iFungi, upholds a rigorous peer-review standards, and we are dedicated to investigating and taking actions to maintain the integrity of the papers based on principles and guidelines of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) for the potential ethical issues.

The Journal will conduct an investigation in accordance with the principles and flowcharts provided by COPE if there is suspicion of misconduct or alleged fraud. If valid concerns arise, the author(s) will be contacted to discuss the matter. The Journal and/or the Publisher-Tsinghua University Press (TUP) would take the following measures:

1) If the manuscript is still under review, it might be rejected.

2) If the paper has been published online, the response will vary based on the nature and severity of the violation:

A correction may be published,

An expression of concern may be issued alongside the paper,

Or, in extreme cases, a retraction of the paper may be warranted.

• Corrections

The Journal acknowledges its responsibility to correct any scientifically relevant errors in published papers that may impact their scientific interpretation. Once approved by the Editorial Office and Editor-in-Chief (EiC), there will be a mark indicating that the paper has a correction. A correction is a distinct publication that is linked to the original paper. It serves to inform all readers that a significant change has been made, and the updated version is available on the website. Notification will be sent to all relevant indexing databases to ensure that they update their records as well.

Corrections can be submitted if:

There are scientifically relevant errors, e.g., missing sections/tables/figures, raw data errors, images, tables, and figure errors;

OR,there are any added/deleted/replaced references.

Correction must be submitted separately by the corresponding author with the approval of all co-authors. The original article title, author list, and details of the correction should be included in the new manuscript.

• Retractions

The findings and conclusions will be unreliable if a published paper is found with scientific or ethical issues. To correct the scientific record, the published paper should be retracted. Retractions could be requested by the author(s), readers, or the editors and and the final decision will be made by the EiC. The Journal adheres to COPE’s Retraction guidelines and procedures for handling retractions.

The original publication will be retained on the platform with a “Retracted” watermark, and the explanation for the retraction is provided in a note linked to the watermarked paper. A paper will only be fully removed from the journal website and indexing databases under rare and exceptional circumstances, such as when retaining the article online will be unlawful or pose a risk of substantial harm.

• Expression of Concern

When an investigation is ongoing or the evidence is inconclusive, an Expression of Concern may be issued. Editors believe that it is essential to inform readers about potential issues within the paper to uphold journal’s transparency:

There is a suspicion of academic misconduct within the paper, yet the evidence is insufficient to determine it; OR,

The results of the study are suspected to be unreliable, but the author(s)’ institution is unwilling to initiate an investigation; OR,

Conflicting interpretations exist among the authors; OR,

An investigation is in progress, and final conclusions may require an extended period.

• Appeals

Appeals only apply to the manuscripts that have been peer-reviewed. Authors who want to appeal concerning the peer-review process and editorial decisions should present substantial evidence or new information/data as well as point-by-point responses to the reviewers’ comments and the editors’ decisions.

Authors must not submit their manuscript elsewhere until they receive a final decision or decide to withdraw their manuscript from consideration and have informed the Journal accordingly. Each appeal is assessed on its individual merits. Editors will consider only one appeal per manuscript, and the EiC’ decision on the appeal is final.

• Comments and Complaints

Readers who have concerns/complaints about published papers may contact the Editorial Office while simultaneously present the details of the concerns/complaints and the evidence. Lack of evidence or complaints with personal attacks would be regarded as vexatious and will be ignored.

The Editorial Office will investigate together with EiC in accordance with the guidelines published by COPE.

• Authorship

Author(s) are encouraged to value the opportunity for publication and uphold the esteemed reputation of the Journal. Before submitting the findings, author(s) should carefully read and adhere to the following responsibilities:

Author(s) should be the persons who have made substantial contributions to the work, e.g., the conception/experimental design of the research, theoretical development, prototype development, data acquisition/analysis/interpretation and who have contributed to drafting the paper or reviewing and/or revising it critically. The others who have participated in certain aspects could be listed as contributors and acknowledged in the “Acknowledgment” section. AI tool should not be listed as an author.

