Editorial and Ethics Related Policies

Editorial, Research, and Publication Policies

Editorial Principles and Scope of Policy

Mathematical Structures and Computational Modeling (MSCM) is committed to maintaining high standards of editorial integrity, mathematical and computational rigor, transparency, academic quality, and responsible scholarly publishing. These policies establish a consistent framework for the submission, assessment, peer review, editorial decision-making, publication, preservation, and post-publication management of scholarly work.

The policies apply to authors, reviewers, editors, Guest Editors, Editorial Board members, and other individuals involved in the publication process. They are intended to protect the integrity of the scholarly record and the legitimate interests of authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and other contributors.

Editorial decisions are based on academic and scholarly considerations, including mathematical correctness, methodological soundness, computational validity, originality, significance, clarity, reproducibility, relevance to the journal's aims and scope, and ethical compliance. Decisions must not be influenced by commercial interests, institutional pressure, personal relationships, political considerations, nationality, geographical location, author identity, or other inappropriate external factors.

I — Access, Licensing, Copyright, and Intellectual Property
II — Editorial Governance and Peer Review
III — Research and Publication Ethics
IV — Artificial Intelligence and Digital Research Technologies
V — Diversity, Privacy, and Confidentiality
VI — Special Issues and Publication Management
VII — Preservation, Self-Archiving, and Scholarly Record
VIII — Post-Publication Integrity
IX — Commercial Transparency and Accountability
X — Appeals, Complaints, and Accountability

I — Access, Licensing, Copyright, and Intellectual Property

1. Open Access Policy

The Journal follows an open-access publishing model under which published articles are made freely available online immediately upon publication, without subscription requirements or paywalls.

Open access is intended to promote broad dissemination, accessibility, visibility, reuse, and scholarly communication. Readers may access, read, download, share, and otherwise use published articles in accordance with the applicable licensing terms.

2. Licensing Policy

All articles published by the Journal are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

The license permits users to copy, distribute, reproduce, and adapt published material for non-commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the Journal, the applicable license is identified and linked, and any modifications to the original work are clearly indicated.

Commercial reproduction, redistribution, adaptation, or other commercial exploitation is not covered by the CC BY-NC 4.0 License and requires appropriate authorization from the copyright holder(s) who are authors of the manuscript.

3. Copyright and Author Rights Policy

Authors retain copyright in their published manuscripts and do not transfer copyright ownership to the Journal or its publisher, Open Horizon Global. Publication therefore does not constitute an assignment of copyright.

By accepting publication, authors grant Mathematical Structures and Computational Modeling (MSCM) and Open Horizon Global a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual right to publish, reproduce, distribute, communicate, archive, preserve, index, and promote the article in existing and subsequently developed formats and media. This license also permits the Journal to identify itself as the original publisher and to maintain the article as part of the permanent scholarly record.

3.1. Author Rights

As copyright holders, authors may continue to use and share their published work in accordance with the applicable license and without obtaining additional permission from the Journal or Open Horizon Global.

Subject to applicable rights and licensing conditions, authors may:

deposit the published article in personal, institutional, or subject repositories;
include the article in a thesis or dissertation;
use the work for teaching, educational, research, and professional purposes;
reproduce the work in books and other scholarly publications;
translate, revise, or adapt the work for legitimate academic purposes; and
share the published version through legitimate scholarly platforms.

Whenever the work is reused or redistributed, authors should acknowledge the original publication in the Journal and, provide the article DOI.

4. Intellectual Property Rights Policy

The Journal respects the intellectual property rights of authors and third parties. Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted material is original, does not unlawfully infringe third-party rights, and contains appropriate permissions for copyrighted material reproduced from other sources.

Publication does not diminish the author's underlying intellectual property rights. Third-party material incorporated into an article remains subject to the rights and conditions applicable to that material.

Authors must also ensure that mathematical formulations, figures, algorithms, datasets, software, code, images, tables, and other materials obtained from third parties are appropriately attributed and licensed.

II — Editorial Governance and Peer Review

1. Editorial Independence Policy

The Journal maintains editorial independence in manuscript assessment, peer review, editorial decision-making, and publication.

Editorial decisions are based on academic quality, originality, mathematical and computational rigor, significance, relevance, clarity, reproducibility, and ethical integrity. Decisions must not be influenced by the publisher, commercial interests, financial considerations, institutional pressure, personal relationships, political interests, author identity, sponsorship, or other external factors.

