Editorial Policies

General Policies

Authorship

Authorship in Big.D is limited to individuals who meet all of the following criteria:

  • Have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or to the creation of new software used in the work;
  • Have drafted the work or substantively revised it for important intellectual content;
  • Have approved the submitted version (and any substantially modified versions involving the author’s contribution);
  • Agree to be accountable for their own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even those in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and documented in the literature.

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section, with a brief description of the nature of their contribution. Any editorial or language assistance used during manuscript preparation must also be disclosed in the Acknowledgements.

In addition, the corresponding author is responsible for:

  • Ensuring that all listed authors have reviewed and approved the manuscript prior to submission;
  • Receiving all substantive correspondence from the journal and sharing reviewer and editorial comments with all co-authors;
  • Verifying that all data, materials (including reagents), and code—regardless of whether they were generated by the corresponding author or by other authors—comply with community and journal standards for transparency and reproducibility;
  • Ensuring that the original data, materials, and code underlying the submission are preserved and retrievable for reanalysis;
  • Confirming that descriptions of data, materials, and code in the manuscript accurately reflect their original sources;
  • Anticipating and minimizing barriers to data, material, and code sharing;
  • Ensuring that the entire author team is fully informed of and complies with best research practices.

Any changes to the author list after submission—including changes in author order, addition, or removal of authors—must be approved by all authors. After a manuscript has been accepted, authorship changes (including changes to the corresponding author or author order) are not permitted. For accepted manuscripts, all authors are required to explain their individual contributions, agree to the conditions of publication (including data, code, and material availability), and disclose any competing interests. Principal investigators, supervisors, or project leaders are expected to verify the original data generated by their research teams. Big.D encourages authors to describe their contributions using a recognized contributor role taxonomy in the Acknowledgements; such information may be published with the article.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors: All authors submitting to Big.D must disclose any affiliations, funding sources, or competing interests that could be perceived as influencing the reported research or its interpretation. This policy applies to research articles, review articles, and perspective or opinion pieces. Required disclosures include:

  • Institutional affiliations: The title page must list all academic, corporate, governmental, industrial, or other relevant affiliations held by the authors at the time the work was conducted. Subsequent changes in affiliation may be indicated using a “Present address” footnote. If the corresponding author has changed affiliation since completion of the research, a present address must be provided.

  • Funding and contributions: All sources of financial support related to the reported work must be fully and accurately disclosed in a dedicated Funding section at the end of the manuscript. Non-financial support (such as provision of materials or services) may be acknowledged where appropriate.

  • Competing interests: Authors must disclose all competing interests related to the work that occurred within the five years preceding submission. Interests falling outside this time frame must also be disclosed if they could reasonably be perceived as relevant. When in doubt, authors should disclose. Competing interests are summarized in a Competing Interests statement in the published article; authors may additionally provide a URL linking to a full list of affiliations and interests.

Competing interests exist when professional judgment regarding research conduct or presentation could be influenced, or reasonably perceived to be influenced, by secondary interests.

Financial competing interests may include, but are not limited to:

  • Granted, pending, or planned patents (whether held personally or by the author’s institution and from which the author may benefit);
  • Ownership of stocks, shares, or stock options, whether or not the company is publicly listed;
  • Paid employment or consultancy relationships;
  • Remuneration for service on advisory boards or as an officer, board member, or committee member of an entity whose activities are related to the subject of the manuscript.

Non-financial competing interests that may affect the work include, but are not limited to:

  • Service as an expert witness;
  • Membership on governmental or other advisory committees;
  • Paid or unpaid relationships with organizations or funding bodies, including NGOs, research institutions, or charitable organizations;
  • Membership in lobbying or advocacy organizations;
  • Writing or consulting activities for companies whose interests may affect objectivity;
  • Personal relationships (e.g., friends, spouses or partners, family members, mentors, rivals) that could influence objectivity;
  • Personal beliefs (political, religious, ideological, or other) related to the subject of the manuscript that could interfere with unbiased publication.

Reviewers: Reviewers play a central role in ensuring the quality of published research. Big.D seeks reviewers who have no conflicts of interest with the authors or the reported work. Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts to the editors, who will consider this information when making editorial decisions.

