ZENTIME PUBLISHING CORPORATION LIMITED (ZENTIME) is committed to maintaining high standards of editorial practice, publication ethics, research integrity, transparency and responsible scholarly publishing.
ZENTIME journals follow internationally recognized guidance and best-practice recommendations, including those of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), where relevant to the journal scope and publication practices.
These policies apply to authors, editors, reviewers, editorial board members, and journal staff involved in the submission, peer review, production and publication processes of manuscripts in ZENTIME journals.
Journal-specific requirements may also apply. Authors, reviewers, and editors should read these publisher-level policies together with the relevant journal's Guide for Authors, Journal Policies, and Open Access information.
For detailed requirements, please refer to the following sections: Editorial Policies, Publishing Policies, and Open Access, Fees and Licensing.
ZENTIME is committed to maintaining editorial independence, academic integrity, fairness, transparency and rigorous peer-review standards. These Editorial Policies set out the principles that guide editorial decision-making, peer review, editor and reviewer responsibilities, editorial board governance, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and appeals.
These policies apply to editors, editorial board members, reviewers, journal staff and all individuals involved in the editorial assessment and peer review of manuscripts submitted to ZENTIME journals. Journal-specific requirements may also apply and should be read together with the relevant journal's Guide for Authors and Journal Policies.
Editorial Independence
ZENTIME respects and protects the editorial independence of the journals published under the ZENTIME publishing platform. Editorial decisions on individual manuscripts are made within the journal's established editorial structure by the Editor-in-Chief, handling editors, or other authorized editorial personnel, in accordance with the journal's policies and procedures. Editorial board members may participate in decision-making when formally assigned.
Editorial decisions are based on the scholarly merit, originality, methodological quality, relevance to the journal's aims and scope, ethical integrity, and overall contribution of the submitted work. Decisions are made independently of commercial considerations, advertising interests, sponsorship, institutional affiliations, political considerations, personal relationships, or the financial incentives of ZENTIME, journal owners, editors, editorial board members, or any third party.
ZENTIME provides publishing infrastructure, submission and peer-review systems, production support, platform services, dissemination, indexing support, and archiving services. ZENTIME does not interfere with the academic evaluation, peer-review process, or editorial decision-making of individual manuscripts.
Editorial Decision-making
Editors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are assessed fairly, objectively and consistently. Manuscripts should be evaluated without regard to authors’ personal characteristics, including race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, nationality, institutional affiliation, disability, or political views.
The Editor-in-Chief or designated handling editor is responsible for deciding whether a manuscript is suitable for editorial assessment, external peer review, revision, acceptance or rejection. Reviewer comments are advisory and are considered together with the editor’s assessment of the manuscript’s quality, relevance, originality, rigor and ethical compliance.
Peer Review Standards
ZENTIME journals are expected to use transparent and rigorous peer review processes appropriate to the journal’s discipline, article types and editorial model. Each journal must clearly state its peer review model, such as single-blind, double-blind or open peer review, on the journal website.
Research articles and other scholarly manuscripts that require external review should normally be assessed by independent reviewers with relevant expertise. Reviewers should be selected based on expertise, independence, objectivity and ability to provide a timely and constructive review.
Author-suggested reviewers may be considered when allowed by the journal’s polices, but reviewer selection remains at the editor’s discretion. Editors must avoid selecting reviewers with actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest.
Peer review reports should be objective, constructive, evidence-based and respectful. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate.
Duties of Editors
Editors are expected to:
maintain the academic quality, integrity and reputation of the journal;
evaluate manuscripts based on scholarly merit, relevance, methodological rigor, originality and ethical compliance;
select appropriate independent reviewers with relevant expertise;
ensure that peer review is fair, timely and confidential;
make editorial decisions in accordance with the journal's policies and scholarly standards;
declare and manage actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest;
recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where impartiality may be compromised;
refer concerns about research integrity, publication ethics or misconduct through appropriate journal or publisher procedures.
Editors must not use unpublished information obtained through the editorial process for personal, professional, academic or commercial advantage.
Duties of Reviewers
Reviewers play an important role in maintaining the quality and integrity of scholarly publishing. Reviewers should accept a review invitation only when they have the relevant expertise, sufficient time and no conflict of interest that could affect their objectivity.
Reviewers are expected to:
provide fair, objective, constructive and timely reviews;
evaluate the manuscript's originality, methodology, interpretation, relevance and ethical compliance;
support comments with clear reasoning and evidence where appropriate;
maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript and review process;
not share, copy, distribute or discuss the manuscript without permission from the journal;
not contact authors directly about the manuscript;
not use unpublished information for personal, professional or commercial advantage;
disclose any competing interests or circumstances that may affect their judgment;
alert the editor to suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data or image manipulation, ethical concerns or other potential misconduct.
Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts, review reports or related materials to public or external generative AI tools unless explicitly permitted by the journal and consistent with applicable confidentiality and data protection requirements.
Editorial Board Governance
Editorial board members are appointed based on academic expertise, professional standing, editorial experience, research integrity and relevance to the journal’s scope. Editorial boards support the academic development of journals and help maintain standards of editorial quality, peer review and publication ethics.
Editorial board members may advise on journal scope and strategy, recommend qualified reviewers, handle manuscripts where appropriate, promote ethical editorial standards and support the journal’s scholarly community.
Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, journal staff or individuals closely connected to the journal must be handled independently by an editor without conflict of interest and must undergo the same editorial assessment and peer review processes as other submissions.
Any benefits, waivers or service arrangements associated with editorial board membership must not influence editorial assessment, peer review, acceptance, rejection or publication timing.
Conflicts of Interest and Recusal
Editors, editorial board members and reviewers must disclose any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence or reasonably be perceived to influence, their judgment.
Conflicts may include recent or ongoing collaboration with the authors, close personal or professional relationships, institutional conflicts, financial interests, employment or advisory relationships, direct academic competition, prior involvement with the manuscript, or any other circumstance that could compromise impartiality.
Editors must not handle manuscripts where impartiality may be compromised. When a conflict exists, the manuscript should be reassigned to another qualified editor who is free from the conflict. Reviewers who identify a conflict of interest should decline the invitation or disclose the conflict before accepting the review.
Confidentiality
Submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence and related materials are confidential. Editors, reviewers, editorial board members and journal staff must not disclose information about submitted manuscripts except as necessary for editorial assessment, peer review, production, publication or investigation of ethical or legal concerns.
Confidential information obtained through the editorial process must not be used for personal, professional, academic or commercial advantage. Reviewer identities should be protected according to the journal's peer review model.
Appeals and Complaints
Authors may appeal an editorial decision or submit a complaint according to the relevant journal’s appeals and complaints procedure. Appeals should be based on specific concerns, such as a possible error in the editorial process, a misunderstanding of the manuscript, or evidence that relevant information was not adequately considered.
Submission of an appeal does not necessarily result in reconsideration, external review or reversal of the original decision. Repeated appeals without new evidence may not be considered.
Complaints regarding editorial conduct, peer review, conflicts of interest or confidentiality will be handled fairly, confidentially and in a timely manner.
Relationship with Other Policies
These Editorial Policies focus on editorial independence, peer review, editorial responsibilities, confidentiality, conflicts of interest and appeals. Matters relating to authorship, publication ethics, research misconduct, research ethics, data availability, generative AI, copyright, licensing, corrections, retractions, open access and author fees are addressed in ZENTIME’s Publishing Policies and Open Access, Fees and Licensing pages.
Overview
ZENTIME is committed to responsible publishing practices, research integrity, and transparent scholarly communication. These Publishing Policies outline ZENTIME's principles and requirements regarding publication ethics, author responsibilities, authorship, competing interests, research ethics, data availability, AI use, misconduct handling, post-publication updates, archiving and transparency.
These policies apply to authors, editors, reviewers, editorial board members, journal staff and all contributors involved in the submission, evaluation, production and publication of scholarly content in ZENTIME journals. Journal-specific requirements may also apply and should be read together with the relevant journal’s Guide for Authors and Journal Policies.
ZENTIME journals follow internationally recognized guidance and best-practice recommendations, including those of the COPE, WAME, and ICMJE, where applicable.
Publication Ethics and Research Integrity
ZENTIME expects all parties involved in scholarly publishing to act with honesty, transparency, accountability and respect for the integrity of the academic record.
Suspected misconduct may be investigated according to established journal and publisher procedures.Depending on the circumstances, possible outcomes may include a request for clarification, correction, rejection, expression of concern, retraction, article removal in exceptional circumstances, or notification of relevant institutions or authorities where appropriate.
Duties of Authors
Authors are responsible for the integrity, accuracy, originality and ethical conduct of their work. Submitted manuscripts must be original, must not have been previously published except in permitted forms of prior dissemination, such as conference abstracts or theses, and must not be under consideration by another journal simultaneously.
Authors must present research findings accurately and transparently. Data, images, and other research materials must not be fabricated, falsified or manipulated. Conclusions and interpretations must be presented accurately. Authors should retain underlying data and relevant documentation in accordance with applicable laws, institutional requirements, and journal policies, and respond to editorial or ethics queries in a timely and transparent manner.
Authors should disclose related manuscripts, preprints, overlapping publications or prior dissemination that may be relevant to editorial assessment.
Authorship and Contributions
All listed authors should have made substantial scholarly contributions to the work and should approve the submitted, revised and final versions. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors have agreed to the submission, authorship order and any required declarations.
