• editorial or peer-review procedures;
• publication ethics or research-integrity concerns;
• authorship, conflict-of-interest, or confidentiality issues;
• correction, retraction, or post-publication matters;
• administrative handling of a manuscript; and
• appeals against editorial decisions based on substantive procedural or scholarly grounds.

A complaint should clearly identify the manuscript or published article, provide the title, submission ID or DOI where applicable, describe the issue, and include supporting evidence where available. Complaints should be sent through the journal's official contact channel.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant factual, scholarly, or procedural error materially affected the decision. An appeal should provide a clear academic justification and address the reasons for the original decision.

Where a complaint concerns an editor directly involved in the case, the matter should, whenever practicable, be assigned to another editor or responsible journal authority without a relevant conflict of interest.

The journal may review the submission history, reviewer reports, correspondence, journal policies, supporting documentation, and responses from relevant parties. Possible outcomes include confirmation of the original decision, reconsideration, additional review, correction of an administrative error, post-publication action, or another proportionate remedy.

Complaints and appeals are handled with appropriate confidentiality. Good-faith complainants should not be disadvantaged for raising legitimate concerns. Deliberately false, abusive, threatening, or harassing communications may be handled appropriately.