Editors are responsible for making independent and impartial decisions and for managing actual or potential conflicts of interest.

The publisher, Open Horizon Global, may provide administrative, technical, financial, hosting, production, and operational support but does not determine the academic content or outcome of individual manuscripts. Though the journal is not presently involved in Advertising, sponsorship, partnerships, or other commercial relationships if such activities are operational in future, these will not influence peer review or editorial decisions.

The Journal retains authority over its editorial policies, peer-review procedures, editorial appointments, publication decisions, corrections, retractions, and other matters affecting the scholarly record.

2. Peer Review Policy

The Journal is committed to a rigorous, fair, confidential, and impartial peer-review process. The journal normally follows a double-blind peer-review model, under which author and reviewer identities are concealed to the extent practicable.

Manuscripts are evaluated for:

originality and scholarly contribution;
mathematical correctness and logical coherence;
validity of theoretical arguments, proofs, assumptions, and derivations;
appropriateness of computational or statistical methods;
validity and reproducibility of computational models, simulations, algorithms, and numerical experiments;
clarity of presentation;
relevance to the journal's aims and scope;
appropriate use and reporting of data, software, and computational resources; and
compliance with research and publication ethics.

2.1 Editorial Screening

All submissions undergo an initial editorial assessment to determine whether they are appropriate for the journal and meet essential submission, originality, ethical, and quality requirements.

Manuscripts that fall outside the journal's scope, fail to meet basic scholarly requirements, contain substantial originality concerns, or have other fundamental deficiencies may be declined without external review.

Suitable manuscripts are assigned to an editor with relevant subject expertise.

2.2 Reviewer Selection

Reviewers are selected according to subject expertise, methodological competence, independence, and ability to provide an objective assessment. Normally, at least two independent reviewers are invited for each manuscript.

Where appropriate, the journal may seek additional reviewers, specialist reviewers, or computational/mathematical experts when a manuscript contains particularly specialized theoretical or computational components.

2.3 Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers must:

maintain confidentiality;
provide objective, constructive, and evidence-based assessments;
identify mathematical, methodological, computational, or interpretive weaknesses;
assess whether conclusions follow from the methods and results;
identify relevant concerns regarding reproducibility or insufficient computational detail;
disclose conflicts of interest;
avoid personal criticism or discriminatory comments;
avoid unnecessary demands for citation;
not use confidential manuscript information for personal or professional advantage; and
return reviews within the agreed timeframe or notify the editorial office if additional time is required.

2.4 Reviewer Recommendation and Editorial Decision

Reviewers provide recommendations and comments to assist editorial decision-making. The final decision rests with the responsible editor and is not determined solely by a single reviewer recommendation.

A manuscript may be accepted, rejected, or returned for revision. Revised manuscripts may undergo further peer review where necessary.

2.5 Reviewer Suggestions and Exclusion Requests

Authors may recommend qualified potential reviewers and may request that specific individuals not be invited where a genuine conflict of interest exists.

Such requests must be accompanied by a reasonable academic justification. The Journal may consider these recommendations but retains full discretion over reviewer selection.

Reviewer exclusion will not normally be granted merely because an individual may disagree with the authors, have previously criticized their work, or hold a different academic position.

2.6 Peer-Review Integrity

The Journal does not permit manipulation of the peer-review process, including fabricated reviewer identities, fraudulent reviewer accounts, undisclosed conflicts, inappropriate attempts to influence reviewers, or other interference with independent assessment.

Where review integrity is questioned, the Journal may suspend the editorial process, replace reviewers or editors, seek additional assessments, investigate the circumstances, or take other appropriate action.

III — Research and Publication Ethics

1. Research and Publication Ethics

The Journal expects all participants to uphold principles of honesty, transparency, accountability, originality, responsible research conduct, and respect for the integrity of the scholarly record. The journal considers research and publication misconduct seriously and may investigate concerns arising before or after publication.

1.1 Research Integrity

Authors must ensure that submitted research has been conducted and reported honestly and accurately. Mathematical derivations, proofs, computational experiments, simulations, algorithms, datasets, software, numerical results, figures, tables, and interpretations must not be fabricated, falsified, deceptively manipulated, or knowingly misrepresented.

1.2 Mathematical and Computational Rigor

Authors are responsible for ensuring that:

mathematical definitions and assumptions are clearly stated;
propositions, theorems, lemmas, and proofs are logically sound;
mathematical notation is used consistently;
analytical derivations are accurately presented;
computational methods are described sufficiently for evaluation;
numerical algorithms and parameter settings are appropriately documented;
model assumptions and limitations are disclosed;
computational results are not selectively or misleadingly reported; and
claims are supported by the mathematical, computational, or empirical evidence presented.

