Editorial, Publishing and Publication Ethics Policies

1. Editorial Governance and Independence

Functional Thin Films and Energy Materials is committed to maintaining editorial independence, academic integrity, transparency, and fairness in all publishing activities. Editorial decisions are based exclusively on the originality, scientific quality, methodological soundness, relevance, and contribution of submitted research to functional thin films, energy materials, and related disciplines.

The Editor-in-Chief, supported by the Associate Editors and Editorial Board, is responsible for the Journal's academic direction and editorial decisions. The publisher, Insight Harbour, provides publishing infrastructure and administrative support but does not interfere with independent editorial judgments. According to the below policies financial, institutional, commercial, or personal considerations must not override scholarly merit or ethical standards.

2. Manuscript Submission and Editorial Assessment

The Journal welcomes original research articles, review papers, and other scholarly contributions consistent with its aims and scope. Submitted manuscripts must represent original work, follow the Journal's author guidelines, and not be under consideration by another journal simultaneously.

All submissions undergo an initial editorial assessment to determine their suitability, originality, scientific relevance, methodological credibility, and compliance with publication requirements. Manuscripts that fall outside the Journal's scope, fail to meet minimum scholarly standards, or raise serious ethical concerns may be rejected without external review. Appropriate similarity screening may also be conducted.

3. Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

The Journal follows a double-blind peer-review system, in which authors and reviewers remain anonymous to each other throughout the review process, to the extent reasonably possible. Manuscripts passing the initial assessment are normally evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with relevant subject expertise.

Authors may recommend qualified reviewers or request the exclusion of specific individuals, providing appropriate justification where necessary. The Journal retains full authority over reviewer selection and may seek additional assessments when required.

Based on reviewers' reports and the overall scientific merit of the manuscript, editorial decisions may include acceptance, minor revision, major revision, or rejection. Authors requesting reconsideration must provide a revised manuscript and a point-by-point response to substantive reviewer comments. The final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief or designated editor.

4. Authorship and Contributions

Authorship should be restricted to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the research, participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript, approved the final version, and accepted accountability for the work. Other contributions may be appropriately acknowledged.  For scholarly work by  more than one author, atleast one of them should be mentioned as the corresponding author.

Gift, honorary, guest, and ghost authorship are unacceptable. The corresponding author is responsible for confirming the agreement and approval of all listed authors. Any changes to authorship after submission require justification and the consent of all affected authors.

5. Originality, Plagiarism, and Duplicate Publication

The Journal requires all submissions to demonstrate originality and appropriate acknowledgement of previously published research. Plagiarism, including unattributed use of text, ideas, data, figures, images, or other intellectual contributions, is unacceptable.

Duplicate submission, redundant publication, and substantial undisclosed overlap with previously published work are not permitted. Where a manuscript builds upon a conference paper, thesis, preprint, or earlier publication, the relationship must be disclosed and the additional scholarly contribution clearly established. Reuse of previously published material must be appropriately acknowledged and comply with applicable copyright and licensing requirements.

The Journal may employ similarity-detection tools and other screening procedures to identify potential concerns. Similarity results will be assessed in context rather than treated as automatic evidence of misconduct.

6. Research Integrity and Data Management

Authors must ensure that all experimental, computational, analytical, and theoretical findings are accurately reported and supported by appropriate evidence. Fabrication, falsification, selective manipulation of results, inappropriate image alteration, and deliberate misrepresentation of research findings constitute serious breaches of academic integrity.

For research involving thin-film fabrication, material synthesis, experimental measurements, computational modelling, or device performance, authors should maintain reliable research records, including relevant material compositions, experimental conditions, deposition parameters, measurement procedures, simulation inputs, analytical methods, and validation results.

The Journal encourages transparent reporting and responsible sharing of supporting datasets, research protocols, computational codes, and other relevant materials wherever feasible and legally permissible. Authors are encouraged to provide a Data Availability Statement explaining how supporting materials can be accessed or identifying any justified restrictions.

7. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Functional Thin Films and Energy Materials is committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout its editorial and publishing activities. The Journal welcomes submissions from researchers of all backgrounds, nationalities, institutions, career stages, and professional affiliations, and evaluates manuscripts solely on their scientific merit, originality, relevance, and methodological quality.

