China Journal of Highway and Transport

Publication Ethics Statement

The Journal has formulated ethical standards covering authors, editors, reviewers, and the publishing process by referring to relevant domestic and international regulations on publication ethics (such as the COPE guidance) and in light of its actual publishing practices, to clarify the responsibilities of all parties and properly handle issues of academic misconduct.

Responsibilities of Authors

1. Manuscripts submitted to the Journal must be original works written by the authors themselves. Misconduct such as plagiarism, data or figure falsification, deliberate provision of false information, multiple submission, or duplicate publication is strictly prohibited.

2. Authors should carefully consider the list of authors and their order before manuscript submission and provide the final author list upon the initial submission.

Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names must be made before the manuscript is accepted and shall be subject to the approval of the Editor-in-Chief. For such changes, the first author must submit the Application Form for Modification of Author Information of Chinese Journal of Highway and Transport (Appendix 1) to the Editorial Office via email (glxb@chd.edu.cn). The reasons for modifying the author list shall be clearly stated in the application form, and written confirmation from all authors shall be provided to ensure that all authors agree to the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names.

The author information of the manuscript may be modified only after approval by the Editor-in-Chief.

3. References shall be explicitly cited in accordance with the prescribed format, and original achievements shall be clearly distinguished from cited results. Authors shall, as comprehensively as possible, retrieve and cite literature closely related to the manuscript. Before using any published content (such as figures, tables, or other copyright-protected materials), relevant authorization must be obtained, and the manuscript shall ensure that it does not infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of others, including privacy rights and intellectual property rights, nor involve any confidential information.

4. Authors shall truthfully disclose all relationships or interests that may improperly affect or bias the research or publication process. If there are reviewers who should be avoided, this shall be raised at the submission stage.

5. If authors discover significant errors or omissions in a published work, they shall promptly notify the Editorial Office and cooperate in the necessary correction or retraction of the work.

6. Potential hazards that may exist in the research work shall be clearly identified, including possible risks related to chemicals, instruments and equipment, or experimental procedures.

Responsibilities of Editors

1. Editors shall handle each manuscript in accordance with the principles of fairness and impartiality and make decisions on acceptance or rejection based on the Journal’s scope, the novelty of the manuscript, and its academic value, to ensure that the peer review process is objective, transparent, and timely.

2. Editors shall strictly follow the Journal’s peer review process to ensure that all manuscripts passing the initial review are evaluated by reviewers with corresponding disciplinary backgrounds, and shall provide authors with complete, detailed, and clear revision suggestions or reasons for rejection.

3. Editors shall maintain the confidentiality of both authors and reviewers during the peer review process. Meanwhile, any information or communication related to the manuscript shall not be disclosed to persons outside the peer review process. Editors shall keep strictly confidential all unpublished manuscript contents.

4. Editors shall require reviewers to disclose any potential conflicts of interest before accepting the review assignment and shall respect authors’ requests for reviewer exclusion. Meanwhile, editors shall make editorial decisions independently without interference from the Journal owner, publisher, or any other third party. Editors shall also disclose all relationships or interests that may improperly affect or bias the manuscript.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

1. Reviewers shall, on the principles of maintaining academic integrity and respecting academic freedom, provide objective, detailed, and clear review comments on manuscripts, and assist editors in improving manuscript quality in a timely manner.

2. Reviewers shall accept review invitations only when they possess relevant disciplinary expertise and are able to complete the review within the prescribed time limit. If they are unable to complete the review on time for any reason, they shall promptly notify the Editorial Office and proactively withdraw from the review. Reviewers shall not transfer the manuscript to students, colleagues, or other persons for review without authorization.

3. Reviewers shall truthfully disclose any potential conflicts of interest. If they are uncertain whether a certain circumstance constitutes a conflict of interest, they shall proactively consult the Editorial Office. Information obtained during the review process shall not be used to seek benefits for themselves, others, or institutions, nor shall it be used to harm or defame others.

4. Reviewers shall pay full attention to possible academic misconduct in the manuscript, including omitted citations, incorrect citations, plagiarism, and fabrication. If any of the above problems are identified, reviewers shall promptly inform the Editorial Office.

5. Reviewers shall be obliged to keep confidential the contents and related information of the manuscript under review and shall not disclose such contents or information to others. If assistance from others is sought for evaluation purposes, the identity of the assistant shall be reported to the Editorial Office in advance or at the time of submitting the review comments.

6. Reviewers shall act prudently with respect to any personal research that may be inspired by the manuscript under review. Without the prior consent of the authors or before the formal publication of the manuscript under review, reviewers shall not use or disclose any information contained in the manuscript. Reviewers shall not explicitly or implicitly compel authors to cite the reviewers’ own papers or viewpoints through review comments.

