The inclusion of authors in an article serves as a vital acknowledgment of individuals who have significantly contributed to the research while ensuring accountability and transparency for maintaining the content's integrity.

To qualify for authorship, individuals must meet all the following criteria:

• Made a substantial contribution to the research, including aspects such as conceptualization, study design, execution, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
• Actively participated in drafting, writing, revising, or critically reviewing the manuscript.
• Participated in finalizing the selection of the journal for submission.
• Reviewed and approved all versions of the article during the submission and revision process, including the final accepted version and any necessary changes during proofreading.
• Agreed to take responsibility for the article's content, ensuring accuracy and integrity, and are prepared to address any questions regarding the published work.

Modifications to the authorship list, either before or after publication, require unanimous agreement from all authors, including those being added or removed. The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining consent from all co-authors and providing a detailed explanation for the changes. Authors must also complete the Change of Authorship Form and submit it along with their request.

For changes made after publication, corrections will be issued via post-publication notifications. All requests for authorship modifications must comply with the journal’s authorship guidelines. Significant alterations to authorship after acceptance may be denied unless supported by strong justifications and evidence of the contributions made by the authors involved.

Authorship credit must be based solely on substantial contributions to the following three core components:

• Study Design and Data Analysis: Contributions to the conceptualization, study design, data collection, and data analysis.
• Manuscript Preparation: Involvement in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it to include significant intellectual input.
• Final Approval: Approval of the final version of the manuscript for publication.

Authorship cannot be justified by participation in funding acquisition or data collection alone. Similarly, providing general supervision to a research group does not meet the authorship criteria. All listed authors must have made meaningful contributions that warrant public accountability for their respective portions of the work.

The sequence of authorship should reflect the relative contributions of each individual to the research and manuscript preparation. Once submitted, the authorship order cannot be changed without explicit consent from all authors. The journal may impose limits on the number of authors, considering factors like manuscript type, scope, and institutional affiliations. If the author count exceeds these limits, a justification must be provided.

Each individual involved in the project must provide a detailed account of their specific contributions, categorized under areas such as concept, study design, intellectual content definition, literature review, clinical or experimental studies, data collection, data and statistical analysis, manuscript writing, editing, and review.

For non-research articles, such as Reviews or Opinion pieces, references should be relevant and provide a balanced, comprehensive overview of the existing scholarly work on the topic. It is important to ensure that references are fair, avoiding undue bias toward any specific research group, organization, or journal.

If there is any uncertainty regarding whether a source should be cited, authors are encouraged to consult the journal's editorial office for clarification.

A Correction Notice is issued when errors or omissions that could affect the article's interpretation are identified but do not compromise its scholarly integrity. Examples of such errors include incorrect graphical representations, missing information about funding, or undeclared conflicts of interest.

The journal uses two types of correction notices:

• Corrigendum: Issued to correct errors made by the authors.
• Erratum: Issued to correct errors introduced by the publisher.

A Retraction Notice is published when significant errors, such as flaws in methods or analysis, render an article's conclusions invalid. Retractions also address instances of research or publication misconduct, including but not limited to:

• Research conducted without proper ethical approvals.
• Data fabrication or manipulation.
• Plagiarism.
• Duplicate publication.

Retraction decisions are made in line with COPE guidelines, and authors or institutions can also request retractions if justified. All retractions adhere to these standards:

• The retraction is linked to the original article, and vice versa.
• The original article is clearly marked as "Retracted" in both HTML and PDF versions.
• The reasons for retraction are clearly explained.
• The individuals or entities requesting the retraction (e.g., authors, Editor) are identified.

Retractions aim to correct the scholarly record and maintain its integrity, not to penalize authors. Authorship disputes, for example, are typically resolved with a corrigendum rather than a retraction. For assistance with authorship disputes, please contact us at dispute@mesopotamian.press.

An Expression of Concern is issued when significant issues, such as suspected misconduct, are identified but the investigation is inconclusive or expected to take substantial time due to complexities. Once the investigation concludes, the Expression of Concern may be followed by a Retraction or Correction Notice, with both remaining part of the permanent record. For any inquiries or concerns regarding such cases, please contact us at dispute@mesopotamian.press.

In exceptional cases, a Removal Notice may be issued when a Retraction or Correction cannot resolve the issue. This occurs when the content is defamatory, infringes on legal rights, or is subject to a court order. If an article is removed, a notification of removal will be published in its place.

It is the authors' responsibility, not that of the journal or publisher, to secure and properly archive patient consent forms before publication. These forms must not be submitted with the manuscript or sent via email to the editorial or publisher offices.

This policy ensures adherence to ethical publication standards while respecting patient privacy.

