Publication Ethics

In alignment with the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China and the guidelines issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and in consideration of the specific publication context of Surface Technology, the following standards have been established to uphold academic integrity, prevent academic misconduct, and safeguard the reputation and credibility of the journal.

I. Guidelines for Editors

1. Evaluate each article objectively and impartially, and make judgment solely on its academic merit and quality, regardless of the authors' race, religion, nationality, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation.

2. Directly reject any article that is deemed unfit for the journal's scope without need of peer review.

3. Ensure that all submissions adopted (including unsolicited, commissioned, and special issue articles) have passed through a rigorous process of "initial review, peer review, and final review". Additionally, secure the peer review from at least two field experts for each accepted article. Appoint another alternative final reviewer if the editor-in-chief or an associate editor is listed as an author of the submission.

4. Evaluate the submissions efficiently and promptly.

5. Maintain confidentiality throughout the peer review process and do not disclose any information regarding the submission to anyone outside the process.

6. Disclose any potential conflicts of interest related to the submission, including any relationships with the authors, and take steps to prevent any bias in reviewing the submission.

7. Do not use any unpublished material from reviewed submissions in your own research without the authors' explicit written consent.

8. Take immediate response measures such as active investigation, evidence collection, and verification for complaints regarding publication ethics and implement corrections or retractions when necessary.

9. Take appropriate corrective measures when reliable evidence indicates significant issues with the core content or conclusions of a published article.

10. Evaluate each submission impartially and base acceptance or rejection decisions solely on its scientific rigor, originality, practical value, and relevance to the journal's aims and scope.

II. Guidelines for Reviewers

1. Evaluate each submission impartially and objectively, and base final decisions solely on its academic merit and quality, regardless of the authors' race, religion, nationality, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation.

2. Disclose any potential conflicts of interest related to the submission upon receiving the review invitation, including any relationships with the authors, and take steps to prevent any bias in reviewing the submission.

3. Maintain confidentiality throughout the peer review process; and do not disclose any information regarding the submission to anyone outside the process.

4. Make all reasonable efforts to complete the review and submit comments promptly or inform editors immediately if failing to undertake the review or meet the deadline.

5. Provide objective, fair, and constructive comments based on the submission's merit, quality, and relevance to the journal, so as to assist the editors in reaching a final decision and helping authors improve their works.

6. Identify any relevant published work not cited by authors, as well as any substantial similarity or overlap between the submissions under review and any other publications, and report all such instances to editors.

7. Evaluate each submission objectively and avoid any form of personal criticism directed at the authors.

8. Do not use any unpublished material from reviewed submissions in your own research without the authors' explicit written consent; treat all information and ideas accessed during review as strictly confidential and refrain from using them for personal benefit.

III. Guidelines for Authors

1. Submit work that is original or unpublished. Avoid duplicate submission, redundant publication, or fragmented publication of the same research.

2. Ensure that the submission is an original work with authentic and reliable data; avoid all forms of plagiarism, theft, data fabrication or falsification; and provide appropriate citations for any referenced content and obtain necessary permissions when necessary.

3. Ensure accurate authorship and affiliation listing. Do not exclude individuals who made substantive contributions; do not include individuals who made no substantive contributions; do not add or remove authors after acceptance without official approval; do not provide false authorship information; do not misrepresent the actual contribution-based author order.

4. Assume that all authors bear joint responsibility for the article's content.

5. Ensure that all co-authors have consented to the publication and to their inclusion in the author list.

6. Provide full disclosure of any specific or hazardous experiments, materials, or methods described in the article.

7. Retain all primary data related to the article and provide the data for editorial review if requested.

8. Avoid defamatory statements against any individual in the article.

9. Disclose any potential conflicts of interest related to articles.

10. Specify all sources of research funding for articles.

11. Appeal to the Editorial Department regarding any objections to the review comments or decision.

12. Special note: Artificial intelligence tools may only be used for language polishing and refinement, instead of generative writing or autonomous content creation.

IV. Retractions and Corrections

1. If the editorial board or reviewers of Surface Technology identify any violations of publication ethics or academic misconduct during the review process or after publication, the Editorial Department will initiate an investigation and collect evidence. Upon confirmation of misconduct following the investigation, the authors involved will be notified via email and given an opportunity to respond to the issues raised. Depending on the severity of the case, the Editorial Department may take the following measures (including but not limited to):

1) If the article is still under review, it may be rejected;

2) If the article has already been published in print, appropriate actions will be taken based on the nature and severity of the misconduct, which may include issuing a correction notice, requiring an erratum, or retracting the article. If the article has been indexed in major databases, the retracted article will remain accessible but will be marked as "Retracted." Additionally, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) will provide a link to the detailed reason for retraction.

3) Authors' affiliated institutions may be notified of the retraction.

4) The authors involved with retraction due to academic misconduct or fraudulent practices will be permanently banned from submission.

2. The authors are obligated to promptly correct any significant errors or inaccuracies discovered in their published articles. The corresponding author should contact the Editorial Department to explain the impact of the error on the article. Additionally, whether to issue a correction or retract the article depends on the nature of the error. If retraction is deemed necessary, the retraction notice must clearly specify which parts of the article are affected by the error.