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<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15"> <meta name=Originator content="Microsoft Word 15"> <link rel=File-List href="EditPolicy&Board-IJSSST-Letters_files/filelist.xml"> <title>Paper Title (use style: paper title)</title>  <link rel=dataStoreItem href="EditPolicy&Board-IJSSST-Letters_files/item0007.xml" target="EditPolicy&Board-IJSSST-Letters_files/props008.xml"> <link rel=themeData href="EditPolicy&Board-IJSSST-Letters_files/themedata.thmx"> <link rel=colorSchemeMapping href="EditPolicy&Board-IJSSST-Letters_files/colorschememapping.xml">  <style>  </style>  </head> <body lang=EN-GB link=blue vlink="#954F72" style='tab-interval:36.0pt'> <div class=WordSection1> <div align=center> <table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=0 style='width:568.2pt;border-collapse:collapse;border:none;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid windowtext;mso-border-insidev:.5pt solid windowtext'> <tr style='mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes'> <td width=758 colspan=2 valign=top style='width:568.2pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'> International Journal of Simulation: Systems, Science & Technology<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Editor-in-Chief: Prof <a href="http://ijssst.info/aldabass/webpage-1.htm">David Al-Dabass</a>, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Lane, Nottingham, NG11 8NS, UK. Email: <a href="mailto:%20%20david.al-dabass@ntu.ac.uk">david.al-dabass@ntu.ac.uk</a><o:p></o:p> Special Issues Editor-Europe: Prof Maurizio Naldi, LUMSA University, Via Marcantonio Colonna 19, 00192 Rome, Italy. E-mail: <a href="mailto:m.naldi@lumsa.it">m.naldi@lumsa.it</a><o:p></o:p> (Past Editor-Europe: Dr Alessandra Orsoni, School of Business Information Management, Kingston University, UK. Email: <a href="mailto:A.Orsoni@kingston.ac.uk">A.Orsoni@kingston.ac.uk</a>)<o:p></o:p> Special Issues Editor-Asia: Dr Zuwairie Ibrahim, University of Malaysia Pahang, Kuantan, Malaysia. Email: <a href="mailto:Zuwairie%20Ibrahim%20%3czuwairiefke@gmail.com%3e">zuwairiefke@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p> Print/Distribution Editor: Dr Ibrahim Ibrahim Shapiai, University of Technology Malaysia, Email: <a href="mailto:ibrahimfke@gmail.com">ibrahimfke@gmail.com</a> <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Editorial Policy: Letters is a rapid-communication format of IJSSST that publishes short original research papers every two weeks.<o:p></o:p> Its broad and interdisciplinary scope covers the latest developments in all aspects of technology, science and applications related<o:p></o:p> fields. It may appear as a regular or special issue within the main volume, with a DOI prefix a: 10.5013/IJSSST.a.VV.II.PP, where VV<o:p></o:p> = Volume number, II = Issue number, and PP = Paper number within the Issue. Or it may appear as a companion volume with a DOI<o:p></o:p> prefix b: 10.5013/IJSSST.b.VV.II.PP. The regular and special issues may have a specific tile e.g. Technology & Industry Letters,<o:p></o:p> Information Technology Applications Letters, etc, or this may be indicated in the Editorial Notes. Both the Issues within the main<o:p></o:p> volume and the companion Letters volume are genuine IJSSST publications with no difference in international standing.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Editorial Board<o:p></o:p> </td> </tr> <tr style='mso-yfti-irow:1;height:324.45pt'> <td width=379 valign=top style='width:284.1pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:324.45pt'> - Prof Dietmar Moeller, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, dietmar.moeller@informatik.uni-hamburg.de<o:p></o:p> - Prof Adrian Hopgood, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Lane, Nottingham, NG11 8NS, Adrian.hopgood@ntu.ac.uk<o:p></o:p> - Dr Steve Turner, Nanyang Technical University, Singapore 639798, ASSJTurner@ntu.edu.sg<o:p></o:p> - Prof Andrzej Bargiela, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Lane, Nottingham, NG11 8NS, andre@doc.ntu.ac.uk<o:p></o:p> - Prof. Dr. Felix Breitenecker, Vienna University of Technology, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10, A - 1040 Vienna, AUSTRIA, 58801-11499, Felix.Breitenecker@tuwien.ac.at<o:p></o:p> - Prof Frank Wang, Head of School of Computing, University of Kent in Canterbury, UK, Email: <a href="mailto:frankwang@ieee.org">frankwang@ieee.org</a>.<o:p></o:p> - Prof Razali Ismail, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. razali@fke.utm.my<o:p></o:p> - Prof Hermann Hessling, Hochschule fur Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, 10313 Berlin, <a href="mailto:hessling@htw-berlin.de">hessling@htw-berlin.de</a><o:p></o:p> - Dr Jenkins, Glenn, GLJenkins@cardiffmet.ac.uk <o:p></o:p> - Dr Tim Bashforth, <a href="mailto:tim.bashford@uwtsd.ac.uk">tim.bashford@uwtsd.ac.uk</a><o:p></o:p> - Assoc. Prof Dr Zuwairie Ibrahim <a href="mailto:zuwairie@ump.edu.my">zuwairie@ump.edu.my</a> <o:p></o:p> - Dr Ibrahim Shapiai, UTM, Malaysia, <a href="mailto:ibrahimfke@gmail.com">ibrahimfke@gmail.com</a> <o:p></o:p> - Dr Valentina Colla, Pisa, Italy, <a href="mailto:valentina.colla@santannapisa.it">valentina.colla@santannapisa.it</a> <o:p></o:p> - Dr Gregorio Romero, University Polytechnin Madrid, Spain, <a href="mailto:gregorio.romero@upm.es">gregorio.romero@upm.es</a> <o:p></o:p> - Prof Maurizio Naldi, LUMSA University, Rome, Italy, <a href="mailto:m.naldi@lumsa.it">m.naldi@lumsa.it</a><o:p></o:p> - Arijit Bhattacharya, University of East Anglia, UEA, United Kingdom, <a href="mailto:arijit.bhattacharya2005@gmail.com">arijit.bhattacharya2005@gmail.com</a> <o:p></o:p> - Prof Julie Dugdale, University of Grenoble, <a href="mailto:Julie.Dugdale@imag.fr">Julie.Dugdale@imag.fr</a> <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> </td> <td width=379 valign=top style='width:284.1pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:324.45pt'> - Prof David Murray-Smith, University of Glasgow, Rankine Building, Oakfield Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8LT, d.murray-smith@eng.gla.ac.uk<o:p></o:p> - Dr. Stewart Robinson, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, orssr@wbs.warwick.ac.uk.