Ethics statement

Research integrity

Authors must report their methods and results honestly. Fabrication, falsification, and image manipulation that misrepresents findings are prohibited. Underlying data should be available when required by the journal or discipline, or retained and provided upon reasonable request where ethical and legal constraints allow.

Human participants

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable regulations and ethical review requirements. Authors should state that appropriate approvals were obtained (or explain why they were not required), and describe informed consent procedures. Identifying information should not be included unless essential and explicitly consented.

Animal research

Studies involving animals must comply with institutional and national standards for humane care and use. Relevant ethics or oversight approvals should be described in the manuscript.

Hazardous or dual-use content

Authors should consider risks of misuse of research and comply with journal and funder requirements for responsible reporting.

Editorial and peer review

Editors and reviewers are expected to handle manuscripts confidentially, declare conflicts of interest, and not use unpublished material for their own advantage. Authors may appeal editorial decisions through routes described by the journal.

Conflicts of interest and competing interests are covered in our conflict of interest policy.