If an article depends materially on software or code, authors are encouraged to provide sufficient information concerning the software environment, algorithms, implementation procedures, and relevant computational parameters.

1.3 Plagiarism, Duplicate Publication, and Text Recycling

The Journal does not permit plagiarism, substantial unattributed copying, inappropriate text recycling, duplicate publication, redundant publication, or submission of substantially overlapping manuscripts to multiple journals simultaneously. Submitted work must be original and appropriately acknowledge previous scholarship. Material reproduced from earlier publications must be properly attributed and used in accordance with applicable copyright and licensing requirements.

1.4 Fabrication and Falsification

Fabrication of data, computational results, mathematical evidence, simulations, software outputs, references, or other research materials is prohibited. Similarly, falsification, including inappropriate manipulation or selective alteration of research materials, computational results, figures, or analyses intended to create a misleading impression, is also prohibited.

1.5 Research Involving Human Participants or Sensitive Data

Although the journal primarily publishes mathematical and computational research, some submissions may use human-participant data, health information, social data, or other sensitive datasets. Where applicable, authors must comply with relevant ethical requirements, obtain appropriate approval or exemption from a recognized ethics committee or institutional review body, and obtain informed consent where required. Personal or identifiable information must be appropriately protected, anonymized, or otherwise handled in accordance with applicable legal and ethical requirements.

1.6 Conflict of Interest

All authors, reviewers, editors, Guest Editors, and Editorial Board members must disclose relationships or circumstances that could affect, or reasonably appear to affect, their professional judgment.

For authors, relevant interests may include:

research funding or sponsorship;
employment or consultancy;
institutional affiliations;
financial relationships;
patents or intellectual property interests;
advisory positions;
commercial interests associated with software, algorithms, models, or technologies; and
significant personal or professional relationships.

Disclosures should be made at submission and updated if circumstances change. Where no competing interests exist, authors should state: “The authors declare that they have no competing interests.”

A conflict does not automatically prevent publication. The Journal will assess disclosed interests and may implement safeguards such as independent review, reassignment of an editor or reviewer, or an appropriate disclosure statement. If a relevant competing interest is discovered after publication, the Journal may issue a correction or clarification, reconsider an editorial decision, or take other appropriate action.

1.7 Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship represents both scholarly credit and responsibility. Authors must have made meaningful intellectual or scholarly contributions to the work and must be able to accept responsibility for their contribution. Qualifying contributions may include:

conceptualization or development of the research problem;
mathematical formulation or theoretical development;
methodology;
investigation or data acquisition;
mathematical analysis;
model development;
algorithm development;
software or computational implementation;
data analysis;
validation;
interpretation of results;
manuscript preparation; or
substantial intellectual revision.

All authors must review and approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission. Routine administrative assistance, general supervision, routine technical support, proofreading, language editing, funding provision, or resource provision alone does not normally qualify for authorship and should instead be acknowledged where appropriate.

1.8 Author Contributions statement

For multi-author manuscripts, the Journal may require an Author Contributions Statement describing individual roles. Contributions may include conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, software, validation, data curation, visualization, resources, supervision, project administration, writing, review, and editing. The statement must accurately reflect actual contributions.

1.9 Corresponding Author

Each multi-author submission must identify a corresponding author responsible for communication with the Journal. The corresponding author must ensure that:

all listed authors meet the journal's authorship requirements;
all authors approve the submitted manuscript;
all authors agree to the author order;
submission information is accurate and complete;
funding and competing interests are disclosed;
relevant ethical requirements have been addressed; and
co-authors are informed of significant editorial communications and decisions.

Corresponding authorship does not imply academic seniority or greater scholarly contribution.

1.10 Prohibited Authorship Practices

Authorship must not be assigned because of academic rank, institutional position, reputation, personal relationship, or other non-scholarly considerations. Artificial intelligence systems cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility or accountability for scholarly work. The Journal also does not permit:

guest authorship;
honorary authorship;
gift authorship;
ghost authorship; or
deliberate exclusion of individuals who made qualifying intellectual contributions.

