World Geology follows recognized guidelines of publication ethics by international organizations (e.g. WAME, COPE, etc.). We firmly oppose plagiarism in any form. The editors, authors, and reviewers of World Geology should perform the following duties (not limited to these) and adhere to the requirements of the journal.

I.        For Authors

1.       Authors should not submit the same manuscript or similar content to more than one journal concurrently.

2.       Authors must ensure the manuscript has not been published previously (partly or in full).

3.       Authors must ensure that there is no plagiarism. References must be properly cited, and the sources should be clearly indicated within the manuscript.

4.       Authorship must simultaneously meet the following four criteria:

?   Make significant contributions to the conception or design of the study, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the study;

?   Draft the research paper or critically revise it for important intellectual content;

?   Approve the final version to be published;

?   Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Individuals who do not meet all the four criteria could be acknowledged in the “Acknowledgments” section if consent is obtained.

5.       Authors must ensure that the content in the manuscript does not involve state secrets, does not violate the relevant national regulations on text, graphics, etc., and does not harm national sovereignty and interests.

6.       Authors must explicitly inform the editorial office if the research results in the article have obtained a patent application number (or patent right).

7.       Authors must ensure that no data have been fabricated or manipulated (including images) to support the conclusions.

8.       Upon submission, authors should disclose all funding information for their research findings, as well as any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that may bias their research results and paper writing.

9.       Authors should proactively report their contributions and any conflicts of interest when submitting to the journal. Please refer to the "Authors Statement Form" in the "Download Center."

II.       For editors

1.     Editors may accept, reject, or request revisions to the manuscript based on the peer review reports. Editors should have no conflict of interest with respect to the manuscript.

2.     Editors should handle a manuscript based on the importance, originality, clarity, reliability of the research findings, and relevance to the journal's scope, rather than the author's nationality, ethnicity, political identity, race, beliefs, or other factors.

3.     Editors should use CNKI’s Academic Misconduct Literature Detection System for scientific journals to screen submitted manuscripts for originality. The similarity rate should be below 20%. The editorial office will strictly examine issues related to content plagiarism, copyright infringement, multiple submissions, and other forms of intellectual property violations.

4.     Editors must not use unpublished information in editors’ research without written consent from the authors.

5.     Editors should take reasonable measures to respond when ethical complaints have been presented about a submitted manuscript or published paper.

III.      For reviewers

1.       Reviewers should respect the authors’ intellectual property rights, do not plagiarize the authors’ results, and keep the manuscripts strictly confidential before publication.

2.       Reviewers who feel they are unqualified to review the manuscript or unable to complete the review within the specified time should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process, allowing the manuscript to be sent to other reviewers.

3.       Reviewers should not participate in peer review when they have conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with authors, companies, or institutions related to the manuscript. Manuscript review should be conducted fairly and impartially, without being influenced by the manuscript's source, the authors' nationality, institution, race, religion, beliefs, gender, or any other external factors.

4.       Reviewers must ensure that authors have acknowledged all sources of data used in the research. Reviewers should inform the editor immediately if they discover potential plagiarism or multiple submissions.

5.       Reviewers should express their views objectively and clearly with supporting arguments.

IV.     Advertisement Policy

World Geology does not accept advertising. No commercial advertisements will be published in the journal or on the journal’s official website.

V.      Intellectual Property and Open Science

The editorial office strives to respect the protection of intellectual property and requires editors, authors, and reviewers to do so. Any potential infringement should be avoided. Third-party infringement on the intellectual property of the journal is prohibited. On the premise of intellectual property protection, the journal encourages the practice of open science. Authors are encouraged to publish or share their research data whenever appropriate. The data for sharing may include original data, observation records, experimental results, etc. The journal also encourages the sharing of software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods, and other useful materials. Authors can upload the materials above to an accessible third-party repository and make a proper citation or add a link at the end of the article.

VI.     Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) lacks the ability for critical thinking and original assessment, which may result in incorrect, incomplete, or biased conclusions. As a non-legal entity, it cannot assert the presence of conflicts of interest nor manage copyright or license agreements. Therefore, this journal prohibits using GenAI as an author and its use in writing key sections of a paper (such as research methods, results analysis, etc.). If GenAI is used, authors must disclose it in the research methods section and take responsibility for the generated content. The editorial office also prohibits the use of GenAI to assist in manuscript review and acceptance decisions. The review and editorial process must be conducted manually. Additionally, uploading manuscripts or supplementary materials to publicly accessible GenAI platforms is strictly forbidden.