Our editorial standards follow COPE guidance and apply to authors, reviewers, editors and the publisher.
Authorship requires substantial contribution to conception or design, or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data; drafting or critical revision; final approval; and accountability for the work. Contributions not meeting these criteria are acknowledged. Changes to authorship after submission require written agreement from all authors.
All patient data, images and whole-slide images must be fully anonymised. Identifiable material requires documented written consent. Ethical approval must be stated for all human subjects research.
Allegations of fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, image manipulation, duplicate submission or undisclosed conflicts are investigated following COPE flowcharts, with institutional notification where warranted.
We publish corrections, expressions of concern and retractions as required. Retraction notices state the reason and who requested the retraction, and the original article remains accessible and clearly marked.
Authors are expected to make data and analysis code available where ethically and legally possible, and must state availability at submission. AI studies should provide sufficient methodological detail for independent evaluation.
Generative AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Any use in drafting, analysis or figure preparation must be disclosed with the tool, version and purpose. Authors remain fully responsible for all content.
All financial and non-financial interests must be declared by authors, reviewers and editors. Editors recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where a conflict exists.
Sponsored content is clearly labelled and never influences editorial decisions. Advertising is separated from editorial content.
Editorial complaints should be sent to the editorial office and receive an acknowledgement within five working days. See contact.