Ethics · Last reviewed
Confidentiality and ethics
Reviewers handle unpublished work and confidential author information. Ethical commitments govern your conduct at every stage of the review.
Confidentiality — what to know
- The manuscript and all materials shared with you are confidential
- Do not share them with students, colleagues, or others without permission from the handling editor
- Do not paste unpublished manuscript text into public AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.) — see the AI / LLM use policy
- Do not use ideas, methods, or data from the manuscript before it is published — including in your own grant applications or papers
Conflicts of interest
Declare conflicts of interest when you accept the invitation and again if you discover them later. Conflicts include:
- Recent collaboration (within the past 3 years)
- Direct scientific competition
- Personal or family relationships
- Financial interests or related funding
- Institutional rivalries
Reviewer use of AI
Reviewers:
- May not upload the manuscript or excerpts to social media or public AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.)
- May use private/local/enterprise AI tools to polish their own review report text, but the substance of the review must be the reviewer's own
- May not generate review reports primarily by AI — peer review requires human judgement
Anonymity
CJES uses double-blind review: authors do not know your identity. Avoid statements that could reveal who you are in the comments shared with authors (e.g., "in my own paper on X" or "we previously showed Y"). Confidential comments to the editor remain separate and are not shared with authors.
Reporting concerns
If you suspect plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate publication, or other research misconduct, notify the handling editor confidentially. We will investigate following COPE procedures. Do not contact the authors directly about suspected misconduct.