Adherence to the CC BY 4.0 License
Spectrum of Operational Research (SOR) supports the broad dissemination and responsible reuse of scholarly research. Articles published in SOR are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) . Under this license, published material may be shared and adapted for any purpose, including commercial use, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes are indicated. Additional details are provided in the journal’s Copyright and Licensing Policy.
Authorship and Author Contributions
All listed authors must have made a substantive contribution to the work and must satisfy the authorship requirements defined in the journal’s Publication Ethics Policy. Appropriate contributions may include the conception or design of the study, development of methodology, data collection, analysis, interpretation of results, preparation or critical revision of the manuscript, or other substantial scholarly contributions.
All authors must review and approve the version submitted to Spectrum of Operational Research and must agree to its submission and publication. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors are appropriately informed about the submission and that the author list accurately reflects the individuals who contributed to the work. Guest, gift, honorary, and ghost authorship are not permitted.
Authors should provide the required authorship and contribution declarations during the submission process. Where requested by the journal, these declarations may also be included in the Cover Letter or another appropriate submission document.
Originality and Prior Dissemination
Manuscripts submitted to Spectrum of Operational Research must represent original scholarly work and must not be simultaneously under consideration by another journal or publisher. Submission of substantially the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time is not permitted.
Previous dissemination of an earlier version of the work does not necessarily prevent submission to SOR. Manuscripts that have previously appeared as preprints, conference papers, working papers, repository versions, or other permitted forms of scholarly dissemination may be considered where such dissemination is transparently disclosed and does not violate applicable copyright, licensing, contractual, or publication restrictions.
Where a manuscript substantially develops previously disseminated work, authors should clearly identify the earlier version, cite it where appropriate, and explain the substantive new contribution of the submitted manuscript. Posting a manuscript on a recognized preprint server does not, by itself, constitute prior journal publication.
Similarity-detection software may identify text that also appears in an author’s preprint, conference paper, repository version, or other previously disseminated work. Such overlap will be evaluated in context and will not automatically be treated as plagiarism. Authors are expected to disclose relevant prior versions so that the Editorial Office can assess the relationship between the submitted manuscript and earlier material transparently.
Manuscript Withdrawal
Authors may request withdrawal of a submitted manuscript by contacting the Editorial Office. Withdrawal requests should be submitted by the corresponding author and should include a clear reason for the request.
Where the manuscript has already entered peer review, the journal may request confirmation that all authors agree with the withdrawal. A manuscript should not be considered formally withdrawn until the Editorial Office has confirmed the withdrawal.
Authors should avoid unnecessary withdrawal after substantial editorial and peer-review work has been completed. Where there is evidence of duplicate submission, deliberate misuse of the peer-review process, or other potential publication misconduct, the journal may investigate the matter in accordance with its Publication Ethics Policy and applicable COPE guidance.
Changes to Authorship
The author list should be complete and accurate at the time of initial submission. Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be fully justified and must reflect the actual contributions of the individuals concerned.
Any requested change to authorship must normally be submitted by the corresponding author and accompanied by the written agreement of all authors, including any author being added or removed. The Editorial Office may request additional information or documentation before deciding whether the change is acceptable.
Changes to authorship after acceptance are strongly discouraged and will be considered only in exceptional and adequately justified circumstances. Such changes require approval by the journal and must comply with the journal’s authorship and publication ethics requirements. The journal may decline an authorship-change request where the justification or supporting documentation is insufficient.
Accuracy of Submission Information
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all information provided during submission is accurate, complete, and truthful. This includes information concerning authorship, affiliations, funding, conflicts of interest, prior dissemination, ethical approvals where applicable, data availability, and other declarations required by the journal.
Providing false, misleading, incomplete, or deliberately inaccurate information may result in editorial action and may be treated as a potential breach of publication ethics. Where concerns arise, the journal may request clarification or supporting documentation and may take further action in accordance with its Publication Ethics Policy and applicable COPE guidance.
