Publication Ethics and Basic Policies of “The Review of Laser Engineering”

The Laser Society of Japan (hereinafter referred to as “the Society”) has established publication guidelines and principles for authorship, citations, data presentation, etc. to maintain high ethical standards and to ensure the provision of a high-quality academic journal. For more information on the ethical requirements, author responsibilities, and other guidelines and core policies of The Review of Laser Engineering (hereinafter referred to as “the Journal”) please refer to the following provisions. The Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (COPE Guidelines ) will be followed for matters not explicitly outlined herein.

1. Basic Policies Regarding Authors and Contributors

The authors of any academic articles published by the Society must understand the definition of authorship and adhere to the ethical guidelines on citations, data presentation, and academic publishing.

1.1 Definition of Authors
The contributor must select co-authors to be listed jointly as authors of his/her paper. This section clarifies the criteria for the selection of co-authors and their responsibilities as authors.

Individuals meeting all of the following criteria are recognized as authors:
1. Made significant intellectual contributions to at least one of the following: theory development, methodology or experiment design, testing or prototype development, or data analysis or interpretation related to the work in the article.
2. Contributed to drafting, reviewing, or revising the article’s intellectual content.
3. Approved the final manuscript version, including references, for publication.

Contributors who do not meet all the above criteria should be [listed in the acknowledgments | acknowledged appropriately?]. Excluding authors who contributed to the article or including individuals who fail to meet the above criteria violates publication ethics.

1. 2. Co-Authors and Corresponding Author
When publishing an article collaboratively, all authors must agree to designate a single corresponding author. The corresponding author will be the sole point of contact with the Society.
The corresponding author assumes the following responsibilities in addition to fulfilling all authorship criteria:
1. Ensuring appropriate contributors are included as co-authors and inappropriate individuals are excluded.
2. Securing consent from all co-authors regarding the designation of corresponding author and the approval of the final manuscript.
3. Keeping all co-authors informed of the submission status, including peer review comments, final drafts, and proofs..
It is recommended to designate the corresponding author before submission. Co-authors share equal responsibility for the article’s submission, review, and publication.

1.3. Responsibilities of Authors
Authors must confirm the originality of their submitted work, ensure it has not been published previously, and verify it is not under consideration elsewhere. Authors must adhere to all ethical guidelines related to content, citations, and data presentation.

1.4. Rights of Authors
Authors may share and distribute their work, subject to the policies outlined in the Journal’s sharing and distribution guidelines.

2. Policies on Complaints and Appeals

2.1. Claims by Authors
If an author requests the exclusion of specific individuals from peer review during submission, the editorial board will evaluate the request appropriately.

2.2. Allegations of Misconduct
The Society does not tolerate any form of misconduct, including plagiarism, which constitutes a serious ethical and legal violation. Allegations of misconduct (including, but not limited to, misrepresentation of data, falsification of text, or failure to notify the editor that an article has been published, accepted for publication, or is under review elsewhere) will be investigated promptly and fairly, allowing all involved parties the opportunity to respond.
If necessary, the editorial board may form an independent ad hoc committee of experts to investigate allegations confidentially. Recommendations will be provided based on factors such as the extent of alleged misconduct and whether proper citation and attribution were made, namely:
1. How much of the paper does the relevant portion constitute? (e.g. the entire paper, sections, pages, paragraphs, sentences, or terms)
2. Was the use of quotation marks or other indicators of citation appropriately applied?
3. Was the original source properly acknowledged with adequate expressions?
4. Was inappropriate paraphrasing avoided?

2.3 Investigations and Corrective Measures
If misconduct (e.g. fabrication, plagiarism, falsification, duplicate submission, or inappropriate re-submission of previous publications) is confirmed, appropriate corrective measures will be taken. Decisions by the editorial board are final and not subject to appeal.

3. Basic Policy on Data Sharing and Copying

3.1 Copyright Notice
The copyrights of articles published in the Journal belong to the Society and are protected by copyright law. Personal use of the content by authors or readers is permitted. However, if the material is to be used for purposes such as reprinting/re-publishing for advertising or promotion, storing it as an update for sale or redistribution on a server or list, or reusing portions of the content in other works, permission must be obtained from the Society.

3.2 Publication on Electronic Media
If authors wish to publish academic articles submitted to the Journal on their websites or similar platforms, the following notice must be included on the first page of the document:
“This paper was submitted to The Review of Laser Engineering for publication purposes. Since copyright may be transferred without prior notice upon final publication, access to this file may become unavailable in the future.”

If the Society approves the publication of the article, the author must include the Society’s copyright notice in the publicly available version and inform the Society of the electronic address (URL, FTP address, etc.) where the article is published.
If the Society publishes the article, the author(s) must take one of the following actions for the electronic version of the approved paper:
1. Explicitly reference the Journal article (if the final version of the Journal cannot be displayed.)
2. Replace the file with a final PDF version or similar file, including the Society’s copyright notice and an acknowledgement that it is a citation of the journal article.

