Publishing Ethics and Research Integrity

UVSM Publications LLC is committed to maintaining the highest standards of scholarly integrity. This document establishes the ethical norms governing our editorial and publishing operations.

Authorship Standards

Authorship credit is given to individuals who have made a substantive intellectual contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the work. All persons listed as authors must:

• Have made a significant contribution to the work
• Have approved the final manuscript before publication
• Accept responsibility for the content

Ghost authorship (uncredited substantive contributors) and gift authorship (credited individuals who did not contribute substantively) are not permitted.

AI-assisted writing: If artificial intelligence tools were used in the preparation of a manuscript, this must be disclosed in the work’s acknowledgments or methodology section. AI systems cannot be listed as authors.

Corrections and Errata

UVSM Publications is committed to the accuracy of the scholarly record.

• Errata will be issued promptly when errors of fact, attribution, or reasoning are identified in published works.
• Corrections will be clearly linked to the original publication and will specify what was changed and why.
• Corrected works retain their original DOI and URL. The correction notice is appended to or linked from the original landing page.

Retraction Policy

A published work may be retracted under the following circumstances:

• Fabrication or falsification of data or results
• Unattributed plagiarism
• Fundamental errors that invalidate the work’s conclusions and cannot be addressed through correction
• Serious ethical violations in the conduct of the research

Retracted works retain their DOI and landing page but are clearly and prominently marked as retracted, in accordance with COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines. The retraction notice will explain the reason for retraction.

Conflict of Interest

Authors are required to disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could influence or be perceived to influence the work.

Publisher transparency: UVSM Publications acknowledges that its managing member, Forrest Landry, is also its primary author. To maintain integrity, all works by board members undergo the same editorial review process as external submissions, with conflicted board members recusing themselves from review decisions (see Peer Review Policy).

Anti-Plagiarism and Originality

UVSM Publications requires all submitted works to be original. Proper attribution and citation of sources is mandatory.

UVSM may use plagiarism detection tools (including Crossref Similarity Check / iThenticate, available to Crossref members) to verify originality of submitted manuscripts.

Reproducibility and Verification

• For formal proofs: UVSM is committed to making proof steps available in sufficient detail for independent verification by qualified readers.
• For empirical or applied work: Authors should describe methods, data sources, and analytical procedures in sufficient detail to permit replication or critical evaluation.

Standards We Follow

This policy is informed by:

• COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Guidelines
• ICMJE Recommendations (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors)

Reporting Concerns

Concerns about research integrity, authorship, or ethical violations in any UVSM publication may be directed to contact@uvsmpublications.com. All reports will be investigated.