Publication Ethics Statement
Inland Earthquake
To ensure that its publishing is rigorous, fair and credible, and to safeguard research integrity, the editorial office of Inland Earthquake has formulated this Publication Ethics Statement with reference to the publication ethics guidelines of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and to the journal’s own practice. The Statement applies to authors, reviewers, editors and all others involved in the journal’s publishing process.
1. Academic Integrity and Responsibilities
Author Responsibilities
(1) Authors must ensure that submissions are original and free from plagiarism, falsification, data fabrication and other forms of academic misconduct.
(2) The data and findings reported must be suitable for public release. They must not involve sensitive scientific or technical information or classified data, must not contravene national regulations on textual or graphic content, and must not compromise national sovereignty or interests. No confidentiality restrictions may apply.
(3) The manuscript must not be under consideration elsewhere, must not have been published previously, and must not result from the inappropriate division of research findings into separate papers.
(4) Authorship must reflect actual academic contribution. Only those who have made a substantive contribution to the design of the study, the acquisition of data, the analysis and interpretation of results, or the writing and revision of the paper may be listed as authors; honorary, ghostwritten and impersonated authorship are prohibited. Authors are ranked by the size of their contribution and should not exceed eight in principle. After submission, author details and the order of authors may not be changed without good reason, and all listed authors must be aware of the submission and must sign the Copyright Transfer Agreement.
(5) The journal does not accept papers written, or wholly polished, by large language models or other AI tools. AI may be used only as an auxiliary tool: the core arguments, the line of reasoning and the experimental data must be the authors’ own. A paper whose AI-generated content exceeds 20% on the CNKI or VIP AIGC detection systems will be retracted, and its authors will be recorded as having breached publication trust.
(6) Authors must ensure that the research, or the project from which it arises, involves no conflict of interest with any third-party institution or individual, whether financial, personal or institutional. Any potential risk must be disclosed to the editorial office without delay.
Editor Responsibilities
(1) Editors must handle manuscripts fairly, on the basis of academic value, originality and fit with the journal’s scope, and must not be influenced by an author’s nationality, affiliation, ethnicity or any other such factor.
(2) All submissions are checked with the VIP and CNKI similarity detection systems, and the similarity rate must be below 15%. The editorial office rigorously screens for plagiarism, copyright infringement, duplicate submission and other infringements of intellectual property.
(3) The content of manuscripts and the review process are kept strictly confidential. Unpublished information from a paper may not be used or disclosed without the author’s consent.
(4) Complaints of misconduct must be investigated promptly and met with appropriate action, such as rejection, retraction or notification of the author’s institution. Where misconduct is established in a paper already published by the journal, the editorial office will, in accordance with COPE guidance for journal editors, publish a retraction statement in the journal or on its website, have the paper removed from the relevant databases, stop its dissemination and eliminate adverse effects. Depending on the severity of the case, it will also warn the authors, notify their institutions, or circulate a notice among journals in the field.
(5) Editors must carry out their editorial work in strict accordance with the current national standard Rules for the Preparation of Academic Papers.
Reviewer Responsibilities
(1) Review must be objective and fair and must not be influenced by conflicts of interest. Reviewers who have a competitive, collaborative or other relationship with the authors, companies or institutions connected with a manuscript, and who therefore have a conflict of interest, should decline the invitation to review.
(2) Manuscripts must be assessed fairly and impartially, irrespective of their origin and of the author’s country, institution, ethnicity, religion, belief, gender or any other external factor.
(3) Suspected plagiarism, data fabrication, AI ghostwriting or duplicate submission must be reported to the editorial office without delay.
(4) Reviews should be delivered as promptly as possible, and review comments must be constructive and supported by adequate evidence.
2. Management of Conflicts of Interest
(1) Authors, reviewers and editors must all disclose any competitive, collaborative or other relationship connected with a manuscript that could affect impartiality.
(2) Where a conflict of interest exists, those concerned must withdraw from the review or editorial process, and the editorial office will appoint a replacement.
3. Intellectual Property and Data Sharing
(1) Authors’ intellectual property is strictly protected, and unauthorised reproduction or use is prohibited.
(2) Authors are encouraged to share research data, code, models and other materials in compliance with ethical standards; the mode of use and the channel of sharing may be agreed with the editorial office.
4. Corrections and Appeals
(1) The editorial office will promptly publish a correction notice for errors in published papers.
(2) Publication ethics concerns may be reported by e-mail to nldz2004@163.com; the editorial office will investigate and respond promptly.
5. Final Provisions
Submission of a manuscript is taken as acceptance of this Statement and as a commitment to comply with its provisions.
The journal handles disputes over academic ethics in accordance with COPE guidance.
Editorial Office, Inland Earthquake
