Statement on Academic Misconduct

Acupuncture Research is committed to publishing original academic work and strictly opposes all forms of academic misconduct. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism (including plagiarism of ideas or text), excessive self-citation, data fabrication or falsification, multiple submissions, and redundant publication.

In recent years, incidents of academic misconduct have occasionally occurred, disrupting the normal operations of the editorial office. Therefore, the journal hereby makes the following declaration:

The journal employs the Academic Misconduct Literature Check System (AMLC) developed by CNKI to conduct two rounds of plagiarism detection—once upon initial submission and again prior to publication. If any form of academic misconduct is verified, the editorial process will be terminated immediately. If the manuscript has already been accepted, the journal reserves the right to withdraw acceptance. If the article has already been formally published, it will be retracted, and a retraction statement will be publicly posted.

Furthermore, authors involved in academic misconduct will be subject to appropriate measures depending on the severity of the case, such as written warnings, refusal to publish future manuscripts bearing their authorship, and notification of their affiliated institutions. For minor cases, the author(s) may be prohibited from publishing in this journal for 3–5 years. For serious violations, the case may be publicly disclosed in a suitable manner. The journal also reserves the right to pursue compensation for any losses incurred, including financial damages.