Corresponding authors should ensure obtaining the consent of all co-authors prior to submitting a manuscript and ensure all co-authors’ approval of the final version before publication. Besides, corresponding authors have responsibility for communication with the Editorial Office, overseeing the publication process, and ensuring the integrity of the final document.

Any change to the author list during editorial process should be applied ahead of final decision. An application form manually signed by all authors should be sent for the Editorial Office’s approval. Post-acceptance applications will not be considered.

• Duplication, Plagiarism and Originality

The Journal only publishes original content and author(s) should ensure the originality of their works. Author(s) should not submit the same manuscript to multiple journals at the same time, and should wait for the final decision on the manuscript before submitting the research to another journal. Once the unethical publishing behavior is found, an investigation or action would be taken based on the COPE code of conducts.

Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. All submissions will be checked for plagiarism via iThenticate. The paper will be rejected once it is found too similar to the previous documents. If plagiarism is detected after publication, an investigation or action would be taken based on the COPE principles on plagiarism.

Reuse of text work should be appropriately cited or quoted. Authors should obtain the appropriate permission prior to publication where the research involves any third-party figures, tables, and images.

The fabrication/falsification of data or images is not allowed and will be regarded as misconduct which will lead to a retraction of the publication affected.

• Conflict of Interest

All contributors involved, including author(s), editors and reviewers should disclose any potential conflict of interest that might inappropriately influence (bias) the results of the manuscript.

Potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include but are not limited to financial interests (employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, grants or funding sources) and non-financial interests (personal or professional relationships, affiliations, and personal beliefs).

Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest stage possible. For author(s), conflicts of interest should be disclosed when the paper is submitted to the Journal, stating fully the personal, institutional, and financial interests and support which might influence the research. Reviewers/Editors assigned to a manuscript should disclose any personal, financial, or intellectual interests that would affect the fair evaluation.

A statement of conflict of interest should be published in the final version and if there is no conflict of interest to be declared, it can be stated as “The author(s) declare no conflict of interests”.

• Artificial Intelligence Tools

The Journal follows the COPE position statement when it comes to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. TUP is a member of STM, the Journal also follows the Ethical and Practical Guidelines released by STM Generative AI in Scholarly Communications.

AI tools can be used to help authors in formatting, language editing, correcting. AI tools should not be listed or cited as an author or co-author. AI tools cannot be used to create, alter, or manipulate original research data and images.

Author(s) should disclose the use of AI tools with sufficient details at submission in the cover letter and disclose details of how the AI tools were used within Method, Acknowledgment or other related sections.

Reviewers and editors should not upload the manuscript or any part of it to a public generative AI platform to keep the manuscript confidential before final publication.

The Journal will monitor this development and will adjust or refine this policy when appropriate.

• Studies involving humans and animals

If the manuscript reports results of studies involving human subjects or animals, authors must adhere to the ethical standards and regulations governing research on humans and animals. In the materials and methods section, authors must clearly state that the study was approved by the appropriate institutional review board (IRB) and/or that appropriate informed consent was obtained from human subjects. Any signed consent forms from identifiable persons appearing in any photographs submitted with the manuscript must be emailed to ifungi editorial office (网址) or included in the submission file at the time of submission. To protect the privacy of human subjects, the consent form should state that the subjects understand that their identity (but not their medical records) will be disclosed to ifungi office through the submission of the signed consent form. Alternatively, a letter confirming that signed consent forms have been obtained from the individuals involved in the study can be provided by a member of the institution's IRB, without naming the individuals. ifungi will not process a manuscript until these consent forms or a letter from the IRB is received.

All experiments involving live vertebrates or higher invertebrates must be performed in accordance with relevant institutional and national guidelines and regulations. In the manuscript, a statement identifying the committee approving the experiments and confirming that all experiments conform to the relevant regulatory standards must be included in the materials and methods section. The editors reserve the right to seek comments from reviewers or additional information from authors on any cases in which concerns arise regarding the ethical conduct of the study.

Authors submitting manuscripts that include meta-analyses are required to provide a registration number, such as from PROSPERO or a similar registry. Registration prior to conducting the meta-analysis enhances the transparency, credibility, and reproducibility of the research. It also helps to reduce the risk of selective reporting or publication bias by ensuring that the analysis follows a pre-specified protocol. Submissions without a registered protocol will not be considered unless justified.