1.11 Authorship Changes and Disputes

The author list and order should be finalized before submission. Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be made by the corresponding author and accompanied by a clear explanation. Written confirmation from all affected authors, including authors being added or removed, may be required. Changes after acceptance will normally be considered only in exceptional ircumstances and may require additional documentation or institutional confirmation. The Journal does not normally adjudicate authorship disputes. Where a dispute arises, editorial processing may be suspended until the authors or relevant institution resolve the matter.

Post-publication authorship concerns may result in a correction, expression of concern, or retraction where warranted.

1.12 Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all funding or financial support that contributed to the research, manuscript preparation, or publication. Funding statements should identify the funding organization and, where applicable, grant, award, or project numbers. Authors should also state the role of the funder in research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication decisions. Where the funder had no role in these activities, this should be stated.

Failure to disclose relevant funding may result in editorial correction or other appropriate action.

1.13 Research Data, Code, and Computational Materials

The Journal encourages responsible sharing of research data, source code, algorithms, mathematical models, computational notebooks, simulation parameters, and other materials necessary to support transparency and reproducibility. Shared materials must not contain confidential or personally identifiable information. Where reasonably possible, authors should deposit such materials in recognized repositories and provide persistent identifiers such as DOIs or accession numbers.

Authors should provide a Data Availability Statement though, restrictions may apply where materials cannot lawfully or ethically be shared because of privacy, confidentiality, contractual, proprietary, security, or licensing considerations.

IV — Artificial Intelligence and Digital Research Technologies

1. Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy

The Journal recognizes that AI and AI-assisted technologies may support aspects of research and scholarly communication. Their use must remain transparent, responsible, and consistent with research integrity, confidentiality, and human accountability.

1.1 Authors

Authors may use AI tools for appropriate purposes such as language improvement, grammar correction, translation, formatting, or organization of material. AI must not replace the authors' intellectual contribution, mathematical reasoning, critical analysis, interpretation, research judgment, or responsibility for the work. Authors must verify AI-assisted outputs, particularly mathematical statements, references, factual claims, equations, proofs, computational results, code, and interpretations. Fabricated references, invented results, erroneous mathematical claims, manipulated outputs, or misleading content generated through AI are prohibited. AI systems cannot be listed as authors. Where AI has been used substantially beyond routine language or formatting assistance, authors should disclose the tool and the nature of its use.

1.2 Reviewers

Reviewers must maintain confidentiality and must not upload manuscripts, unpublished mathematical work, datasets, source code, reviewer reports, or other confidential material into publicly accessible or third-party AI systems without appropriate authorization. AI must not replace the reviewer's independent scholarly judgment. Reviewers remain responsible for the accuracy, confidentiality, and integrity of their reports.

1.3 Editors and Editorial Staff

Editors and editorial staff may use AI-assisted technologies only where appropriate and where confidentiality, editorial independence, and research integrity can be protected. AI must not independently determine acceptance, rejection, revision, or other substantive editorial decisions.

Confidential manuscript information must not be entered into AI systems where this could expose unpublished research, personal information, proprietary information, or other protected material.

1.4 Transparency and Accountability

All users of AI-assisted technologies remain responsible for verifying and evaluating AI-generated outputs. The use of AI does not transfer responsibility from human participants to the technology. The Journal may request clarification concerning AI use and may take appropriate action where AI has been used deceptively or in violation of research integrity, confidentiality, or publication ethics.

V — Diversity, Privacy, and Confidentiality

1. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy

The Journal is committed to a respectful, inclusive, and equitable scholarly environment. Authors, reviewers, editors, and contributors are expected to be treated fairly regardless of personal characteristics, nationality, geographical location, institutional affiliation, academic status, professional background, or other characteristics unrelated to scholarly quality.

Editorial and peer-review decisions are based on academic merit, originality, mathematical and computational quality, relevance, and ethical standards. The Journal does not tolerate discriminatory, harassing, threatening, or exclusionary conduct within the publishing process. The journal encourages broad participation in its editorial and reviewer communities and seeks, where practicable, diversity in editorial teams and reviewer pools. Concerns regarding discriminatory or inequitable treatment may be reported to the editorial office and will be handled appropriately and confidentially.

2. Privacy and Confidentiality Policy

The Journal protects the privacy and confidentiality of authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants. Personal information collected during submission, peer review, and publication will be used for legitimate editorial and publishing purposes and will not be disclosed to third parties except where required for journal operations, legal obligations, or investigation of ethical concerns.

Manuscripts, unpublished research, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and other confidential materials must be protected from unauthorized disclosure. Authors, reviewers, and editors must maintain confidentiality throughout the editorial process. Where research involves personal or sensitive information, authors must ensure that appropriate consent, anonymization, and data-protection measures are in place.

