To promote research integrity and ethical conduct among scholars, the Editorial Office of Research in Government and Economics hereby issues this statement on publication ethics and academic misconduct.

1. Review System, Journal Publishing, Confidentiality, and Recusal

(1) Review System and Process
Double‑Blind Peer Review: The journal adopts a double‑blind peer review system. Multiple submissions are not accepted, and manuscripts that fall outside the journal’s scope will not be considered.
Review Process: Papers that pass the initial editorial screening will be sent to at least two independent reviewers for assessment. The editorial board may seek additional reviewers when necessary. The final decision on acceptance or rejection is made by the Editor‑in‑Chief. Authors can track the status of their manuscripts through the submission platform.

(2) Journal Publishing, Online First Publication, and Article Dissemination
Journal Publishing: The journal is published by Tsinghua University Press Co., Ltd.
Online First Publication: The journal publishes articles online first via CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure).
Article Dissemination: The journal disseminates articles through CNKI and other platforms.

(3) Confidentiality and Recusal
Editors and reviewers must treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential materials and remain mindful of recusing themselves in cases of conflicts of interest.

2. Duties of Editors

(1) Publication Decisions and Fair Competition
Publication Decisions: Editors make independent decisions on manuscript publication.
Fair Competition: Editors ensure fairness throughout the submission, review, and publication processes, handling all manuscripts via the online submission and review system.

(2) Journal Metrics and Confidentiality Obligations
Journal Metrics: Editors shall not artificially inflate journal metrics, nor shall they demand citations to the journal’s articles or their own articles for non‑academic reasons.
Confidentiality Obligations: Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted materials and review communications. In exceptional circumstances, they may share limited information with editors of other journals to investigate alleged misconduct.

(3) Declaration of Interests
Editors are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest in writing and to update such declarations as new conflicts arise. Editors shall not participate in decisions concerning papers authored by themselves or their family members.

3. Duties of Authors

(1) Author Integrity and Copyright
Integrity Principle: Authors must honestly present their research findings and conclusions, and refrain from any form of academic misconduct.
Copyright Ownership: All manuscripts must be submitted via the online submission system, and authors must click to agree to the Copyright Transfer Agreement. The copyright of the work is owned by all authors jointly, while the publication right is held by the journal’s publisher, Tsinghua University Press Co., Ltd.

(2) Funding Acknowledgment
Authors must indicate the funding sources for the research or the writing of the article, and briefly describe the role (if any) of the funders in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing, and submission for publication. If there was no such involvement, this should also be stated.

(3) Standards of Work and Data Access
Standards of Work: Authors should accurately describe their research work, objectively discuss its significance, and provide sufficient supporting evidence and references to enable reproducibility.
Data Access and Retention: Authors must provide the research data supporting their papers, comply with open‑data requirements, and retain the data for a reasonable period after publication.

(4) Originality and Acknowledgment of Sources
Originality: Authors must ensure that their work is original, appropriately cite the work and words of others, and obtain permissions where necessary.
Acknowledgement of Sources: Properly cite all references relevant to the research. Information obtained through private channels may not be used without explicit permission.

(5) Confidentiality Obligations
Authors warrant that their papers do not disclose state secrets. If the paper is the product of research funded by a classified project, the author must submit the confidentiality approval document from their affiliated institution.

(6) Authorship and Changes to Authorship
Authorship: Authorship should be limited to those who have made significant contributions. The corresponding author must ensure that all co‑authors are listed and have approved the final version for publication.
Changes to Authorship: Authors should carefully consider the authorship and order of authors before submission. If changes are necessary, a written explanation of the reason and written confirmation from all authors must be provided; the editorial office will decide whether to approve the change.

(7) Notification of Fundamental Errors
If authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their published work, they have the obligation to notify the editorial office promptly and, when necessary, cooperate in retracting or correcting the paper.

4. Duties of Reviewers

(1) Assisting Editorial Decisions and Declining to Review
Assisting Editorial Decisions: Reviewers assist the editorial board in making publication decisions. They should maintain objectivity, fairness, and proper review etiquette.
Declining and Recusal: If a reviewer feels unqualified to assess the manuscript or cannot meet the review timeline, they should notify the editor and decline the invitation.

(2) Confidentiality and Conflicts of Interest
Confidentiality Obligations: Manuscripts sent for review are considered confidential documents. Reviewers shall not share the manuscript or its content, nor contact the authors directly.
Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers should be alert to potential ethical issues in the papers they review, evaluate manuscripts objectively, and consult the editors on how to handle any conflicts of interest.

5. Academic Misconduct and Upholding Academic Integrity

(1) Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism, in various forms, such as inventing data, manipulating materials, and deliberately using others’ work without proper attribution. All manuscripts are screened automatically through the academic misconduct detection software integrated in the online submission and review system to ensure originality.

(2) Upholding Academic Integrity
In the event of alleged or confirmed academic misconduct, the editorial office will conduct an investigation with due regard for confidentiality and, where appropriate, seek cooperation with relevant institutions. The editorial office reserves the right to take corrective actions against substantiated misconduct, including issuing retractions, corrections, or expressions of concern.

6. Article Retraction and Correction Policy

If, after publication, serious errors, ethical violations, or academic misconduct are identified in an article, the editorial office will issue an appropriate correction or retraction statement.

7. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI‑Assisted Technologies

Research in Government and Economics adheres to the position statement of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding the use of AI and AI‑assisted technologies. As the journal’s publisher, Tsinghua University Press Co., Ltd., is a member of the International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers (STM), the journal also follows the STM Ethics and Practice Guidelines for Generative AI in Scholarly Communication. The following specific provisions apply:

(1) Authorship Limitation: AI and AI‑assisted technologies shall not be listed as authors or co‑authors, nor shall they be cited as authors.

(2) Policy Updates: The journal will closely monitor technological developments and reserves the right to adjust or revise this policy as appropriate.

(3) Disclosure Obligation: Authors must provide a detailed description of the use of AI tools at the time of submission. Authors are fully responsible for the rigorous review and editing of any AI‑generated content and for the integrity of the submitted work. They must also declare in the Methods, Acknowledgements, or other relevant sections the specific tools used and how they were applied.