4. Basic Policy on Intellectual Property

4.1 Policy on Duplicate Submissions
The primary intellectual property in academic publications is copyright. The Society’s policy requires authors to submit only original academic articles that have not been published in other journals or are not under review by another peer-reviewed publication.
“Duplicate submission” is defined as submitting articles with similar content to two or more publications for simultaneous consideration. Duplicate submissions are not allowed in principle, but may be permitted under certain circumstances, subject to the discretion of the editorial board. Authors must inform the editorial board of the reason(s) for such exceptions.

4.2 Policy on Reusing Previously Published Information
In academic publishing, it is common for similar material or information to be presented at various stages of advancing academic research. For example, the process might begin with the presentation of initial ideas at a workshop, followed by more developed research at a conference, and eventually culminate in a highly polished article in an academic journal. Editors may reuse existing material to promote wider distribution or to consolidate content into a single publication for the benefit of the readers. This practice is well understood and accepted by the Journal’s editorial board. At the same time, the Society requires that previously published information be reused with appropriate citation by the author throughout this process. Authors must also clearly indicate how the new submission differs from previously published work by explicitly referencing the earlier articles.

5. Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

The editor-in-chief shall correct any errors identified or reported before publication. The printed journal shall be distributed to members after a review by the editorial board. If any discrepancies are discovered during or after distribution, appropriate correction notices shall be issued.

6. Responsibilities of Authors

6.1 Ensuring Originality
Authors must submit academic articles containing unique, unpublished content for publication in the Journal. Articles under review elsewhere cannot be submitted simultaneously. Preliminary results of academic and technical research often appear in conference proceedings before being fully developed into articles for academic journals. Therefore, the Society recognizes the originality of both works published as part of this development process when the following criteria are met:
1. Both the conference paper and the journal article have undergone a standard peer review.
2. The journal article contains significantly more academic or technical content than the conference paper.
3. The journal article clearly references and distinguishes itself from the conference paper.

6.2. Proper Citation of Sources
Authors must always cite sources used in their articles. This includes:
1. Direct quotations enclosed in quotation marks with proper citations.
2. Summaries of ideas, processes, discussions, or results from other sources.
3. Data, results, information, figures, or tables referenced, adapted, or reused from other sources.
Authors must also cite their own previously published works following the same rules.
Failure to acknowledge original sources constitutes plagiarism, which the Society considers a serious violation of research ethics, potentially leading to significant ethical and legal consequences. Additionally, citing irrelevant sources to artificially increase citation counts is also an ethical violation. Authors must only cite relevant sources directly related to the article according to the above criteria

6.3. Accurate Presentation of Data
Data should be accurately described to ensure that the results of the research are fully and accurately conveyed. Fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of data, including excessive or improper adjustment of images, constitutes a serious ethical breach.

7. Responsibilities of Reviewers

7.1. Declining Review Requests
Reviewers who feel unqualified to review the research or unable to provide a prompt review must notify the editor and decline the review request, along with the reason(s) for doing so.

7.2. Confidentiality
All manuscripts received for peer review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be disclosed or discussed with others unless explicitly authorized by the editor.

7.3. Ensuring Objectivity
Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate. Reviewers must express their opinions clearly, supporting them with evidence-based arguments.

7.4. Verification of Sources
Reviewers should point out any relevant academic work not cited by the author(s). Observations, derivations, or discussions requiring prior reference must be appropriately cited. Reviewers should also notify the editor of significant similarities or overlaps between the manuscript under review and other published works known to them.

7. 5. Conflicts of Interest
Information and ideas obtained through peer review should be kept confidential and should not be used for personal gain. Reviewers must not review manuscripts with which they have conflicts of interest due to competitive, cooperative, or other relationships or affiliations with the authors, companies, or institutions involved.

8. Responsibilities of Editors

8.1. Decision-Making on Publication
The editor-in-chief holds ultimate responsibility for approving or rejecting submitted articles, ensuring fairness through consultation with the editorial board. Decisions on publication must be based on (with the exception of special topic-specific issues) academic merit. Authors will be notified in writing of the results of the review, including reasons for rejection, particularly if the article is not accepted for publication.

8.2 Ensuring Fairness
The editors must evaluate manuscripts based solely on their intellectual content, irrespective of the author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality, or political philosophy.
The editor-in-chief and editors must not engage in or allow actions intended to fraudulently inflate the Journal’s citation count.

8.3. Confidentiality
The editors must not disclose any information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisors, and the publisher as necessary.

8.4. Conflicts of Interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in the editor’s own research without the explicit written consent of the author(s).