Appeals

The Journal accepts reasonable appeals from authors regarding review comments or editorial decisions. If authors object to the rejection of a manuscript, they may submit a written statement to the Editorial Office email and file an appeal with the Editorial Office (only one appeal opportunity is allowed). The reasons for appeal shall include specific explanations of problems existing in the review process, such as major misunderstandings of the technical content of the manuscript or failure to fully understand the scientific innovation reflected in the manuscript.

Appeals submitted without sufficient justification and solely for the purpose of obtaining an additional round of evaluation will not be accepted. Appeals shall be submitted by email to the Journal Editorial Office (glxb@chd.edu.cn) with the manuscript number clearly indicated. Appeal applications may only be submitted by the original submitting author.

Upon receipt of the appeal, the Editorial Office will conduct an investigation and handle the matter within 10 working days. The appeal result will be confirmed by the Editor-in-Chief and replied to the author. If the investigation cannot be completed within the prescribed period, the author will be informed of the phased progress after 10 working days. After the complete appeal result is issued, no further appeal shall be accepted.

Identification, Handling, and Reporting of Academic Misconduct

1. Definition of Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct recognized by the Journal mainly includes, but is not limited to, the following types:
① Plagiarism, which refers to the theft or improper appropriation of the intellectual achievements of others, including viewpoints, data, and text, or large-scale textual copying without proper source acknowledgment;
② Duplicate publication, which refers to the repeated use of the substantive content of the author’s own published works without appropriate citation or explanation;
③ Data fabrication and image manipulation, which refers to the fabrication or falsification of data in research, or the improper retouching or alteration of images so as to mislead readers;
④ Other misconduct, including but not limited to false statements made during the processes of data generation, presentation, analysis, interpretation, or other stages of research.

Any of the above acts, whether intentional or unintentional, shall be deemed academic misconduct once confirmed.

2. Detection Standards and Handling Measures

The Journal uses the Academic Misconduct Literature Check System (AMLC) of CNKI for automatic screening of submitted manuscripts. In principle, the overall text similarity rate of a manuscript shall not exceed 10%.

Any manuscript with a detection result exceeding the above standard, or identified as involving academic misconduct at any stage prior to publication, shall be rejected.

Any manuscript in which academic misconduct is discovered after publication shall be retracted, and the authors’ affiliated institutions and relevant journals shall be notified.

For serious cases (such as deliberate multiple submission), the Journal will no longer accept submissions from the authors concerned.

Authors found to have committed academic misconduct shall be included in the Journal’s “Database of Authors with Academic Misconduct,” and their subsequent submissions will be subject to focused review or publication restrictions.

3. Reporting and Handling Procedures

If there is any allegation of academic misconduct, it shall be submitted to the Editorial Office email: zgglxb@qq.com. Upon receipt, the Editorial Office will immediately conduct a preliminary assessment. If an investigation is deemed necessary, all relevant materials will be submitted to the Academic Misconduct Investigation Panel of the Academic Journal Management Center of Chang'an University for determination. The Journal will provide a formal response within four weeks after receiving the allegation. If the case is complex and cannot be completed within the prescribed period, the whistleblower will also be informed of the phased progress within four weeks.

Research Involving Human Subjects

Information of Consent

Manuscripts involving human participants, human data, or human tissue must include a statement confirming informed consent for participation. Human subjects' right to privacy must always be observed. The authors should ensure that the individual rights of all the participants who are involved in the study are protected. Identifying details (e.g., names and dates of birth) of the participants that were studied should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, or genetic profiles unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the participant (or parent or guardian if the participant is incapable) gave written informed consent for publication. If verbal informed consent is used, authors must provide a rationale for its use in the "Comments for the Editor" field.

Ethics Approval Statements

Authors must obtain approval (or waiver) from the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board (IRB) before submitting the manuscript if the research involves human or animal subjects. For multisite studies, approval from the IRB or Ethics Committee at each participating institution is required. If ethical approval was not needed, this must be explicitly stated in the "Comments for the Editor" field.

For human subjects, the authors must ensure that their research was carried out following the rules of the Declaration of Helsinki, as revised in 2024. The manuscript must include a statement of IRB approval or waiver (with the reason for the waiver), or a statement confirming adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki. An example of the IRB statement is as follows: "All subjects provided informed consent for inclusion before participating in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of XXX (Project identification code)."

Clinical Trials Registration

This journal adheres to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines, which require clinical trials to be registered in a public trials registry at or before the time of the first patient enrollment as a condition for publication consideration. Authors must pre-register clinical trials with an internationally recognized clinical trials registry. Manuscripts based on clinical trials should include the trial registration number at the end of the abstract.

Peer Review Process

Chinese Journal of Highway and Transport adopts a double-blind peer review system, and all manuscripts must undergo peer review prior to publication. The final decision on whether a manuscript will be accepted for publication shall be made by the Editor-in-Chief. This policy applies to all submission types, including manuscripts submitted to special issues or special sections.