VI — Special Issues and Publication Management

1. Special Issues Policy

The Journal may publish Special Issues addressing emerging topics, significant research themes, or areas of particular scholarly interest within the journal's scope. Special Issues must meet the same standards of originality, mathematical and computational rigor, research integrity, peer-review quality, and publication ethics as regular issues. Special Issue proposals are subject to editorial evaluation and approval.

Guest Editors may assist with topic development, manuscript solicitation, and reviewer recommendations but must comply with all journal policies. All submissions, including invited manuscripts, undergo the journal's standard editorial screening and peer-review procedures. Guest Editors must not make or influence decisions where they have a conflict of interest. Editorial decisions remain independent of Guest Editors, authors, sponsors, and other external parties. The Journal may decline, modify, postpone, or discontinue a Special Issue if submissions fail to meet required scholarly or ethical standards.

Articles accepted for a Special Issue are subject to the journal's standard APC policy unless otherwise stated. Payment, waiver, or sponsorship of an APC must not influence peer review or editorial decisions.

VII — Preservation, Self-Archiving, and Scholarly Record

1. Digital Archiving and Preservation Policy

The Journal is committed to the long-term preservation and accessibility of its published content. Published articles and associated scholarly records may be preserved through appropriate digital preservation systems, repositories, institutional archives, indexing services, or trusted third-party preservation arrangements.

Preserved materials may include:

final published articles;
supplementary materials;
metadata;
persistent identifiers such as DOIs; and
The Journal may maintain multiple preservation arrangements where appropriate to reduce the risk of permanent loss resulting from technical, organizational, or platform-related changes.

2. Self-Archiving Policy

Authors may preserve and share their published work through personal, institutional, or subject-specific repositories in accordance with the article's copyright and licensing terms. Authors may also use legitimate academic webpages and scholarly platforms where permitted. Archived copies should identify the Journal as the original place of publication and include the complete citation and DOI where available. Self-archived material must not be presented as a separately published or independently peer-reviewed work. Authors remain responsible for complying with third-party copyright, confidentiality, ethical, and contractual requirements.

VIII — Post-Publication Integrity

1. Post-Publication Policy

The Journal recognizes that maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record continues after publication.

Authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and other stakeholders are encouraged to report significant errors, inaccuracies, ethical concerns, or potential misconduct affecting published work. The Journal may assess reported concerns and, where appropriate, consult authors, editors, reviewers, institutions, research ethics bodies, or other relevant parties.

Depending on the circumstances, the journal may publish:

a correction;
a clarification;
an author response;
an expression of concern;
a retraction; or
another appropriate editorial notice.

Minor errors that do not affect the validity or interpretation of an article may be corrected without altering its substantive conclusions. Significant errors and ethical concerns will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Post-publication notices will be clearly identified and linked to the affected article to preserve transparency and the integrity of the scholarly record.

1.1. Retraction Policy

The Journal may retract a published article when serious concerns undermine its validity, reliability, ethical acceptability, or integrity. Concerns may be raised by authors, readers, reviewers, editors, institutions, or other appropriate parties.

Retraction may be considered where there is clear evidence of:

fabrication or falsification of data, results, simulations, mathematical evidence, or other research materials;
plagiarism or substantial unattributed copying;
duplicate or redundant publication that materially affects the scholarly record;
major errors that invalidate principal findings or conclusions;
serious mathematical, methodological, analytical, or computational flaws discovered after publication;
unethical research or lack of required ethical approval or consent;
serious undisclosed conflicts of interest that materially affect the work;
substantial authorship misconduct;
manipulation or fraudulent interference with peer review;
fabricated or manipulated supporting information; or
other serious problems that make continued reliance on the article inappropriate.

Retraction does not necessarily imply misconduct. An article may be retracted because of an honest error where the error is sufficiently serious to affect the validity or reliability of the published work.

The Journal will assess the available evidence and may request explanations or supporting documentation. Where necessary, it may contact an author's institution, research ethics body, funder, or other competent authority. An Expression of Concern may be issued while an investigation is ongoing when substantial concerns exist but the available evidence is not yet sufficient to justify retraction.

A retracted article will normally remain part of the scholarly record rather than being deleted. Its retracted status will be clearly identified. A separate Retraction Notice will explain the reason for retraction and will remain permanently linked to the original article. Where technically possible, the article and PDF will be marked as “Retracted”, while its DOI and bibliographic information remain traceable. A retraction may be issued even where not all authors agree with the decision.

