Editors are responsible for:

• Conducting appropriate initial assessments of submitted manuscripts.
• Ensuring that manuscripts are evaluated according to relevant academic and editorial criteria.
• Selecting qualified and independent reviewers.
• Managing conflicts of interest appropriately.
• Protecting the confidentiality of manuscripts and editorial correspondence.
• Ensuring that peer review is conducted fairly and professionally.
• Making editorial decisions based on scholarly considerations.
• Communicating decisions and revision requirements clearly to authors.
• Responding appropriately to appeals and complaints.
• Identifying and addressing potential research-integrity and publication-ethics concerns.
• Maintaining appropriate editorial records.
• Taking reasonable action when errors or ethical concerns are identified in published work.
• Protecting the integrity and reliability of the journal's scholarly record.

Editors must not use unpublished information obtained through manuscript evaluation for personal, academic, financial, or professional advantage. Confidential manuscript content, editorial correspondence, and other unpublished information must be handled responsibly throughout the editorial process.

Editors should not discriminate against authors or reviewers on the basis of personal characteristics unrelated to scholarly evaluation. Manuscripts should be assessed according to their academic merits, methodological quality, originality, and relevance to the journal.

When an editor has a conflict of interest with a submitted manuscript, appropriate arrangements should be made for the manuscript to be handled independently. Editorial decisions should remain free from personal, institutional, financial, or other conflicting interests.

Editors may request additional peer review when necessary, including when further expertise or independent assessment is required. Editors may also take appropriate corrective action when credible concerns regarding published content arise.

The editorial team is responsible for identifying and appropriately addressing potential research-integrity and publication-ethics concerns. Where credible concerns arise, editors should follow established editorial procedures and take reasonable action to protect the reliability of the scholarly record.

The editorial team is responsible for periodically reviewing journal policies and procedures to ensure that they remain appropriate, transparent, and consistent with developments in scholarly publishing and publication ethics.