Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

1. Ethical expectations from all parties

To act in a fair and objective way in carrying out their duties, without any form of discrimination on grounds of gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin, or sexual orientation of the authors.
To handle all paper submissions, whether for a regular publication or special issues of the journal, with the highest ethical and technical standards such that articles are considered and accepted solely on their academic merit and without commercial influence.
To adopt and follow reasonable procedures in the event of complaints of an ethical nature. To observe the highest standards of justice in such investigations and thus to provide the author(s) a reasonable opportunity to respond to any complaints. All complaints should be investigated no matter when the original publication was approved. Documentation associated with any such complaints should be retained.

To contribute to the decision-making process, and to assist in improving the quality of the published paper by reviewing the manuscript objectively and in a timely manner.
To maintain the confidentiality of any information supplied by the editor or author. To not retain or copy the manuscript.
To alert the editor to any material in the paper under review that appears to be either identical or substantially similar to other already published materials that the reviewer is aware of.
To be aware of any potential conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative or other relationships between the reviewer and author) and to alert the editor to these and thus, to act ethically and request to be withdrawn from reviewing the manuscript where such conflicts of interest may exist.

To maintain accurate records of data associated with their submitted manuscript, and to be able to answer any reasonable questions that may arise relative to the data used and its suitability for the research presented. Where appropriate, and where legally allowed by the authors employer, funding body, government agencies (e.g. export control laws related to certain critical data) and others who might have an interest, to provide access to the data in a suitable repository or storage location, for sharing and further use by others.
To confirm that the manuscript, as submitted by the author(s), is not under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere.
To confirm that all the work in the submitted manuscript is original and to acknowledge and cite content reproduced from other sources or which may overlap with other published content. To obtain any needed permission or copyright approvals to reproduce any content from other sources.
To declare any potential conflicts of interest.
To notify promptly the journal editor or publisher if a significant error in their publication is identified. To cooperate with the editor and publisher to publish an erratum or addendum notice, or to retract the paper, where this is deemed necessary.

CIGRE shall ensure that its code of ethics are maintained and that the standards above are also obeyed by all parties involved.

Misconduct and unethical behavior may be identified and brought to the attention of the editor and publisher at any time, by anyone.
Misconduct and unethical behavior may include, but is not necessarily limited to, plagiarism, unjust or unfair treatment of authors, etc.
Whoever informs the editor or publisher of such conduct should provide sufficient information and evidence in order for an investigation to be initiated. All allegations should be taken seriously and treated in the same way, until a successful decision or conclusion is reached.

An initial decision should be taken by the editor, who should consult with or seek advice from the publisher, if appropriate.
Evidence should be gathered, while avoiding spreading any allegations beyond those who need to know until a decision has been reached and appropriate actions identified.
Minor misconduct might be dealt with without the need to consult more widely. In any event, the author should be given the opportunity to respond to any allegations.
Serious misconduct might require that the employers of the accused be notified. The editor, in consultation with the CIGRE Paris Office, as appropriate, should make the decision whether or not to involve the employers, either by examining the available evidence themselves or by further consultation with a limited number of experts.

Depending on the severity of the infraction, one or more of the following actions may be taken:

Informing or educating the author or reviewer where there appears to be a misunderstanding or misapplication of acceptable standards.
A more strongly worded letter to the author or reviewer covering the misconduct and as a warning to future behavior.
Publication of a formal notice detailing the misconduct. Publication of an editorial detailing the misconduct.
A formal letter to the head of the author's or reviewer's department or funding agency.
Formal retraction or withdrawal of a publication from the journal, in conjunction with informing the head of the author or reviewer's department, Abstracting & Indexing services and the readership of the publication.
Imposition of a formal embargo on contributions from an individual for a defined period.