• Post-Publication

Author(s) will have chance to double check the full content, especially the symbols, formulas, and figure legends before final publication, for these may accidentally be changed during editing. After final publication, substantial changes could only be updated by corrections.

• Archiving

TUP is committed to the permanent availability and preservation of the published content in the Journal.

• Article Processing Charge

To support academic communication and open access publishing, this journal has adopted a flexible APC policy during its initial launch phase (the first three years):

• Review & Research Article: USD 3000 (payable in EUR or GBP)
• Brief Report, Case Report, Perspective, Editorial: USD 2400 (payable in EUR or GBP)
• Commentary, Correspondence, Images: USD 500 (payable in EUR or GBP)

Open Access: All accepted articles will be published open access and made freely available to readers worldwide, regardless of APC payment.

• APC Waiver Request

We understand that some authors may face funding limitations. To ensure equitable access to publication, we offer the opportunity to request an 100% APC waiver:

Eligibility: All authors are welcome to apply; no financial documentation is required.

How to apply: Select the "Apply for APC Waiver" option during the submission process.

Review process: Waiver requests are reviewed independently by the editorial team. Authors will be notified of the outcome before final acceptance.

Note: Applying for a waiver will not influence the editorial or peer review process.

Supporting the Journal’s Mission

We sincerely encourage authors with access to publication funding to pay the APC. These contributions help sustain the journal’s operations and ensure the quality and visibility of the research we publish.

• Copyright and Permission

The journal is owned by MedCore Press, which retains copyright of the overall compiled journal and its compiled issues. For individual articles, authors retain copyright and grant MedCore Press and Tsinghua University Press non-exclusive rights to publish, distribute, and disseminate the articles in all formats (including digital and print) globally. To ensure open access to research, authors agree to make their articles available under open access licences, which define the terms of reuse for the public. This approach aligns with the core principle of open access: enabling immediate, permanent, and free access to scholarly work while protecting authors’ rights.

• Open Access Licences

User rights

All articles published open access will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download, copy and distribute. We offer authors a choice of which define the permitted reuse of articles. We currently offer the following license(s) for this journal:

• Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

Allows users to: distribute and copy the article; create extracts, abstracts, and other revised versions, adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation); include in a collective work (such as an anthology); and text or data mine the article. These uses are permitted even for commercial purposes, provided the user: gives appropriate credit to the author(s) (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI); includes a link to the license; indicates if changes were made; and does not represent the author(s) as endorsing the adaptation of the article or modify the article in such a way as to damage the authors' honor or reputation.

• Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)

Allows users to: distribute and copy the article; create extracts, abstracts, and other revised versions, adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation); include in a collective work (such as an anthology); and text or data mine the article. These uses are permitted only for non-commercial purposes, and provided the user: gives appropriate credit to the author(s) (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI); includes a link to the license; indicates if changes were made; and does not represent the author(s) as endorsing the adaptation of the article or modify the article in such a way as to damage the authors' honor or reputation.

• Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)

Allows users to: distribute and copy the article; and include in a collective work (such as an anthology). These uses are permitted only for non-commercial purposes, and provided the user: gives appropriate credit to the author(s) (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI); provides a link to the license; and does not alter or modify the article.

If you need to comply with your funding body policy you can apply for a CC BY license after your manuscript is accepted for publication.

To get more information of this licence, please visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses.

• Advertising Policy

All advertisements are subject to approval of the Publisher, Editors, or publishing partners of Tsinghua University Press which reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement at any time.

Statements in advertisements should carry no direct or implied disparagement of another product. There should be no statements that are misleading, exaggerated, or contrary to proven facts. Advertisements may not be indecent, obscene, or defamatory.

The principle of maintaining editorial independence from commercial influence underlies decision-making. Editorial decisions are not influenced by advertising.

Advertisements must be clearly identifiable as advertisements and clearly distinguishable from editorial content. Tsinghua University Press will not publish advertisements in the form of editorial content.