If any conflict of interest exists, the author(s) must declare it upon submission in the Author’s Letter and Declaration of Originality that accompanies the manuscript. Any undeclared conflict reported by the authors must be clarified immediately to avoid withdrawal from the evaluation process.

In the event of a conflict of interest in a published study, the article will be withdrawn from the journal and an explanation will be included on the first page. The Ethics Committee of the author’s institution will also be formally notified.

Declaration of competing interests

All authors must disclose any personal or financial relationship with individuals or organizations (e.g., employment, consulting, grants or other funding, affiliation with the journal as editor or advisory board member, patent applications/registrations, stock ownership, among others).

Funding

Authors must declare all sources of financial support for the research or article preparation. They must state any sponsor involvement, if applicable, in study design; data collection, analysis, or interpretation; report writing; and the decision to submit for publication. If there is no funding, this must be indicated in the Authorization Letter for Publication and Distribution.

Statement on generative AI use

Authors must state in the Authorization Letter for Publication and Distribution whether generative AI was used during scientific writing, noting that the use of AI tools related to research data analysis is excluded from this statement.

Authors remain solely responsible for the content; any AI use must be responsible, supervised, and controlled by them to prevent errors. AI (or AI-assisted tools) cannot be credited as an author. The use of generative AI at any stage in manuscript preparation must be disclosed.

At present, reviewers and editors are not permitted to use generative AI or AI-assisted tools in their roles.

Inclusive language

Authors should employ inclusive, respectful language and avoid statements implying superiority based on age, gender, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, or disability. Recommended practices include:

• Avoid descriptors of personal attributes unless strictly necessary and valid.
• Use gender-neutral phrasing with plural nouns where appropriate (e.g., physicians, patients/clients).
• Do not make assumptions about readers’ beliefs.
• Note that sex refers to biological attributes (e.g., genotype, hormones, anatomy), whereas gender relates to identity, behavior, social interaction, and the distribution of power in society.

Image processing

Images must comply with journal standards, avoiding excessive color effects, 3-D embellishments, and unnecessary screenshots; they must meet the recommended resolution.

Global adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable provided they do not remove or add information.

The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or modify images is not accepted.