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Hi, Racheal

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Policies

Journal Policies

The Applied Cell Biology upholds strict ethical, editorial, and operational standards to foster trust, transparency, and scholarly integrity. These policies are periodically reviewed to reflect the evolving best practices in academic publishing. The Editor-in-Chief, in coordination with the Publisher, is responsible for enforcing these policies. All concerns or ethical issues related to published articles or general editorial conduct should be directed to the editorial office.

Once published, all article versions remain permanently available in our archive. If revised or updated, the changes will be clearly marked with a version number, date, and reference identifier.

Open Access Policy

This journal operates under an Open Access model:

  • Articles are freely accessible online, without subscription barriers.
  • Authors retain full copyright.
  • A Creative Commons Attribution License governs the reuse and redistribution of content, provided the original source is properly cited.
  • Published content is indexed with a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) to ensure permanent web access.

Open access publishing enhances global reach, ensures wider readership, and increases the likelihood of citations and academic recognition.

Editorial Integrity and Peer Review Ethics

Editor Responsibilities

  • All editorial decisions are made without bias regarding nationality, gender, ethnicity, political views, or institutional affiliation.
  • Editors treat all submissions equally and ensure that special issues or sponsored content are held to the same academic standards as regular articles.
  • Ethical concerns or complaints are handled confidentially and fairly, with the right of authors to respond appropriately.

Reviewer Responsibilities

  • Peer reviewers must provide unbiased, constructive, and timely evaluations.
  • Manuscripts and associated data must be treated as confidential.
  • Reviewers must alert editors to potential plagiarism, overlap with other published work, or ethical concerns.
  • Any conflict of interest must be disclosed, and reviewers should recuse themselves when objectivity cannot be maintained.

Author Responsibilities

  • Manuscripts must represent original work and must not be under consideration elsewhere.
  • Authors must disclose all prior publications or submissions that share content with the current manuscript.
  • All data and methods must be available for verification if requested.
  • Proper ethical approval must be obtained for studies involving human or animal subjects.
  • Consent for publication must be secured from individuals whose data or images appear in the manuscript.
  • Authors are expected to disclose all funding sources and any potential conflicts of interest.

Competing Interests

To ensure objectivity, all contributors (authors, reviewers, and editors) must disclose any potential competing interests, whether financial or non-financial. Examples include:

  • Receiving funds, fees, or compensation from organizations with a stake in the research.
  • Holding shares or patents related to the topic.
  • Personal, political, or professional relationships that may affect neutrality.

If no conflicts exist, the manuscript should state: "The authors declare no competing interests." Editors and reviewers must similarly disclose conflicts and abstain from handling manuscripts where impartiality may be compromised.

Ethical Compliance in Research

All research submitted must adhere to internationally accepted ethical guidelines:

  • Human Studies must follow the Declaration of Helsinki. Institutional ethics committee approval and informed consent are required and must be clearly stated in the manuscript.
  • Animal Studies must comply with local and international animal welfare regulations. Authors must obtain ethical approval and explain compliance with guidelines such as the EU Directive 2010/63/EU or the ARRIVE guidelines.

For field research or studies involving client-owned animals, authors must obtain proper permissions and consent from participants or owners.

Informed Consent for Publication

When manuscripts include identifiable personal information, written consent for publication must be secured from the individual, their legal guardian, or next of kin (in case of deceased subjects). This applies to textual data, photographs, videos, and any media where identification is possible.

If no identifying information is present, the need for consent may be waived at the editor's discretion.

Editorial Independence

Editorial staff and decision-makers must not be influenced by commercial interests or personal gain. Editors making final decisions on manuscripts must have no involvement or conflicts related to the work. All editorial and publishing personnel are expected to maintain confidentiality and uphold the highest ethical standards.

Article Rejection and Removal Policy

Articles may be rejected or removed for:

  • Duplicate publication
  • Plagiarism or copyright infringement
  • Data falsification or fabrication
  • Authorship fraud
  • Ethical misconduct

In rare cases, a published article may be retracted or removed from the journal's archive due to legal issues, health risks, or ethical violations. A placeholder will indicate the reason for removal, and article metadata will be retained for transparency.

Manuscript Withdrawal Policy

Withdrawal requests must be made formally, and if received after the editorial process has started, a withdrawal fee (45% of the publication charge) will apply. This fee covers the cost of peer review, editorial handling, manuscript management systems, and administrative work.

If the request is submitted within seven days of the original submission, no charges will be applied.

Article Retraction Policy

Authors wishing to retract a paper must submit a completed and signed Article Withdrawal Form detailing the reason. The form must be endorsed by all authors or the corresponding author. The editorial board may also initiate retractions for violations of ethical or academic standards.

Retraction notices will remain visible and linked to the original article.

Refund Policy

Once article processing charges are paid, they are non-refundable, even if the article is later withdrawn or retracted. These fees cover the substantial editorial and technical costs incurred during processing and publication.