Authors are eligible to submit original manuscripts to the journal if they hold the copyright to the work or have obtained explicit authorization from the copyright owner(s).

As an open-access journal, the journal allows users to freely access, read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0.

This license enables users to:

• Copy, distribute, and transmit the work.
• Adapt, transform, or build upon the work.
• Use the work for commercial purposes, provided proper attribution is given to the original author(s) and source.

The copyright statement will be clearly stated and embedded in each published article.

The journal operates under an open-access model, granting users the rights outlined above through the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0. This ensures unrestricted access to articles while upholding proper credit to authors and their contributions.

Authors retain the copyright to their works, along with the right to use their articles for scholarly purposes. The Publisher is granted non-exclusive rights to publish and distribute the articles.

Photographic images, particularly those obtained via microscopy, should accurately represent the original content. If images are altered or enhanced, a detailed explanation must be included in the manuscript and figure legend to avoid misleading readers.

Authors must also be prepared to provide the journal’s editorial office with the original, unaltered, unannotated, and unprocessed images if requested.

Any alterations should:

• Be minimal and consistently applied across the entire image.
• Be documented in detail, including the methods used, software utilized (with version number), and the nature of the modifications.
• Not alter the scientific interpretation of the image, as this is strictly prohibited.

The use of images or figures from previously published materials requires prior authorization from the copyright owner. Authors must include a statement in the figure legend confirming that permission has been obtained and must provide proper citation for the original source.

Even for images reused under licenses that allow unrestricted use, proper attribution to the original source is mandatory.

• Duplicate Submission: Manuscripts previously published or under review elsewhere are subject to penalties for duplicate submission/publication. If authors use their previously published or under-review work, they must:
  • Properly acknowledge and cite the original work.
  • Clearly identify the unique contributions of the submitted manuscript compared to the earlier work.
• Citation Manipulation: Manuscripts containing citations intended solely to artificially inflate the citation count of a specific author or journal will face penalties for citation manipulation.
• Data Fabrication and Falsification: Manuscripts with fabricated or falsified experimental results, such as manipulated photographs or data, will be penalized for data fabrication and falsification.
• Improper Author Contribution or Attribution: All listed authors must have made significant scientific contributions to the research and approved the manuscript's claims. To ensure fair recognition, all contributors, including students and laboratory staff, must be acknowledged appropriately.
• Redundant Publications: Redundant publications involve dividing study outcomes inappropriately across multiple articles, which is not permissible.
• Image Manipulation: Images must represent the original data faithfully, without alterations that mislead the interpretation of results. Any detected image manipulation that violates ethical guidelines will be subject to investigation and penalties.

Misconduct encompasses any actions that violate the journal's policies, publishing ethics, or relevant guidelines established by COPE, WAME, ICMJE, or STM. Activities that threaten the integrity of the research or publication process will be thoroughly investigated according to COPE protocols. Appropriate sanctions will be applied as necessary to uphold ethical standards.

• Publication Decisions: The editorial board is responsible for deciding which manuscripts will be published. This decision-making process is based on reviewer recommendations and adherence to legal and ethical considerations, including issues related to libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
• Confidentiality, Disclosure, and Conflicts of Interest: Editors must maintain strict confidentiality during the review process, sharing manuscript details only with the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and editorial advisers. Additionally, editors are required to complete the Conflict of Interest Form for Editorial Board Members to ensure transparency and adherence to ethical publishing standards.
  
  • Unpublished materials disclosed in submitted manuscripts must not be used in the research of editors, reviewers, or readers without explicit written consent from the author.
  • Comprehensive information about funding sources and their involvement in the study process or publication must be transparently disclosed to readers.
• Author Relations: Editors should foster fair and respectful communication with authors, providing clear and constructive feedback to guide revisions and ensure the quality and integrity of published work.

• Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Reviewers play a vital role in assisting the editorial board with decisions on manuscript acceptance. Reviews must adhere to principles of objectivity, with feedback presented clearly and supported by logical arguments.
• Qualification of Reviewers: Reviewers should only accept assignments for which they are adequately qualified. If a reviewer feels unable to assess a manuscript’s content or anticipates delays in completing the review, they must promptly notify the editor and withdraw.
• Confidentiality: Manuscripts submitted for review must be treated as confidential. Privileged information or ideas obtained through the peer review process must not be used for personal advantage or shared with unauthorized individuals.
• Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers are responsible for identifying relevant scholarly works that the authors may have overlooked and suggesting appropriate citations for unreferenced concepts or ideas.
• Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest by completing the Conflict of Interest Form for Reviewers to ensure transparency and maintain ethical standards.

