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grouping of images that should be presented separately, or modifying the contrast, brightness, or color balance to obscure,
eliminate, or enhance some information.
If irregular image manipulation is identified and confirmed during the peer-review process, we may reject the manuscript.
If irregular image manipulation is identified and confirmed after publication, we may publish a Correction or retract the
paper.
OAE reserves the right to contact the authors’ institution(s) to investigate possible publication misconduct if the Editors find
conclusive evidence of misconduct before or after publication. OAE has a partnership with iThenticate, which is the most
trusted similarity checker. It is used to analyze received manuscripts to avoid plagiarism to the greatest extent possible.
When plagiarism becomes evident after publication, we will retract the original publication or require modifications,
depending on the degree of plagiarism, context within the published article, and its impact on the overall integrity of the
published study. Journal Editors will act under the relevant COPE Guidelines.
4. Authorship
Authorship credit of OAE journals should be solely based on substantial contributions to a published study, as specified in
the following four criteria:
1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
for the work;
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
3. Final approval of the version to be published;
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of
any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
All those who meet these criteria should be identified as authors. Authors must specify their contributions in the section
Authors’ Contributions of their manuscripts. Contributors who do not meet all the four criteria (like only involved in
acquisition of funding, general supervision of a research group, general administrative support, writing assistance, technical
editing, language editing, proofreading, etc.) should be acknowledged in the section of Acknowledgement in the manuscript
rather than being listed as authors.
If a large multiple-author group has conducted the work, the group ideally should decide who will be authors before the
work starts and confirm authors before submission. All authors of the group named as authors must meet all the four criteria
for authorship.
AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author.
5. Reviewers Exclusions

You may exclude a maximum of three researchers as potential Editors or reviewers of your manuscript, if you believe that
there may be any conflict of interest. To ensure a fair and rigorous peer review process, we ask that you keep your exclusions
to a maximum of three people. If you wish to exclude additional referees, please explain or justify your concerns—this
information will be helpful for Editors when deciding whether to honor your request.

6. Editors and Journal Staff as Authors
Editorial independence is extremely important and OAE does not interfere with editorial decisions.
Editorial staff or Editors shall not be involved in the processing their own academic work. Submissions authored by editorial
staff/Editors will be assigned to at least three independent outside reviewers. Decisions will be made by other Editorial
Board members who do not have conflict of interests with the author. Journal staffs are not involved in the processing of
their own work submitted to any OAE journals.
7. Policy of the Use of AI and AI-assisted Technologies in Scientific Writing
Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (e.g., large language models) are expected to be increasingly used to create
content. In the writing process of manuscripts, using AI and AI-assisted technologies to complete key researcher work,
such as producing scientific insights, analyzing and interpreting data or drawing scientific conclusions, is not allowed, and
they should only be used to improve the readability and language of manuscripts.
AI and AI-assisted technologies should be used under human control and supervision as they may generate incorrect or
prejudiced output, and they should not be listed as an author or co-author, nor cited as an author.
The use of AI and AI-assisted technologies should be disclosed by authors in their manuscripts, and a statement will be
required in the final publication.
OAE will keep monitoring the development and adjust the policy when necessary.
8. Conflict of Interests
OAE journals require authors to declare any possible financial and/or non-financial conflicts of interest at the end of their
manuscript and in the cover letter, as well as confirm this point when submitting their manuscript in the submission system.
If no conflicts of interest exist, authors need to state “The authors declare no conflicts of interest”. We also recognize that
some authors may be bound by confidentiality agreements, in which cases authors need to sate “The authors declare that
they are bound by confidentiality agreements that prevent them from disclosing their competing interests in this work”.

XIII Microbiome Research Reports