Authors are responsible for fully disclosing all sources, including obtaining permission from the original authors and publishers to reproduce figures or significant excerpts. References should be relevant, up-to-date, and accessible, contributing to the advancement of the article and benefiting readers. Authors must responsibly acknowledge all published or unpublished work that influences their research.

When preparing manuscripts, authors should follow the following guidelines to maintain the integrity and quality of citations:

- Any information cited from external sources in the manuscript (beyond the authors' original ideas, findings, or common knowledge) must be properly cited. Authors should prioritize citing original works rather than secondary sources such as review articles.

- Authors must ensure their citations are accurate and directly support the statements made in the manuscript. Misrepresenting the content of others' work through improper citation is unacceptable.

- Authors should only cite sources they have personally reviewed.

- Authors should not engage in citation favoritism, such as excessive citation of their own publications or those of colleagues, peers, or institutions.

- Authors should avoid overusing citations to support a single point.

- Whenever possible, cite rigorously peer-reviewed sources to ensure the reliability of the cited material.

- Advertising and promotional content are not considered credible sources and should not be cited.

Unethical citation practices, such as excessive self-citation, collusive self-citation, unnecessary citation of the submitting journal's articles, and other forms of citation manipulation, are unacceptable. Such practices will result in manuscript rejection and may be reported to the authors' affiliated institutions. If peer reviewers or editors attempt to encourage such behavior, authors should report it to the publisher.

Authors must declare all relevant interests that could be considered as potential conflicts. Authors should explain why each interest might constitute a conflict. If there are no conflicts, authors should also state this. The submitting author is responsible for ensuring that co-authors declare their interests.

Conflicts of Interest (COIs, also known as "competing interests") refer to issues outside the research that could reasonably be thought to affect the neutrality or objectivity of the research work or its evaluation. Authors must declare all potential interests in the conflict of interest section—regardless of whether these interests have actually had an impact—and should explain why these interests might constitute a conflict. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should state: "The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article." The submitting author is responsible for ensuring that co-authors declare their interests. Declared conflicts of interest will be considered by editors and reviewers and will be included in the published article.

Based on the content of your declaration, you may be required to make certain revisions to the manuscript. These requirements are not accusations of misconduct. Editors or reviewers are helping you protect your research work from potential criticism.

If you have any doubts about whether to declare a potential conflict, remember that if the conflict is revealed later—especially after the article is published—it may cause far more problems than declaring it directly at the time of submission. Undeclared conflicts of interest may lead to the publication of a correction notice and, in the most serious cases, may even result in the article being retracted.