<o:p></o:p> - Dr John Pollard, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE. j.pollard@ee.ucl.ac.uk.<o:p></o:p> - Roger Smith, BTG Inc., 3481 Woodley Park Place, Oviedo, Florida 32765, USA, adjunct Professor at the Florida Institute of Technology, smithr@modelbenders.com<o:p></o:p> - Prof Mahdi Mahfouf, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, <a href="mailto:m.mahfouf@shef.ac.uk">m.mahfouf@shef.ac.uk</a> <o:p></o:p> - Professor Ralph Hilzer, California State University, Chico, Chico, CA 95929-0410, USA. <a href="mailto:hilzer@ecst.csuchico.edu">hilzer@ecst.csuchico.edu</a>, <a href="mailto:hilzer@sunset.net">hilzer@sunset.net</a> <o:p></o:p> - Prof Qiang Shen, Director, Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science, Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK. <a href="mailto:qqs@aber.ac.uk">qqs@aber.ac.uk</a><o:p></o:p> - Prof Khalid Al-Begain, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd (Cardiff) CF37 1DL,UK, kbegain@glam.ac.uk<o:p></o:p> - Assoc. Prof Yong Meng Teo, Department of Computer Science, National University of Singapore, email: <a href="mailto:teoym@comp.nus.edu.sg">teoym@comp.nus.edu.sg</a> <o:p></o:p> - Dr. Sani Susanto, Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, Bandung, Indonesia, <a href="mailto:sani@unpar.ac.id">sani@unpar.ac.id</a><o:p></o:p> - Dr. Marco Remondino, University of Genova, Italy, <a href="mailto:marco.remondino@economia.unige.it">marco.remondino@economia.unige.it</a><o:p></o:p> - Prof Atulya Nagar, Liverpool Hope University, UK, <a href="mailto:atulya.nagar@hope.ac.uk">atulya.nagar@hope.ac.uk</a> <o:p></o:p> - Prof Dave Parry, Auckland University of Technology, <a href="mailto:dave.parry@aut.ac.nz">dave.parry@aut.ac.nz</a> <o:p></o:p> - Prof. Dr. Rosalina Abdul Salam, <a href="mailto:rosalina@usim.edu.my">rosalina@usim.edu.my</a><o:p></o:p> - Dr Danilo Pelusi, University of Teramo, Italy, <a href="mailto:dpelusi@unite.it">dpelusi@unite.it</a> <o:p></o:p> </td> </tr> <tr style='mso-yfti-irow:2;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes'> <td width=758 colspan=2 valign=top style='width:568.2pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'> Published by the United Kingdom Simulation Society, Printed at The Nottingham Trent University<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> ISSN 1473-8031 Print<o:p></o:p> ISSN 1473-804x Online <a href="http://ijssst.info">http://ijssst.info</a> <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Responsibility for the accuracy of all statements in each paper rests solely with the author(s). Statements are not necessarily representative of nor endorsed by the United Kingdom Simulation Society. Permission is granted to photocopy portions of the publication for personal use and for the use of students provided credit is given to the publication. Permission does not extend to other types of reproduction nor to copying for incorporation into commercial advertising nor for any other profit-making purpose. Other publications are encouraged to include 100-200 word abstracts or excerpts from any paper contained in this publication, providing credits are given to the author(s) and the conference.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> For permission to publish a complete paper write to the editor. Additional copies are available from the editor.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Subscription Information: The online content of all papers is strictly open free access, no password or subscription fee is needed. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Advertising rates: contact the editor-in-chief.<o:p></o:p> </td> </tr> </table> </div> INTERNATION JOIURNAL OF SIMULATION: SYSTEMS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY <o:p> </o:p> Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <div align=center> <table class=MsoTableGrid border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=0 style='width:566.75pt;border-collapse:collapse;border:none;mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'> <tr style='mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes'> <td width=756 valign=top style='width:566.75pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt'> The International Journal of Simulation: Systems, Science and Technology, IJSSST and its Publisher, the UK Simulation Society, follow the guidelines setup by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). As such, this journal follows the COPE <a href="http://publicationethics.org/files/Code%20of%20Conduct_2.pdf" target="_blank">Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors</a> and the <a href="http://publicationethics.org/files/Code%20of%20conduct%20for%20publishers%20FINAL_1_0_0.pdf" target="_blank">Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers</a>. A selection of key points is included below, but readers should always refer to the two documents listed above for full details.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> I. DUTIES OF EDITORS<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> A. Fair Play and Editorial Independence: Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their academic merit (importance, originality, studys validity, clarity) and its relevance to the journal scope, without regard to the authors race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political philosophy or institutional affiliation. Decisions to edit and publish are not determined by the policies of governments or any other agencies outside of the journal itself. The Editor-in-Chief has full authority over the entire editorial content of the journal and the timing of publication of that content. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> B. Confidentiality: Editors and editorial staff will not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> C. Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Editors and editorial board members will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the authors explicit written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained by editors as a result of handling the manuscript will be kept confidential and not used for their personal advantage. Editors will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the papers; instead, they will ask another member of the editorial board to handle the manuscript.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> D. Publication Decisions: The editors ensure that all submitted manuscripts being considered for publication undergo peer-review by at least two reviewers who are expert in the field. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal will be published, based on the validation of the work in question, its importance to researchers and readers, the reviewers comments, and such legal requirements as are currently in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> E. Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations: Editors (in conjunction with the publisher and/or society) will take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised with regard to a submitted manuscript or published paper. Every reported act of unethical publishing behaviour will be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication. AP-SMART editors follow the COPE <a href="http://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts" target="_blank">Flowcharts</a> when dealing with cases of suspected misconduct. If, on investigation, the ethical concern is well-founded, a correction, retraction, expression of concern or other note as may be relevant, will be published in the journal<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> II. DUTIES OF REVIEWERS<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> A. Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and, through editorial communications with authors, may assist authors in improving their manuscripts. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication and lies at the heart of scientific endeavour. AP-SMART shares the view of many that all scholars who wish to contribute to the scientific process have an obligation to do a fair share of reviewing.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> B. Promptness: Any invited referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should immediately notify the editors and decline the invitation to review so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> C. Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review are confidential documents and must be treated as such; they must not be shown to or discussed with others except if authorized by the Editor-in-Chief (who would only do so under exceptional and specific circumstances). This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> D. Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively and observations formulated clearly with supporting arguments so that authors can use them for improving the manuscript. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> E. Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that is an observation, derivation or argument that has been reported in previous publications should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also notify the editors of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other manuscript (published or unpublished) of which they have personal knowledge.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> F. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Any invited referee who has conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the manuscript and the work described therein should immediately notify the editors to declare their conflicts of interest and decline the invitation to review so that alternative reviewers can be contacted. Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewers own research without the express written consent of the authors. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for the reviewers personal advantage. This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> III. DUTIES OF AUTHORS<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> A. Reporting Standards: Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and the results, followed by an objective discussion of the significance of the work. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Review articles should be accurate, objective and comprehensive, while editorial 'opinion' or perspective pieces should be clearly identified as such. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> B. Data Access and Retention: Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the manuscript for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable. In any event, authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for at least 10 years after publication (preferably via an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data centre), provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> C. Originality and Plagiarism: Authors should ensure that they have written and submit only entirely original works, and if they have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the work reported in the manuscript should also be cited. Plagiarism takes many forms, from "passing off" another's paper as the author's own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another's paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> D. Multiple, Duplicate, Redundant or Concurrent Submission/Publication: Papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal or primary publication. Hence, authors should not submit for consideration a manuscript that has already been published in another journal. Submission of a manuscript concurrently to more than one journal is unethical publishing behaviour and unacceptable.