ZENTIME encourages clear author contribution statements and supports the use of the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework where appropriate. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be appropriately acknowledged with their permission.
Medical writing, editorial assistance, language editing or other professional support that contributed substantially to the manuscript should be appropriately acknowledged or disclosed, where relevant.
Changes to authorship after submission require a clear explanation, agreement from all authors and editorial approval. Changes to authorship may be subject to additional documentation or investigation where appropriate.
Competing Interests and Funding
Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial competing interests that could influence or reasonably be perceived to influence, the work. If no competing interests exist, authors should state this explicitly.
All funding sources, grant numbers and relevant institutional support should be disclosed. Authors should state the role of funders, where applicable, in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation and the decision to submit the work for publication. If no specific funding was received, this should be stated explicitly.
Editors and reviewers must also disclose and appropriately manage conflicts of interest relevant to manuscript handling.
Research Ethics, Consent and Patient Privacy
Research involving human participants, human data or human tissue must have appropriate ethics approval or exemption where required. Such research should comply with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki where applicable. Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national and international standards for the ethical treatment and use of animals.
Authors should state the name of the ethics committee or institutional review board, approval number or reference number, and any relevant exemption information, where applicable.
Informed consent should be obtained where required. Written consent for publication is required for identifiable patient information, clinical images, case details or other personal information. Patient privacy and confidentiality must be protected, and identifying information should not be published unless essential and appropriately consented.
Clinical Trial Registration and Reporting Guidelines
Clinical trials should be registered in a publicly accessible registry before participant recruitment begins, where applicable. The registry name and registration number should be provided in the manuscript.
Authors should follow appropriate reporting guidelines according to study design. Relevant guidelines may include CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE, STARD, CARE, ARRIVE and other applicable resources available through the EQUATOR Network.
Research Data, Materials and Code
Authors should include a Data Availability Statement where required by the journal. Data supporting the findings should be made available where ethically and legally permissible.
Materials, protocols, software and code should be shared where appropriate to support transparency, verification and reuse. Restrictions due to privacy, ethics, legal, commercial, intellectual property or security reasons should be clearly explained.
Supplementary materials should support the main article and should not be used to obscure essential methods, results or data.
Generative AI and Automated Tools
AI tools and large language models cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of all submitted content, including any content generated or assisted by AI tools.
Use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies beyond basic language editing should be disclosed according to journal requirements. AI tools must not be used to fabricate, falsify or manipulate data, images, references or conclusions.
AI-generated or AI-assisted scientific images should not be used unless permitted by the relevant journal policy and transparently disclosed. Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts, peer review reports or related materials to public AI tools unless explicitly permitted.
Plagiarism, Duplicate Publication and Misconduct
Potentially unacceptable practices include plagiarism, inappropriate text recycling or self-plagiarism, redundant publication, duplicate submission, data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate image manipulation, citation manipulation, authorship manipulation, peer review manipulation, undisclosed competing interests, paper mill involvement, and misrepresentation of ethics approval or informed consent.
ZENTIME uses Crossref Similarity Check to screen submitted manuscripts for text similarity and to support the identification of potential plagiarism and other breaches of publication ethics. Similarity reports are reviewed by editors as part of the editorial assessment process. Concerns will be assessed carefully and handled in accordance with applicable journal and publisher procedures.
Corrections, Retractions and Article Removal
ZENTIME is committed to maintaining the integrity and transparency of the scholarly record. Corrections may be issued for significant errors that do not invalidate the article. Retractions may be issued when findings are unreliable, or when serious ethical violations are identified.
Expressions of concern may be issued when serious concerns remain unresolved. Article removal is reserved for exceptional circumstances, such as legal requirements, serious harm or rights violations.
Post-publication updates should preserve the transparency of the scholarly record. CrossMark or equivalent mechanisms may be used where applicable to indicate the current status of an article.
Archiving and Preservation
ZENTIME is committed to the long-term preservation and continued accessibility of published scholarly content. Published articles are assigned stable identifiers and maintained with appropriate metadata to support reliable discovery and access.
ZENTIME maintains internal backups of published content and participates in Portico for long-term digital preservation. These preservation arrangements are intended to support continued access to the scholarly record in the event of journal discontinuation, transfer, platform changes, or other circumstances that may affect the availability of published content.
Business Practices and Transparency
ZENTIME aims to maintain transparency in ownership, management, advertising, sponsorship, direct marketing, and other relevant commercial practices.
Commercial activities, advertising or sponsorship or other business relationships must not influence editorial decisions, peer review, acceptance,rejection decisions or publication timing.
Sponsored content, advertising, or other commercial material should be clearly identified where applicable and must not compromise editorial independence, research integrity, or the integrity of the scholarly record.
