The policies below apply to all manuscripts submitted to the journal and to all articles it publishes. Each entry summarises the policy and links to the page where it is set out in full. Where a policy is covered within a longer page, the entry links to that page.

Peer Review

Every manuscript is assessed under single-anonymous peer review by at least two independent reviewers, with a first decision reached in approximately 23 days from submission.

Peer review process →

Publication Ethics

The journal's commitments on originality, data and image integrity, reviewer conduct, and the handling of misconduct, following the guidelines of COPE.

Publication Ethics →

Authorship

Authorship is determined by the four ICMJE criteria; contributors who do not meet those criteria are recognised in the acknowledgements.

Community Standards →

Conflict of Interest

Authors declare all competing interests at submission, and reviewers and editors disclose any conflict before taking part in the review process.

Competing interests declaration →

Data Availability & Data Sharing

Every manuscript must include a data availability statement, and authors must provide the underlying data on request during review or a post-publication investigation.

Data availability statement →

Plagiarism & Similarity Check

All submissions are screened with Crossref Similarity Check after submission and before external peer review, with plagiarism and duplicate publication handled under the guidelines of COPE.

Plagiarism Policy →

Generative AI

Rules on the use of generative AI tools by authors, reviewers, and editors: AI tools cannot be credited as authors, and any use in the preparation, review, or handling of a manuscript must be disclosed in the submission.

Generative AI Policy →

Archiving

Long-term preservation of all published content via the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), a LOCKSS-based preservation network operated by the Public Knowledge Project, alongside redundant server backups and DOI persistence.

Archiving Policy →

Self-Archiving

Preprints, accepted manuscripts, and the version of record may be deposited in institutional, funder, or subject repositories at any time, with no embargo period.

Self-Archiving Policy →

Article Processing Charges

An article processing charge of HKD 2,670 (approximately CNY 2,300) applies per accepted article, with waivers and discounts available for eligible submissions.

APC & Waivers →

Copyright & Licensing

Articles are published open access under CC BY 4.0; authors retain copyright and may reuse and redistribute their work with attribution.

Licensing & Copyright →

Complaints & Appeals

How to raise a complaint about a published article, an editorial decision, or the conduct of anyone involved in the publication process, and how appeals are considered.

Complaints Procedure →

Advertising

The journal does not currently accept or display commercial advertising and derives no revenue from advertising; it is funded through article processing charges and publisher support.

Advertising →

Policies are reviewed and revised as the journal's arrangements change; the pages linked above carry the versions currently in force. Questions about any policy may be sent to the editorial office at editorial@hndconflux.com.