The publication of scientific papers involves conscientious, systematic, and comprehensive processes by the publishers and editors, which must be dealt with in an efficient and competent manner. To maintain high ethical standards of scientific publication, publishers strive to work closely at all times with journal editors, authors, and peer-reviewers.

The essentials of Bentham OPEN (BO) publishing ethics for all groups involved in the publishing process are as follows.

For Editors:

• The editor of a journal holds a vital position in making important editorial decisions on all peer-reviewed articles submitted for publication.
• The editor should maintain the transparency of the academic research and record, preclude professional needs according to the ethical standards, and always be willing to publish retractions, rectifications, and erratum when required.
• The editor should assess manuscripts for their scientific quality and intellectual content, free from any biased decisions based on discrimination of race, gender, geographical origin, or religion of the author(s). In other words, the editor should evaluate manuscripts objectively based on their academic merit and free of any commercial or self-interests.
• The editor should not disclose any information regarding submitted manuscripts before publication of the said manuscript.
• In addition, research rectitude must be promoted. If, at any stage, the publisher suspects any kind of misconduct in research, it should be investigated promptly in detail by the concerned authority. Furthermore, if any suspicious act is observed in the peer review, it should be resolved with diligence.

For Reviewers:

• The reviewers should provide a detailed, constructive, and unbiased evaluation of the scientific content of the work in a timely manner.
• They should identify whether the writing is relevant, concise, and clear and evaluate its originality as well as scientific accuracy.
• They should maintain the confidentiality of the complete review process, notify the journal editor about any financial or personal conflict of interest, and decline to review the manuscript when a possibility of such a conflict exists.
• Moreover, the reviewers should notify the journal editors of any ethical concerns in their submitted manuscripts, such as violation of ethical treatment of animal and/or human subjects or any considerable similarity between a previously published article and the reviewed manuscript.

For Authors:

• All the content presented in the manuscript must be original and free from any kind of plagiarism.
• The work should not have been published elsewhere or submitted to any other journal(s) at the time of submission to Bentham OPEN.
• Any potential conflict of interest must be clearly declared.
• Proper acknowledgement of other work referred/cited (of any individual, company, or institution) must be given, and permission must be obtained for any content used from other sources. Lastly, only those who have made any substantial contribution to the interpretation or composition of the submitted work should be listed as ‘Authors’, while other contributors should be mentioned as ‘co-authors’.

For Publishers:

Bentham OPEN is committed to working with journal editors, defining clearly their relevant roles, in order to ensure appropriate decisions regarding publication procedures and maintain the transparency of editorial decisions.

BO ensures the integrity, autonomy, and originality of each published article with respect to:

• Publication and research funding
• Publication ethics and rectitude
• Conflict of interests
• Confidentiality
• Authorship
• Article modifications
• Timely publication of content