Editorial and peer-review decisions are made fairly and objectively, without discrimination based on gender, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, institutional affiliation, or other personal characteristics unrelated to scholarly merit. The Journal also encourages diversity in its editorial and reviewer communities and expects all participants in the publication process to maintain respectful, professional, and inclusive conduct.

8. Research Ethics, Safety, and Permissions

Authors must obtain all necessary institutional approvals, permissions, and authorizations before conducting research where required by applicable regulations or recognized ethical standards. Research involving human participants, identifiable personal information, or sensitive data must include appropriate ethical approval and consent information, where applicable.

Experimental investigations involving hazardous chemicals, nanomaterials, specialized fabrication equipment, high-energy systems, or other potential safety risks must comply with relevant institutional, regulatory, and laboratory safety requirements. Authors should accurately report relevant approvals and safety procedures where these are material to the research.

Personal and confidential information must be appropriately protected, anonymized, and securely managed. Functional Thin Films and Energy Materials reserves the right to request supporting ethical or safety documentation where necessary.

9. Artificial Intelligence and Automated Tools

The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated tools must not compromise the originality, accuracy, transparency, or integrity of submitted research. Authors remain fully responsible for all manuscript content, including generated text, references, technical calculations, computational codes, images, and interpretations.

Substantive use of AI tools in manuscript preparation, data processing, modelling, coding, image generation, or analysis should be disclosed in accordance with the Journal's submission requirements. AI systems cannot be credited as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for scholarly work. Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential manuscript materials to external AI systems unless explicitly authorized under the Journal's confidentiality requirements.

10. Conflicts of Interest and Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose financial and non-financial interests that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their research or its interpretation. These may include employment, consultancy, research funding, commercial relationships, patents, institutional interests, and personal or professional relationships. If no conflict of interest is present this should also be stated in a separate heading in the manuscript.

All sources of financial and material support should be acknowledged, together with the funders' roles in research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and manuscript preparation, where applicable. Editors and reviewers must also disclose relevant conflicts and withdraw from assessments when impartiality may be compromised.

11. Editorial Conduct, Appeals, and Complaints

The Journal is committed to fair, impartial, and non-discriminatory treatment of all authors, reviewers, editors, and contributors, irrespective of nationality, geographical location, institutional affiliation, academic position, or professional background.

Authors may appeal editorial decisions where they believe that a substantial procedural error, factual misunderstanding, or failure to consider relevant evidence has affected the outcome. Appeals and complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer review, authorship, conflicts of interest, or publication ethics should be submitted in writing to the editorial office with relevant explanations and supporting evidence.

All concerns will be handled confidentially and impartially. The Journal may seek additional information, consult independent experts, or contact relevant institutions when necessary. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original decision.

12. Editorial Independence and Article Processing Charges

The Journal communicates its publication frequency, submission requirements, and applicable Article Processing Charges (APCs) transparently through its official website. Editorial decisions are entirely independent of APC payments, waiver arrangements, sponsorships, or other financial considerations. Payment of publication charges does not guarantee acceptance or preferential treatment.

The publisher, Insight Harbour, and editorial personnel must ensure that financial and administrative arrangements do not compromise peer review, editorial independence, or publication ethics.

13. Open Access, Licensing and Copyright

The Journal operates an open-access publishing model under which published articles are freely available online immediately upon publication, without subscription or pay-per-view barriers. This approach supports the wider dissemination and accessibility of research in functional materials, energy technologies, and related scientific fields.

All published articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC 4.0). This permits sharing, redistribution, and adaptation for non-commercial purposes, provided appropriate credit is given, the original publication is acknowledged, and any modifications are indicated. Commercial reuse requires separate authorization from the relevant copyright holder. Authors are responsible for obtaining necessary permissions for third-party copyrighted material.

Authors retain copyright, intellectual property rights and ownership of their published work. By publishing in Functional Thin Films and Energy Materials authors grant the Journal and its publisher a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual licence to publish, reproduce, distribute, display, archive, preserve, index, and promote their articles in different formats and to identify the Journal as the original place of publication.

14. Digital Archiving and Long-Term Preservation

The Journal recognizes the importance of maintaining the long-term accessibility and integrity of its published scholarly record. Appropriate digital backup and preservation arrangements are maintained to protect published content against data loss, technical failure, or interruption of publishing operations.

