Research Transparency

Authorship and contributions

Describe each author’s contribution and confirm that all authors approve the submission. Contributors should accept responsibility for their work and cooperate in resolving questions about accuracy or integrity. Acknowledge assistance that does not justify authorship. Changes in authorship require reasons and the agreement of affected authors; unresolved disputes may pause handling.

Data and code availability

Research articles using data should include a statement describing where data, code and materials can be found, with persistent identifiers where available. If access is restricted, explain why, who controls access and how a qualified request can be made. State when materials cannot be shared. Do not deposit personal, confidential or third-party data without permission. A statement of “available on request” should describe a workable process and legitimate restrictions.

Research ethics and consent

Report the relevant ethics committee, approval or exemption and reference identifier where applicable. Describe informed consent and additional consent for identifiable publication. For archival, observational, publicly available or secondary data, explain the ethical basis appropriate to the work. Avoid claiming that all public data are automatically free of ethical restrictions.

Funding and competing interests

Name funding sources and grant numbers, and explain the funder’s role. Disclose financial and non-financial interests that a reasonable reader could consider relevant. If none exist, state this accurately. Disclosures inform assessment and do not by themselves disqualify a manuscript.

AI assistance

AI systems cannot be authors. Disclose substantive assistance in generating text, analysing data, translating material or creating images, including the tool, version where known and purpose. Authors must check outputs, citations, permissions and the accuracy of the final work. Do not present generated data or images as observations. Routine spelling assistance need not be described as substantive authorship.

Preprints and reproducibility

Declare preprints and other prior dissemination with links and version details. Explain overlap with related work. Provide sufficient methodological detail, source documentation and analytical decisions to allow informed evaluation. Where preregistration or a protocol exists, cite it and explain meaningful deviations.