1. Preamble
Progress in Physics is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against any publication malpractices. All authors submitting their works to Progress in Physics for publication as original articles attest that the submitted works represent their authors' contributions and have not been copied or plagiarized in whole or in part from other works. The authors acknowledge that they have disclosed all and any actual or potential conflicts of interest with their work or partial benefits associated with it.
In the same manner, Progress in Physics is committed to objective and fair single-blind peer-review of the submitted for publication works and to prevent any actual or potential conflict of interests between the editorial and review personnel and the reviewed material. Any departures from the above-defined rules should be reported directly to the Editor-in-Chief, who is unequivocally committed to providing swift resolutions to any of such a type of problems.
It is necessary to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer and the publisher. Our ethic statements are based on COPE's Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.
2. Publication Decisions
The editor of the Journal is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The editor may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
3. Fair Play
An editor will at any time evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
4. Confidentiality and Disclosure
4.1 Confidentiality
The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
4.2 Conflicts of Interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.
5. Duties of Reviewers
5.1 Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.
5.2 Promptness
The review should be carried out within the agreed timeframe. Further, any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
5.3 Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
5.4 Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
5.5 AI Use Policy for Reviewers
Reviewers must not upload manuscripts, supplementary materials, or unpublished data to public AI platforms (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Bard, Claude, DeepSeek) or any cloud-based AI service. Doing so constitutes a breach of confidentiality and may violate data protection regulations. Reviewers may use AI tools installed on local, secure systems only for organizing review notes or checking grammar of their own comments, provided they declare such use to the Editor. Submitting AI-generated reviews without substantial human oversight is prohibited.
6. Duties of Authors
6.1 Reporting Standards
Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
6.2 Data Access and Retention
Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
6.3 Originality and Plagiarism
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
6.4 Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication
An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
6.5 Acknowledgment of Sources
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.
6.6 Authorship of the Paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
6.7 Fundamental Errors in Published Works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
6.8 AI Use Policy for Authors
Authors must not list AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Claude, Gemini) as authors or co-authors, and remain fully responsible for all content accuracy and integrity. AI may only assist with language editing, literature search, or data analysis, provided authors thoroughly verify outputs and disclose the tool name and usage in the Methods or Acknowledgments section using the following format: "This manuscript was prepared with [Tool Name] for [purpose]. All AI-generated content has been thoroughly reviewed and verified by the authors."
AI-generated images, figures, and core academic content (hypotheses, experimental designs, results, conclusions) are strictly prohibited. Authors must ensure that AI use does not infringe third-party intellectual property rights.
7. Post-Publication Policies
7.1 Correction Policy for Published Articles
Progress in Physics recognizes its responsibility to maintain the integrity of the scientific record. Published articles may be subject to correction, expression of concern, retraction, or removal under the following circumstances:
(a) Erratum: For publisher or production errors affecting scientific integrity, published promptly upon discovery with free access;
(b) Corrigendum: For author errors discovered post-publication, submitted by corresponding author with explanation and approved by Editor-in-Chief;
(c) Expression of Concern: When investigation into potential misconduct is ongoing but conclusive evidence is pending;
(d) Retraction: For proven misconduct (fabrication, falsification, plagiarism), redundant publication, or unreliable data, with retraction notice linked to original article;
(e) Removal: For legal infringement, defamation, or privacy violation, with explanation of removal reason preserved.
All corrections are published on the journal website and indexed databases with clear linkage to original articles. Authors must promptly notify the Editorial Office of significant errors discovered in their published work; failure to do so may result in sanctions. Third-party correction requests must provide documented evidence. The Editor-in-Chief's decision on correction type and necessity is final.
7.2 Complaints and Suggestions Policy
Progress in Physics is committed to transparency, fairness, and continuous improvement in editorial practices. Any party may submit complaints or suggestions regarding editorial decisions, peer review processes, publication ethics violations, or journal operations via email to wlxjz@nju.edu.cn with a detailed description of the issue and supporting evidence.
Complaints concerning authorship disputes, plagiarism, data fabrication, or conflicts of interest will be investigated by the Editor-in-Chief or an appointed ethics committee within 30 days; the complainant will receive an acknowledgment within 7 days and a substantive response upon conclusion.
Appeals against editorial decisions must be submitted within 30 days of notification, accompanied by specific grounds for reconsideration and additional evidence if applicable; the Editor-in-Chief's decision on appeals is final.
All complaints are treated confidentially; anonymous complaints are accepted but may limit investigation scope. Retaliation against complainants is strictly prohibited. Suggestions for journal improvement are welcomed and reviewed quarterly by the editorial board. For unresolved matters, complainants may escalate to the Chinese Physical Society.
8. Publisher's Ethics
This journal is a fully open access journal. No publication fees of any kind are charged, including submission fees, article processing charges (APCs), or page charges (except for possible printing costs or color figure fees, which will be communicated to authors in advance).
(a) This journal adopts the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0 license: Authors retain copyright of their works. Others may freely use and distribute the works, provided that the original author and source are credited. The journal retains the right of first publication and the Version of Record (VoR).9. Contact Information
For questions regarding this policy, please contact:
Editorial Office, Progress in Physics
Email: wlxjz@nju.edu.cn
Address: School of Physics, Nanjing University