Allegations of Research Misconduct

Fon handles every allegation of research and publication misconduct in accordance with the guidance and flowcharts of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Misconduct includes plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, authorship misconduct, undisclosed conflicts of interest, breaches of research ethics involving participants, and undisclosed use of artificial intelligence.

How to report

Anyone may report suspected misconduct by email to [email protected], stating the title of the manuscript or article, a description of the concern, and supporting evidence. The identity of the person reporting is kept confidential.

Procedure

The editorial office records the report, and the Editor-in-Chief carries out an initial assessment of the evidence.
If the initial evidence is sufficient, the editorial office asks the authors for a written explanation.
If the explanation is unsatisfactory or the authors do not respond, the editorial office may contact the authors’ institution for further investigation.
The decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief together with the Editorial Board.
The person reporting and the authors are informed of the decision.

Outcomes

Manuscripts under review: the manuscript is rejected and the authors are informed of the reason.
Published articles: correction, expression of concern, or retraction under the Corrections and Retractions Policy.