, experimental research, data collection, result analysis, etc.;
- Draft the paper or make significant revisions to important academic content;
- Conduct the final review of the document;
- All listed authors must meet at least one of the above requirements and agree to be accountable for all aspects of their research, particularly regarding integrity.
(2) Ensure that the signatures and rankings of all authors/institutions are correct and accurate.
(3) Ensure the paper does not involve state secrets related to politics, military, technology, etc., or any sensitive issues unsuitable for publication; does not contain language or experiments that harm animals or humans, nor any acts that violate human morality or ethics.
(4) The paper is an original work. The results and data are authentic and reliable, free from fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or duplicate submission. The work or words of others used in the paper should be objectively evaluated and properly cited.
(5) Authors are obliged to disclose any parties with conflicts of interest that may affect the objective evaluation of the paper. All financial support sources for the project should be disclosed.
(6) When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their published paper, especially those that are not subjective or intentional, they are obliged to promptly notify the editorial department and cooperate with them to retract the paper or issue an appropriate "Correction Notice."
(7) Authors should provide the editorial department with a complete copyright transfer agreement for the paper.
2) Reviewer Responsibilities
(1) Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in the paper or knows they cannot complete the review promptly should immediately notify the editorial department to facilitate contacting another reviewer.
(2) Reviewers adhere to the principles of objectivity, fairness, and prudence, conducting academic evaluations of the paper under review without engaging in personal judgment or attacks. Reviewers should not be influenced by the author's race, gender, religion, belief, status, or authority and should make objective evaluations based on sufficient arguments and facts.
(3) Disclose all existing conflicts of interest (if any) when responding to review invitations and submitting review comments. Reviewers unable to provide an impartial review should decline the review invitation. The main potential conflicts of interest for reviewers are as follows: the reviewer has recently collaborated on research with the author, the reviewer and author work in the same institution, there is direct competition between the reviewer and author, there is personal conflict or a close personal or intimate relationship between reviewers, or the reviewer is involved in economic interests related to the paper.
(4) Guarantee the confidentiality of the paper, author information, and related content. Reviewers shall not use the content of the paper under review for purposes unrelated to the review process.
(5) Reviewers should promptly provide recommendations regarding paper rejection, revision, and re-review to help authors accurately understand their research work and assist the editorial department in correctly judging paper quality.
(6) Shall not delegate the review of a paper to others without prior permission from the editorial department.
(7) Reviewers should immediately notify the editorial department if academic misconduct occurs during the review process, such as duplicate submission, plagiarism, falsification, or fabrication.
3) Editor Responsibilities
1) Evaluate each paper fairly, impartially, and promptly. Decisions to accept or reject a paper should be based on the paper's content (scientific soundness, innovation, readability, etc.) and whether it fits within the journal's scope.
2) Shall not select reviewers with conflicts of interest to review a paper, nor participate in processing papers with conflicts of interest.
3) Guarantee the confidentiality of unpublished papers and reviewer information.
4) Shall not interfere with the peer review process and shall ensure reviewers provide independent review recommendations.
5) Strive to help authors improve academic quality and language expression, standardize style and format, and enhance reference value.
2. Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, improper authorship, duplicate submission, duplicate publication, and undisclosed conflicts of interest, based on the latest standard "Academic Publishing Specification—Definitions of Journal Academic Misconduct" (CY/T174—2019). Mining and Metallurgy consistently adheres to strict academic ethics standards and resolutely opposes all forms of academic misconduct.
1) All submitted papers will be screened using the AMLC system supported by CNKI to prevent the publication of improper papers.
2) If any academic misconduct occurs during the paper publication process, the editorial department will spare no effort to assist relevant authorities in the investigation. For misconduct with sufficient evidence, punitive measures such as retracting the paper and notifying the author's institution will be taken.
3. Appeal Mechanism
If authors obtain sufficient information or evidence (e.g., providing other facts, corrections, supplementary materials, or filing complaints about conflicts of interest or unfair peer review), they may file a complaint. The editorial department will handle complaints based on the relevant information and evidence provided by the authors.
4. Correction Notice
If any errors are found in previously published papers, especially those that might affect the interpretation of certain data or content (excluding major errors in the main conclusions or viewpoints), regardless of whether the error was made by the author or editor, such papers will be updated to the corrected version on the *Mining and Metallurgy* website and database platform, and errata information will be published in the latest issue of the journal.
5. Retraction Notice
If a published paper involves legal restrictions such as infringement, defamation, or proven academic misconduct, a retraction notice will be issued promptly through the following methods:
1) Once academic misconduct or legal restrictions are found in a paper, the retraction notice for the paper will be promptly published in the text of the latest issue of Mining and Metallurgy and included in the table of contents of that issue.
2) The retraction notice includes a clear citation of the original paper and the reason for retraction. Detailed evidence will be published in the online version of Mining and Metallurgy.
3) Such papers will be promptly retracted from the Mining and Metallurgy website and database platform.
4) "Retraction Notice" will be used as the heading.