• Reporting Standards: Authors are responsible for providing an accurate account of the research conducted, along with an objective discussion of its significance.
• Originality, Plagiarism, and Concurrent Publication: Authors must ensure their work is entirely original and properly cite any ideas or words borrowed from others.
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial or substantive conflicts of interest that could influence the results or interpretation of their work. To ensure transparency, authors are required to complete the Conflict of Interest Form and submit it along with their manuscript.
• Authorship of the Paper: The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring the manuscript includes all appropriate co-authors and excludes any inappropriate individuals.
• Fundamental Errors in Published Works: If an author identifies a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must promptly notify the journal editor and collaborate to correct or retract the publication.

It is the authors' responsibility, not that of the journal or publisher, to secure and properly archive patient consent forms before publication. These forms must not be submitted with the manuscript or sent via email to the editorial or publisher offices.

This policy ensures adherence to ethical publication standards while respecting patient privacy.

For research involving human participants, authors must ensure that the study complies with the ethical guidelines outlined in The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki). Ethical approval must be obtained from an institutional review board (IRB) or equivalent ethics committee before commencing the research.

The article must include details of the approval process, such as the institution’s name, the ethics board's designation, and the associated approval number(s). Retrospective approval is generally not permissible and may prevent the publication of findings.

Authors must also include a declaration confirming that informed consent was obtained from participants prior to conducting experiments, and that their privacy rights have been consistently respected.

Studies involving animals must adhere to international, national, and institutional guidelines for ethical treatment and welfare. Ethical approval must be obtained from an appropriate committee, such as the Animal Ethics Committee or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), before beginning the study.

Authors must include a detailed ethics statement specifying the institution and the committee responsible for the approval, the approval number, and justification for the use of animals. Information on housing, care, and measures to minimize suffering must also be provided.

Research involving plants must follow institutional, national, and international guidelines. Authors must include a declaration of permissions or licenses obtained for the research. Compliance with principles outlined in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is mandatory.

Guest Editors for special issues are chosen based on their expertise, academic reputation, and prior editorial experience. Nominations can be made by the journal’s editorial board, current editors, or through self-nomination. All nominations are reviewed by the editorial board and require approval from the Editor-in-Chief.

Guest Editors' responsibilities include:

• Defining the scope of the special issue.
• Drafting the call for papers.
• Managing manuscript submissions.
• Overseeing the peer review process to ensure quality and originality.
• Making final decisions on manuscript acceptance in collaboration with the Editor-in-Chief.

To initiate a special issue, a detailed proposal must be submitted, including:

• The theme and objectives of the special issue.
• The target audience.
• Proposed Guest Editors.
• A timeline for the process.

The proposal is reviewed and approved by the journal’s editorial board and the Editor-in-Chief. Once approved, a call for papers is announced and promoted through various channels. A detailed timeline is established to guide manuscript submission, peer review, and publication, ensuring the special issue aligns with the journal’s regular publication schedule.

Authors must disclose their use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in their manuscripts. A statement to this effect will be included in the published work to maintain transparency and foster trust among authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and contributors. This also ensures compliance with the terms of use for the tools or technologies employed.

AI should not be attributed as an author or listed as a co-author. Authorship involves responsibilities that can only be carried out by humans. Authors are accountable for:

• Addressing questions about the accuracy or integrity of the work.
• Approving the final version of the work and consenting to its submission.
• Ensuring the originality of the work and that it meets authorship criteria.
• Verifying that the work does not infringe upon third-party rights.

This approach upholds the integrity and accountability of scholarly work while ensuring the ethical use of AI technologies.

The responsibilities of peer review demand a level of critical analysis and nuanced assessment that generative AI cannot provide. Reviewing scientific manuscripts remains exclusively the duty of human reviewers and editors.

Reviewers and editors must not upload manuscripts or any portion of them into generative AI tools. These tools cannot guarantee confidentiality, security, or privacy, potentially exposing manuscripts to unauthorized access or misuse. Such actions could breach authors' confidentiality, proprietary rights, data privacy, and the terms of use of the AI tool.

The confidentiality of the peer review process also extends to peer review reports and related communications, including decision letters. These documents often contain sensitive information and must not be uploaded to generative AI tools for purposes such as language improvement or readability enhancement.

Generative AI must not be employed to assist in the review, evaluation, or decision-making process of manuscripts. The final evaluation of a manuscript's quality, validity, and impact must be conducted by qualified human reviewers and editors.

While generative AI is not permitted in the peer-review process, the journal supports the ethical use of AI technologies for initial editorial processes. Acceptable uses include plagiarism detection, completeness checks, and identifying potential reviewers. These AI tools must adhere to ethical standards, maintain confidentiality, and protect the identity and privacy of all parties involved.