Guidelines for Authors

These guidelines ensure that the scientific publication process remains honest, transparent and of high quality. By adhering to them, authors contribute significantly to the credibility and progress of science.

Responsibility and scientific integrity

Authors bear primary responsibility for the quality and integrity of their scientific work. They must ensure that all research standards are adhered to. All co-authors must have made a genuine and comprehensible contribution to the scientific publication. Honorary authorships are excluded. In the case of co-authorships, the respective shares in the publication must be specified below the text. It can be based on the roles that are suggested at https://credit.niso.org/.

Originality and avoidance of plagiarism

Originality is a cornerstone of scientific publications. Authors must ensure that their work is authentic and does not violate copyrights. In order to avoid plagiarism, authors must cite all sources used correctly and list them in the bibliography, credit the ideas of others as such from the first use and clearly refer to the original source in the case of paraphrases.

Transparency and data availability

Authors must ensure complete transparency about their research methods and data. They undertake to document their data collection sufficiently to enable secondary analyses and replications. The underlying data should be accurately verified and made available for editorial review as required. Authors agree to provide the data used in the case of scientifically justified requests.

Quality assurance of the manuscript

Authors are obliged to submit high-quality manuscripts. This constitutes:

  • careful presentation of research with objective discussion of scientific significance
  • sufficient details and references for appropriate peer assessment
  • clear wording and logical structure
  • compliance with formal requirements
    • citations according to the current APA guidelines
    • use of style sheet:
      You can download the style sheet here.

Handling the peer review process

In the peer review process, authors must:

  • answer commentary respectfully and constructively
  • systematically address and document all critical points
  • politely argue on a factual basis in the case of differences of opinion
  • check and implement improvement proposals seriously, if need be

In the case of contradictory comments, the authors should formulate a balanced answer and pay attention to the different perspectives.

Ethical principles

Authors may never provide false or misleading answers. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable. Multiple publications of the same research results should be avoided.

Authors must ensure that permission has been obtained for the publication of copyrighted material. If articles include original qualitative or quantitative data (in any format, including audio and video), authors are required to ensure that general ethical standards and ethics committee (IRB) requirements have been met to preserve privacy and protect participants from physical and psychological harm. Any financial support for research must be disclosed.