Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

Transactions on Transport Sciences is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and research integrity.

The journal follows the principles and best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices).

Research involving human participants must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (https://www.wma.net/what-we-do/medical-ethics/declaration-of-helsinki/) and must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee.

All parties involved in the publication process — authors, editors, reviewers and the publisher — are expected to adhere to these principles.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should accurately reflect individuals’ contributions to the research and manuscript preparation.

An author is defined as a person who has made a substantial intellectual contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.

All authors must:

- have contributed significantly to the work,
- approve the final version of the manuscript,
- agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors meet the authorship criteria and that no qualified contributor has been omitted.

Gift, guest or honorary authorship is not permitted.

Any change in authorship (addition, removal or reordering of authors) after submission must be approved by all authors and justified to the editorial office in writing.

Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose any financial or non-financial relationships that could influence the interpretation of their work.
Each manuscript must include a Competing Interests statement. If no competing interests exist, the statement should read:

“The author(s) declare(s) that they have no competing interests.”

Editors and reviewers are also required to declare potential conflicts of interest and will be excluded from the review process if such conflicts exist.
All sources of research funding must be clearly disclosed.

Peer Review Process

All submitted manuscripts undergo peer review by at least two independent external reviewers.

Transactions on Transport Sciences applies a single-blind peer review process, in which reviewers are aware of the authors’ identities, while reviewer identities remain confidential.

Final publication decisions are made by the Editorial Board based on reviewers’ reports, scientific quality, originality, relevance to the journal’s scope, and ethical compliance.

Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants, human data or human biological material must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable national or institutional regulations.

Authors must confirm that:
- written informed consent was obtained from all participants,
- participants’ anonymity and confidentiality were adequately protected,
- the study received approval from an appropriate ethics committee where required.

If ethical approval was not required, authors must provide a clear justification in the manuscript. Relevant ethical information must be explicitly stated in the Methods section of the article.

Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Research involving vulnerable populations — including children, minors, individuals with limited decision-making capacity, or persons in dependent or hierarchical relationships — requires special ethical consideration.

Authors must demonstrate that:
- participation posed minimal risk,
- informed consent was obtained from legal guardians or authorized representatives where applicable,
- additional safeguards were implemented to protect participants’ rights, dignity and privacy.

Such research must be scientifically justified and subject to appropriate ethical oversight.

Any invited referee who has conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the manuscript and the work described therein should immediately notify the editors to declare their conflicts of interest and decline the invitation to review so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.

Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the authors. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for the reviewer’s personal advantage. This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.

Data Protection, Anonymity and Confidentiality

Authors must ensure compliance with applicable data protection and privacy regulations.

Personal data must be anonymized or pseudonymized wherever possible. Identifiable information must not be published unless explicit consent has been obtained.

The journal does not publish personal data that could compromise participant privacy.

Data Availability and Reproducibility

The journal encourages authors to make research data supporting their findings publicly available, where possible and without compromising participant privacy.
Authors are encouraged to include:
- a data availability statement,
- persistent identifiers for publicly available datasets where applicable.

While data sharing is not mandatory, the editorial office may request confidential access to primary data for verification purposes.

Allegations of Misconduct

All allegations of research or publication misconduct — including plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, or unethical research practices — are taken seriously.

Suspected misconduct will be investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines. Authors will be given an opportunity to respond, and appropriate corrective actions will be taken where necessary.

Retractions, Corrections and Expressions of Concern

The journal follows the COPE Retraction Guidelines. A published article may be corrected or retracted in cases including but not limited to:
- major errors affecting the reliability of the results,
- plagiarism,
- data fabrication or falsification,
- unethical research conduct.

Retractions, corrections or expressions of concern will be clearly identified, linked to the original article, and remain permanently accessible in the journal archive.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit complaints or appeals regarding editorial decisions or the editorial process.

All complaints and appeals should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief and will be handled fairly, transparently and confidentially.

Editorial Responsibilities

Editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly merit, relevance to the journal’s scope, and compliance with ethical standards, without influence from commercial or institutional interests.

Editors must ensure confidentiality, manage conflicts of interest and take appropriate action in cases of suspected misconduct.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must:
- treat manuscripts as confidential documents,
- provide objective and constructive evaluations,
- disclose conflicts of interest,
- refrain from using unpublished material for personal advantage.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for:

- the originality and accuracy of their work,
- proper citation of sources,
- compliance with ethical standards,
- obtaining permission for the use of third-party materials.

Duplicate submission, plagiarism and unethical research practices are unacceptable.