<o:p></o:p> The publication of some kinds of articles (such as clinical guidelines, translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided that certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the journals concerned must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> E. Authorship of the Manuscript: Only persons who meet these authorship criteria should be listed as authors in the manuscript as they must be able to take public responsibility for the content: (i) made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, data acquisition, or analysis/interpretation of the study; and (ii) drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content; and (iii) have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication. All persons who made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript (such as technical help, writing and editing assistance, general support) but who do not meet the criteria for authorship must not be listed as an author, but should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgements" section after their written permission to be named as been obtained. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors (according to the above definition) and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the author list and verify that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> F. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors should at the earliest stage possible (generally by submitting a disclosure form at the time of submission and including a statement in the manuscript) disclose any conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or their interpretation in the manuscript. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include financial ones such as honoraria, educational grants or other funding, participation in speakers bureaus, membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest, and paid expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements, as well as non-financial ones such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the work should be disclosed (including the grant number or other reference number if any).<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> G. Acknowledgement of Sources: Authors should ensure that they have properly acknowledged the work of others, and should also cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately (from conversation, correspondence or discussion with third parties) must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Authors should not use information obtained in the course of providing confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, unless they have obtained the explicit written permission of the author(s) of the work involved in these services.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> H. Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects: If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the authors must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animals or human participants, the authors should ensure that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) has approved them; the manuscript should contain a statement to this effect. Authors should also include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human participants. The privacy rights of human participants must always be observed.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> I. Peer Review: Authors are obliged to participate in the peer review process and cooperate fully by responding promptly to editors requests for raw data, clarifications, and proof of ethics approval, patient consents and copyright permissions. In the case of a first decision of "revisions necessary", authors should respond to the reviewers comments systematically, point by point, and in a timely manner, revising and re-submitting their manuscript to the journal by the deadline given.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> J. Fundamental Errors in Published Works: When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their own published work, it is their obligation to promptly notify the journals editors or publisher and cooperate with them to either correct the paper in the form of an erratum or to retract the paper. If the editors or publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error or inaccuracy, then it is the authors obligation to promptly correct or retract the paper or provide evidence to the journal editors of the correctness of the paper. For guidelines on retracting or correcting articles, please click here: <o:p></o:p> <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/about/company-information/policies/article-withdrawal" target="_blank">https://www.elsevier.com/about/company-information/policies/article-withdrawal</a>.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> IV. DUTIES OF THE PUBLISHER<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> A. Handling of Unethical Publishing Behaviour: In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, clarification or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the affected work.  The publisher, together with the editors, shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, and under no circumstances encourage such misconduct or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> B. Access to Journal Content: The publisher is committed to the permanent availability and preservation of scholarly research and ensures accessibility by partnering with organizations and maintaining our own digital archive. For details on Elseviers archiving policy, please click here: <o:p></o:p> <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/about/company-information/policies/digital-archive" target="_blank">https://www.elsevier.com/about/company-information/policies/digital-archive</a>.<o:p></o:p> Elsevier policies on key issues ranging from accessibility to text and data mining can be found here:<o:p></o:p> <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/about/company-information/policies" target="_blank">https://www.elsevier.com/about/company-information/policies</a>.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> </div> </body> </html>