Overview
ZENTIME supports transparent access to scholarly content and clear communication of publication fees, copyright, licensing and article sharing terms. This section explains ZENTIME's open access principles, author charges, waiver arrangements, copyright, reuse licenses, permissions, self-archiving and author rights.
Journal-specific publishing models and fees may vary. Authors should consult the relevant journal website before submission.
Open Access and Publishing Model
All ZENTIME journals are Gold Open Access. The final published Version of Record (VoR) is freely and permanently available online immediately upon publication, with no embargo period.
Article Processing Charges and Other Fees
Any article processing charge, submission fee, editorial processing charge, page charge, color charge, withdrawal charge, membership fee or other author-facing fee must be stated clearly before submission.
If a journal charges an article processing charge, the amount, currency, applicable article types and payment timing should be clearly stated on the journal website. Unless otherwise specified, publication charges should be requested only after acceptance.
If a journal does not charge submission fees, article processing charges, page charges, color charges or other author fees, this should be stated clearly.
Editorial decisions must not be influenced by payment status, waiver eligibility, institutional agreements or the author's ability to pay.
Waiver and Discount Policy
Individual journals may offer article processing charge (APC) waivers or discounts in accordance with their respective policies and eligibility criteria.
Where waivers or discounts are available, the applicable eligibility criteria, scope, and application procedures will be clearly stated on the relevant journal's website.
Waiver and discount requests are handled separately from editorial assessment and peer review. Such requests are managed by the relevant publishing or administrative office and are kept independent of the editorial decision-making and peer review processes.
Decisions regarding waivers or discounts must not influence editorial decisions, peer review, acceptance or rejection, or publication timing.
Eligibility for or receipt of a waiver or discount does not guarantee acceptance or publication. All manuscripts remain subject to the journal's standard editorial and peer review procedures.
License Policy
ZENTIME journals publish articles under open access licenses. The specific Creative Commons license applicable to each journal or article is stated in the relevant journal's licensing policy and in the published article.
Unless otherwise specified by the journal, articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Authors with specific licensing requirements may request an alternative license at the time of submission. Such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis and are subject to the applicable journal's policies and publishing agreement.
The applicable license will be clearly identified in the published article.
Copyright Policy
Copyright ownership is governed by the applicable publishing agreement and the policies of the relevant journal. Depending on the applicable agreement, copyright may be retained by the authors, transferred to the journal or publisher, or otherwise governed by the agreed terms.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted manuscripts and accompanying materials do not infringe third-party copyright or other rights. Where required, authors must obtain permission to reproduce or adapt copyrighted material and provide appropriate attribution.
This includes, where applicable:
previously published material for which copyright is held by another publisher or third party;
substantial extracts from other works; and
previously published figures, tables, graphs, charts, schemes, artworks, photographs, or other visual materials that are reproduced or adapted.
Applicable copyright and permission information should be clearly identified in the published article where required.
Permissions and Third-party Material
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce or adapt third-party figures, tables, images, text or other materials where permission is required.
Permissions must cover the intended publication format, distribution model and license. Proper attribution must be provided. Materials not covered by the article license should be clearly identified.
Article Sharing, Hosting and Self-Archiving
1. Self-Archiving and Sharing
Authors may share the submitted manuscript, accepted manuscript, and published VoR, subject to the applicable publishing agreement, journal policy and license.
For articles published under an open access Creative Commons license, authors may share the published VoR in accordance with the applicable license terms.
When sharing published articles, authors are encouraged to:
provide a complete citation and DOI;
link to the official published version on the ZENTIME website; and
clearly indicate the applicable Creative Commons license.
2. Third-Party Hosting and Redistribution
Third-party platforms may host, share or redistribute articles in accordance with the applicable Creative Commons license and any applicable publishing agreement.
Systematic downloading, automated harvesting, or redistribution of content in ways that exceed the rights granted under the applicable license may require prior written permission from ZENTIME Press.
3. Author Responsibility
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their sharing and reuse practices comply with the applicable publishing agreement, journal policy and license.
Repository Policy
Repository deposit policies vary by journal and may depend on funder or institutional requirements. Deposited versions should include appropriate citation information, DOI where available, license information and a link to the version of record.
Author Rights
Subject to the applicable publishing agreement and license, authors may retain rights to use their work in teaching, presentations, theses or dissertations, future scholarly works, personal websites, institutional repositories or funder repositories.
Authors should review the relevant journal's copyright, license and self-archiving terms before submission.
Relationship with Other Policies
Publication ethics, authorship, research integrity, research ethics, data availability, generative AI, corrections and retractions are addressed in ZENTIME's Publishing Policies. Editorial independence, peer review, editor duties, reviewer duties, confidentiality and appeals are addressed in ZENTIME’s Editorial Policies.