Preservation arrangements may include recognized services such as the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), LOCKSS, or other suitable digital preservation systems as the Journal's publishing infrastructure develops.

Authors may deposit accepted manuscripts or published articles in institutional, subject-specific, or other recognized repositories in accordance with the applicable licensing and self-archiving conditions. Deposited versions should acknowledge Functional Thin Films and Energy Materials as the original publisher and provide a link to the official version of record, including its DOI.

15. Special Issues and Guest Editorials

The Journal may publish Special Issues focusing on emerging developments and specialized research themes within functional thin films, energy materials, materials synthesis, nanotechnology, energy conversion and storage, electronics, photonics, and related areas.

Special Issue proposals must identify the proposed theme, academic significance, relevance to the Journal, anticipated contributions, and qualifications of the proposed Guest Editor(s). All proposals require approval from the Editor-in-Chief or designated editorial authority before announcement or manuscript solicitation.

Guest Editors may coordinate submissions, invite contributors, recommend reviewers, and assist with the editorial process. However, all Special Issue manuscripts, including invited contributions, must undergo the same initial assessment, originality screening, and independent double-blind peer review as regular submissions and Article Processing Charges apply on accepted articles only in line with the policy for the regular issue. Guest Editors must disclose potential conflicts of interest and must not handle manuscripts in which they have a personal, professional, institutional, or collaborative interest. Such submissions will be managed independently.

Functional Thin Films and Energy Materials reserves the right to postpone, revise, suspend, or discontinue a Special Issue if the expected academic quality, participation, or ethical standards are not achieved. Applicable APC arrangements remain subject to the Journal's standard policies unless an approved waiver or alternative arrangement has been communicated. Financial considerations must never influence editorial decisions.

16. Privacy and Confidentiality

Functional Thin Films and Energy Materials respects the privacy of authors, reviewers, editors, and other individuals involved in its publishing activities. Personal information collected during submission, peer review, and publication is used solely for legitimate editorial and administrative purposes and is not disclosed without appropriate justification, except where required by law or necessary for publication-related operations and ethical investigations.

According to the journal’s policies submitted manuscripts, unpublished research, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and other non-public materials must remain confidential. All participants are expected to protect such information against unauthorized access or disclosure. The Journal will take reasonable measures to protect the identities of individuals involved in complaints and investigations and to prevent retaliation against those raising genuine concerns in good faith.

17. Advertising, Sponsorship, and Sponsored Content

Functional Thin Films and Energy Materials does not currently publish commercial advertisements, paid promotional articles, advertorials, or sponsored editorial content. Its publishing activities and editorial decisions remain independent of commercial and promotional interests.

Should advertising or sponsorship arrangements be introduced in the future, they will be governed by transparent procedures ensuring complete separation from manuscript assessment, peer review, and publication decisions. All such material must be clearly identified and must not compromise the Journal's academic credibility or editorial independence.

18. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Issues

Functional Thin Films and Energy Materials is committed to preserving the accuracy and reliability of the published scholarly record. Errors or ethical concerns identified after publication will be assessed according to their nature, significance, and potential impact on the article's findings or interpretation.

Where appropriate, the Journal may publish a correction or clarification, issue an expression of concern, or retract an article. Retraction may be considered when serious errors, research misconduct, or other circumstances substantially undermine the reliability or integrity of published findings. Appropriate notices will identify the affected article and explain the reasons for the action. Articles will not ordinarily be removed silently, and the publication record will be maintained with an appropriate notice, subject to exceptional legal circumstances.

19. Disclaimer

The views, findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in published articles belong to their respective authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Journal, its editors, Editorial Board, or publisher. Publication does not constitute endorsement of any particular materials, technologies, equipment, products, models, or recommendations discussed in an article.

Although the Journal endeavours to maintain high standards of scientific quality and publication integrity, responsibility for the accuracy and application of published findings rests with the authors. Readers should exercise appropriate professional judgment when interpreting or applying published information.

20. Implementation and Policy Review

These policies apply to all authors, reviewers, editors, Editorial Board members, and other participants involved in the Journal's publishing activities. The Journal may reject submissions, request additional documentation, suspend editorial consideration, or take appropriate corrective action where ethical or editorial violations are identified.

The policies will be reviewed periodically and updated when necessary to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, research integrity, technologies, and recognized publication ethics standards. Updated policies will be made publicly available through the Journal's official website.