Editors: Editors who have competing interests related to a manuscript must declare them—preferably at the pre-screening stage—and must not be involved in the editorial handling of that manuscript. Professional editors at Big.D may not hold financial or managerial interests in any commercial entities directly related to the journal’s scope that could compromise editorial independence.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Big.D welcomes statements related to diversity, equity, ethics, and inclusion under a dedicated heading in the Acknowledgements section. Such statements may describe the authors’ positionality or acknowledge the inclusion of underrepresented groups (e.g., defined by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability status), or discuss diversity and inclusion considerations relevant to research design, participation, community benefit-sharing, or the involvement of local researchers and communities.

These statements may highlight how aspects of the research design align with ethical principles but should not replace required descriptions of methods or results. Statements exceeding 200 words and primarily addressing research design should be included as Supplementary Materials. Diversity, equity, ethics, and inclusion statements are not mandatory and are not used as criteria for editorial acceptance.

Image and Text Integrity

Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes the misappropriation of intellectual property and the substantial reproduction of others’ work without appropriate attribution. Extensive reuse of an author’s own previously published text or figures without proper citation constitutes self-plagiarism. Big.D employs similarity-checking services to detect plagiarism and follows COPE guidelines in the investigation and resolution of suspected cases.

Image Manipulation

Images presented in research articles must accurately represent the original data. Selective manipulation or alteration of any part of an image is not permitted. When figures are composed of multiple images or non-contiguous sections of the same image, boundaries between components must be clearly indicated using dividing lines or spacing.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI-assisted technologies, including large language models, chatbots, and image-generation tools, do not meet the criteria for authorship and may not be listed as authors or co-authors. Sources cited in Big.D articles may not be generated or co-authored by AI tools. Authors who use AI-assisted tools as part of their research workflow or to support manuscript writing or presentation must disclose such use in the cover letter and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section, as appropriate. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of their work, including proper citation of sources and mitigation of potential bias introduced by AI tools. Improper use of AI may result in rejection.

Reviewers must not upload any part of a manuscript into AI tools, as doing so may compromise confidentiality. Reviewers may use AI tools solely to improve their own writing, provided that the systems do not retain or use the input for model training and that such use is transparently disclosed. Reviewers bear full responsibility for content generated with AI assistance.

AI-generated images or multimedia are not permitted without explicit editorial approval. Exceptions may be considered on a case-by-case basis, such as for manuscripts specifically focused on AI or machine learning. Any permitted use must be disclosed at submission.

Prior Publication and Conference Papers

Big.D does not consider original research articles, or substantial components thereof, that have been previously published or are under consideration elsewhere. Peer-reviewed and citable conference proceedings are regarded as prior publication. Preprints posted on recognized servers (e.g., arXiv, bioRxiv, ChemRxiv, medRxiv) are permitted, provided that the manuscript has not been peer reviewed elsewhere and complies with the journal’s submission requirements.

While a manuscript is under consideration at Big.D, revised versions incorporating editorial or peer-review input must not be posted publicly. Authors are encouraged to present preliminary findings at academic conferences but are advised not to seek media coverage prior to peer review and final publication.

Research Standards Policy

Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines

Big.D adheres to the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines to enhance research quality and transparency.

Citation Standards: All data, code, and methods must be appropriately cited using DOIs, journal references, or other persistent identifiers. Exceptions involving proprietary or confidential information must be discussed with the editors no later than the revision stage and clearly stated in the Acknowledgements.

Data Transparency: Data underlying the analyses must be made available to enable replication or extension, either within the article or via recognized repositories. Restrictions due to privacy, legal, or third-party constraints must be disclosed.

Analytical Methods (Code) Transparency: Code supporting core findings should be openly available where possible. Proprietary software or archived open-source software should be appropriately cited, including version numbers. Where code sharing is not possible, alternative reproducibility measures (e.g., detailed pseudocode) must be provided and are subject to peer review.

Materials Transparency: The Materials and Methods section must provide sufficient detail to support reproducibility. All materials, data, or prototypes used in the analysis should be made available to other researchers where feasible, accompanied by a Materials Availability Statement.

