To strengthen journal quality management and comply with relevant national laws and regulations, the editorial office of Natural Gas Exploration and Development has established the following publication ethics guidelines, in accordance with the ethical standards set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and referencing the ethical norms of other journals in the same field in China.
1. For Authors
1) The content of submitted manuscripts must be objective, accurate, and meet the requirements of scientific paper writing. All listed authors are jointly responsible for the manuscript, and there should be no disputes over authorship.
2) Submissions must be original works, without plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data or figure fabrication, and any other unethical behaviors. Manuscripts should not contain confidential information.
3) Authors must ensure that the manuscript has not been submitted elsewhere or published previously. All academic misconduct will be penalized.
4)Authors must respect the research findings and ideas of others and properly cite relevant references.
5)Authors must honestly report funding sources in their submissions.
6)The journal implements a peer review system with multiple experts. If there are any disagreements with the reviewers’ comments, authors should communicate with the editorial office promptly.
7)As the journal is an open publication, the responsibility for confidentiality lies entirely with the authors and their affiliated institutions.
8)It should be ensured that each author has made significant contributions to the research, participated in writing or revising the manuscript, agreed to the final version, and takes responsibility for the content. The number and order of authors should not be changed after submission. Any changes must be agreed upon in writing by all authors.
9)All authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest, i.e., when the financing/personal status/affiliation of the authors (or the authors' organization/employer) may affect the authors' decision, work or manuscript.
2. For Reviewers
1)Reviews should be objective and accurate, with respectful language used in feedback to authors.
2)Reviewers should promptly evaluate manuscripts and provide detailed review comments. If they are unable to complete the review on time, they should inform the editorial office immediately.
3)Reviewers must respect the authors' research and maintain confidentiality regarding the content of the manuscript. They are prohibited from using the authors’ research without permission.
4)Reviewers are encouraged to support academic diversity and foster a positive atmosphere where different viewpoints can be discussed openly.
5)When editors or reviewers have a competitive, collaborative, or other potential conflicts of interest with authors or organizations, they should avoid handling the review process.
3. For Editors
1)Editors should adhere to publishing guidelines and national regulations during the editorial and publishing process.
2)Editors should uphold confidentiality principles and keep them secret for both the identities of authors and reviewers as well as the content of the manuscript.
3)Editors should respect the opinions of reviewers. If authors disagree with reviewers' comments, the editorial office should communicate with authors and reviewers in a timely manner.
4)If any academic misconduct is found in a manuscript that has already been accepted for publication, the editorial office has the right to reject the paper and notify the author’s institution and relevant journals.
5)If academic misconduct is identified in a published paper, the journal will proceed with retraction and publish a retraction statement.
4. Advertisement Policy
This journal does not accept advertising. No commercial advertisements will be published in the journal or on the journal’s official website.
5. Intellectual Property and Open Science
The editorial office strives to respect the protection of intellectual property and requires editors, authors, and reviewers to do so. Any potential infringement should be avoided. Third-party infringement on the intellectual property of the journal is prohibited. On the premise of intellectual property protection, the journal encourages the practice of open science. Authors are encouraged to publish or share their research data whenever appropriate. The data for sharing may include original data, observation records, experimental results, etc. The journal also encourages the sharing of software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods, and other useful materials. Authors can upload the materials above to an accessible third-party repository and make a proper citation or add a link at the end of the article.
6. Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) lacks the ability for critical thinking and original assessment, which may result in incorrect, incomplete, or biased conclusions. As a non-legal entity, it cannot assert the presence of conflicts of interest nor manage copyright or license agreements. Therefore, this journal prohibits using GenAI as an author and its use in writing key sections of a paper (such as research methods, results analysis, etc.). If GenAI is used, authors must disclose it in the research methods section and take responsibility for the generated content. The editorial office also prohibits the use of GenAI to assist in manuscript review and acceptance decisions. The review and editorial process must be conducted manually. Additionally, uploading manuscripts or supplementary materials to publicly accessible GenAI platforms is strictly forbidden.