The ethics statements for our journal are based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and CY/T 174—2019 Academic Publishing Specification-Definition of Academic Misconduct for Journals. For more details, please refer to the official website of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (http://www.publicationethics.org/) and publication ethics standards formulated by China National News Publication Bureau.

The editors should evaluate manuscripts fairly and attest the following：

• The editors evaluate manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their academic merit and its relevance to the journal's scope. The editors should have no conflict of interest with respect to articles.
• The editors ensure that all submitted manuscripts being considered for publication undergo peer-review by at least two reviewers in the way of double-anonymous peer review.
• The editors must not use the unpulished information in the manuscripts for their own research.
• The editors maintainds a database of suitable reviewers and  updates it on the basis of review performance.

Reviewers should respect authors' research results and attest the following：

• The reviewers should assess the manuscripts objectively and express clearly by data or argurements, so it can help authors to improve their papers.
• The reviewers should withdraw the review process if they cannot provide an assessment or they have conflicts of interest with the authors. Thus the editors can send the manuscripts to another reviewer.
• The reviewers should keep the manuscripts as confidential materials. It is not allowed to use the unpulished information for their own research purposes without the authors' explicit consent.
• The reviewers should pay the editor's attention if they find similarity or overlap between the manuscript and another published paper.

By submitting articles to EPET the author attest the following:

• The authors should not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one publication at a time.
• It is not allowed that the submitted  manuscripts have been published elsewhere.
• The authors should confirm that the submitted manuscripts present their own research, and the unethical behaviours of plagiarism are completely unacceptable.
• The author must ensure that the contents of the manuscript do not involve state secrets and do not violate the relevant regulations of the state.
• The corresponding author shall verify the author list and the sequence of authorship to ensure that credit aligns with contribution and to prevent intellectual property disputes.
• During the review period, authors shall be prepared to provide raw data upon request and ensure that the data are accessible, shareable, and reproducible.

EPET maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any form of plagiarism or copying. All submitted manuscripts will be screened using the Wanfang Plagiarism Detection System and the Wanfang AIGC Detection System. If any submitted manuscript is found for plagiarism, the manuscript will be rejected immediately and the authors of which will be listed in the blacklist.

Complaints and Appeals Policy: Authors who question the fairness of the peer review process, a rejection decision, a retraction, or the substance of review comments, as well as readers who discover errors in published content or suspect academic misconduct, may submit an appeal or complaint to the Editorial Office. The Editorial Office will conduct a fair investigation and handle the matter in accordance with established policies, ensuring integrity and fairness in academic publishing.

Ethical Oversight Policy: This journal adheres to the COPE guidelines on publication ethics, implementing rigorous ethical oversight for all submissions. Authors must ensure the authenticity and traceability of data, cite others' work properly, and disclose any conflicts of interest regarding authorship, funding sources, and commercial affiliations. Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate submission, and redundant publication are strictly prohibited. The journal reserves the right to investigate, reject, or retract any manuscript suspected of ethical violations.