Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The journal maintains COPE membership and adherence as a condition of its editorial operation. It does not tolerate data fabrication, falsification, duplicate or redundant submission, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or honorary and ghost authorship.

In addition to standard human-subjects ethical requirements, institutional ethical approval and documented community informed consent are mandatory for all human-subjects engagement. Evidence of community partnership or co-design — letters of collaboration, memoranda of understanding, or documented community advisory input — is required at submission as a condition specific to this journal's participatory standard.

Full disclosure of all funding sources, including government, non-governmental, and corporate community-program sponsors, is required from all authors. Allegations of misconduct, raised before or after publication, are investigated by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the relevant Section Editor, following COPE's published flowcharts, and may result in rejection, correction, or retraction, with notification to the corresponding author's institution where warranted.