Retraction is intended to correct the scholarly record rather than erase publication history. Readers should not rely upon retracted findings as valid evidence. Where a retracted article is cited for historical, methodological, or other legitimate purposes, its retracted status should be clearly indicated.

1.2 Institutional Investigations

Where suspected misconduct falls within the formal responsibility of an author's institution or another competent body, the Journal may notify or cooperate with that institution.

The Journal does not normally conduct institutional investigations but may take appropriate editorial action on the basis of reliable evidence available to it.

2. Post-Publication Discussion Policy

The Journal welcomes constructive scholarly discussion concerning published research. Readers and researchers may submit substantive comments, questions, or concerns concerning published articles to the editorial office. Communications should be evidence-based, professional, relevant, and focused on the scholarly work.

Where concerns relate to mathematical validity, methodology, computational reproducibility, accuracy, research ethics, or publication integrity, the Journal may request a response from the authors and conduct an editorial assessment. Depending on the outcome, the journal may publish a clarification, correction, author response, Expression of Concern, or Retraction Notice. The Journal does not permit defamatory, discriminatory, offensive, threatening, or unrelated communications and may decline or remove communications that do not meet appropriate scholarly standards.

IX — Commercial Transparency and Accountability

1. Advertising and Sponsored Content Policy

The Journal currently does not accept or publish advertisements, sponsored content, advertorials, or other paid promotional material. Accordingly, advertising and sponsorship arrangements do not presently support or influence editorial activities. If advertising or sponsored content is introduced in the future, it will be governed by clear standards designed to preserve editorial independence and maintain a strict separation between commercial activities and scholarly decision-making.

Any future advertisements or sponsored materials will be clearly distinguishable from editorial content and will not influence manuscript evaluation, peer review, editorial decisions, or publication outcomes.

The Journal may reject advertising or sponsored material that is misleading, inappropriate, incompatible with the journal's academic purpose, or likely to create a conflict of interest. Relevant commercial relationships will be disclosed where appropriate.

2. Disclaimer Policy

The Journal seeks to ensure that published content meets appropriate standards of academic quality, mathematical and computational rigor, accuracy, and research integrity. Nevertheless, the views, interpretations, methods, findings, and conclusions expressed in published articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Journal, its editors, Editorial Board, or publisher. Publication does not constitute endorsement of any mathematical model, algorithm, software, computational method, product, service, organization, or opinion discussed in an article.

Readers are responsible for exercising appropriate professional and scholarly judgment when using published information.

The Journal and Open Horizon Global are not responsible for loss, damage, or consequences arising from the use or interpretation of published content.

X — Appeals, Complaints, and Accountability

1. Appeals and Complaints Policy

The Journal is committed to handling appeals and complaints fairly, consistently, transparently, and without bias. Authors may appeal an editorial decision or submit a complaint concerning editorial, peer-review, or publication processes by contacting the editorial office at appeals_and_complaints@openhorizonglobal.com.

An appeal should clearly explain the grounds for reconsideration and provide relevant supporting information. Appeals should normally identify substantive concerns such as:

a significant factual or mathematical misunderstanding;
a failure to consider relevant information;
a procedural irregularity; or
a material conflict of interest that may have affected the decision.

An appeal should not be based solely on disagreement with an editorial decision or reviewer opinion.

Where practicable, an appeal will be considered by the Editor-in-Chief or another appropriate editorial representative who was not responsible for the original decision. The Journal may seek an additional independent assessment where appropriate.

Complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer review, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, publication procedures, or other journal practices should be submitted to the editorial office. Complaints will be handled confidentially to the extent practicable and assessed in accordance with the journal's policies and recognized publication-ethics principles. Where a complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief or another individual directly involved in the matter, the Journal will, where practicable, assign the matter to an independent editorial representative.

The Journal will communicate the outcome of an appeal or complaint within a reasonable timeframe, taking into account the complexity of the matter and any need for additional information or investigation. The decision reached through the journal's internal appeal process will normally be considered final.

2. Policy Review and Updates

The Journal may periodically review and update these policies to reflect developments in mathematical research, computational practice, scholarly communication, research integrity, digital technologies, and recognized standards of academic publishing.

Policy revisions will be implemented with the objective of maintaining transparency, consistency, research integrity, and confidence in the journal's scholarly record.