Research Design and Analysis Transparency: Authors must report key elements of research design and analysis in accordance with field-specific standards and disclose any deviations.

Preregistration: If applicable, preregistration details and links must be provided at submission.

Replication Studies: Replication studies offering new insights are welcome and are evaluated under the same standards as other submissions.

Data Availability

Big.D encourages authors to share research data supporting the main findings. Data should not be shared where ethical, legal, or privacy constraints apply; any restrictions must be clearly stated in a Data Availability Statement. Authors must ensure that shared data comply with participant consent and data protection requirements.

Acknowledgements

Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be listed in the Acknowledgements section. Examples include individuals providing technical assistance, writing support, or general supervision. Manuscripts must be submitted directly by the authors; third-party submission is not permitted.

Citations

Both research and non-research articles must cite appropriate and relevant literature to support the work presented.

Study-Type-Specific Policies

Human Subjects Research

Research involving human participants must comply with internationally recognized ethical standards, including the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable national or institutional regulations. Authors must state that the study protocol was reviewed and approved by an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board (IRB), and must provide the name of the approving body and the approval or reference number, where applicable.

Informed consent must be obtained from all participants prior to participation. For studies involving minors or individuals unable to provide informed consent, consent must be obtained from a legally authorized representative. Where consent was waived, authors must provide a justification approved by the relevant ethics committee. Studies involving identifiable personal data must comply with applicable data protection and privacy regulations. Authors should minimize the collection of identifiable information and describe measures taken to protect participant confidentiality.

Animal Research

Research involving animals must be conducted in accordance with internationally accepted principles for animal welfare and must comply with relevant institutional and national guidelines. Authors must state that the study was approved by an appropriate animal ethics committee and must provide the name of the approving body and approval number, where applicable. Manuscripts must include sufficient details of animal housing, care, and experimental procedures to allow assessment of animal welfare considerations.

Plant Research

Studies involving plants must comply with institutional, national, and international guidelines and legislation. Authors should indicate the source of plant materials and confirm that collection and use complied with relevant permits and regulations.

Dual-Use Research of Concern

Research that could reasonably be anticipated to provide knowledge, products, or technologies that could be misused to pose a threat to public health, safety, the environment, or national security must be clearly identified at submission. Authors must disclose any potential dual-use implications and describe risk mitigation measures. Big.D reserves the right to seek additional review or impose publication restrictions where necessary.

Research and Publication Ethics

Big.D is committed to maintaining the highest standards of research integrity and publication ethics and follows the principles and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Research Misconduct

Research misconduct includes, but is not limited to, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, inappropriate image manipulation, and failure to disclose competing interests. Allegations of misconduct are investigated in accordance with COPE procedures. Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to cooperate fully with investigations. If misconduct is confirmed, Big.D may take appropriate actions, including rejection of the manuscript, publication of corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions, and notification of authors’ institutions or funding bodies.

Corrections and Retractions

Errors that affect the interpretation or reliability of published work will be corrected through formal notices. Retractions may be issued where findings are unreliable due to misconduct or honest error, or where ethical standards have been violated.

Open Access Policy

Big.D is an open access journal. All articles are freely available to read, download, and share immediately upon publication. Articles published in Big.D are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright and License to Publish

Authors retain copyright of their work. By submitting and publishing in Big.D, authors grant the publisher a non-exclusive license to publish, distribute, and archive the article and to identify itself as the original publisher.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any third-party material included in their articles and for ensuring that such material is appropriately credited.

Self-Archiving Policy

Authors may deposit the published version of their article in institutional or subject repositories immediately upon publication, provided that the original publication in Big.D is properly acknowledged and a link to the published version is included.

Advertising Policy

Advertising content must be clearly distinguishable from editorial content. Decisions regarding advertising acceptance are made independently of editorial decisions. Big.D does not accept advertising that is misleading, deceptive, or in conflict with the journal’s aims and ethical standards. The presence of advertising does not imply endorsement of advertised products or services by the journal, editors, or publisher. Advertising arrangements must not influence editorial decisions, peer review, or the content of published articles.