Peer Review Process

1. After a manuscript is submitted, the Editorial Office will first examine whether it complies with the Journal’s scope and submission requirements, and will assign it to a relevant Editorial Board Member according to the research field.

2. The Editorial Board Member will conduct an initial review and determine whether the manuscript should be rejected or proceed to the peer review process after comprehensively considering factors such as whether the manuscript conforms to the aims and scope of the Journal, whether the methodology is rigorous, and the overall readability of the article.

3. If the manuscript enters the peer review process, the Editorial Board Member will, in strict accordance with the double-blind peer review process model, invite no fewer than two external experts to conduct the review.

4. The Editorial Office will submit the manuscript to the Associate Editor-in-Chief, who will provide handling suggestions based on the peer review comments. If the review opinions differ greatly, the Editorial Board Member may invite additional reviewers to obtain more comments before submitting handling suggestions to the Associate Editor-in-Chief.

5. Based on the reviewers’ comments and the Editorial Board Member’s own judgment, the manuscript will be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief for a final decision, including acceptance, rejection, minor revision, or major revision.

6. If the manuscript is rejected or requires revision (whether minor revision or major revision), the authors will receive the reviewers’ comments. All revised manuscripts must be re-examined and confirmed by the Editorial Office before formal acceptance. After acceptance, the Editorial Office will conduct a pre-publication check. If further revisions are required, the authors will be contacted; if there are no issues, the manuscript will be submitted to the typesetting and production team.

7. After receiving the manuscript, the typesetting and production team will contact the corresponding author by email to request the signing of the Copyright Transfer Agreement and the payment of the article processing charge.

8. Before typesetting, the corresponding author will receive a proof confirmation email. Authors shall carefully proofread the manuscript to ensure that all information is accurate and shall return the proofs within the prescribed time.

Publishing Fees

Author Remuneration

Chinese Journal of Highway and Transport has signed agreements for electronic publication and online dissemination with China Academic Journals (CD-ROM Version) Electronic Publishing House, Wanfang Data Co., Ltd., CQVIP Co., Ltd., and Airiti Inc. The remuneration paid to authors includes the copyright usage fee. The Journal pays an author remuneration of RMB 200 per article. Authors who have objections shall declare in advance.

Article Processing Charge

An article processing charge will be collected for manuscripts accepted for publication. After the manuscript is accepted, the Editorial Office will notify the authors to pay the charge. The fee is charged according to the actual typeset page number at the rate of RMB 600 (tax included) per page. Any fraction of a page will be counted as one full page.

Journal Subscription Fee

Fees are only charged for print publications, and the editorial department only accepts payments in Renminbi (RMB) and United States Dollars (USD). If paying in RMB, the fee is 100 RMB per copy; if paying in USD, the fee is 100 USD per copy.

Editorial Policy Statement on AI-Generated Content for China Journal of Highway and Transport

Artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content is transforming traditional models of academic research and paper writing. To maintain academic integrity and ensure the transparency and reliability of scientific research, the Editorial Board of China Journal of Highway and Transport hereby declares the following policy regarding the use of AI in the publishing process:

1. This journal does not accept manuscripts whose main content is generated by AI tools and that attribute authorship to AI tools. In addition, the references cited in the manuscript should not include literature with AI tools listed as authors. The authors of the manuscript must be natural persons capable of defending the content of the manuscript and taking responsibility for the authenticity, completeness, and accuracy of the content. Submission of any manuscript found to have the main content generated by AI tools will be treated as academic misconduct.

2. If AI tools or AI-generated content are used in the preparation of the manuscript, including collecting and analyzing data, creating images or graphic elements in the manuscript, generating program algorithms or text, and refining or polishing text in the manuscript, the authors must clearly state the AI tools used, along with their versions, the detailed application process, and the roles and contributions of the tools in the data source, methodology, or conclusion sections of the manuscript. This enables the reviewers and Editorial Board to evaluate the originality of the manuscript.

3. The reviewers should personally author their review comments and bear full responsibility for the content of their reviews. This journal does not accept review comments generated by AI tools. Any review comments proven to be generated by AI tools will be deemed invalid. If the reviewers use AI tools to assist in the review process, they must inform the Editorial Board upon submission of their review comments and specify the AI tools used, along with their versions, the detailed application process, and the roles and contributions of the tools. This enables the Editorial Board to evaluate the validity of the review comments.

4. For matters not covered herein, reference shall be made to the Guideline on the Boundaries of AIGC Usage in Academic Publishing 3.0 (jointly released by the China Institute of Science and Technology Information, Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, Wolters Kluwer, Cambridge University Press, etc.).

Editorial Board of China Journal of Highway and Transport