Journal of Highway and Transportation Research and Development (English Edition) (HTRD) uphold a rigorous peer-review, and we are dedicated to investigating and taking actions to maintain the integrity of the papers based on principles and guidelines of COPE for the potential ethical issues.

In cases where there is suspicion of misconduct or alleged fraud, HTRD will conduct an investigation in accordance with the principles and flowcharts provided by COPE. If valid concerns arise, the author(s) will be contacted to discuss the matter. HTRD may then implement the following measures, among others:

1) If the manuscript is still under review, it may be rejected and returned to the author.

2) If the paper has been published online, the response will vary based on the nature and severity of the violation:

• A correction may be appended to the paper,
• An expression of concern may be issued alongside the paper,
• Or, in extreme cases, a retraction of the paper may be warranted.

 Authorship of the paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. Transparency about the contributions of authors is encouraged, for example in the form of a CRediT author statement.

Originality and plagiarism: The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

Data access and retention: Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data.

Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication: An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication.

Acknowledgement of sources: Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest: All submissions must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest.

Fundamental errors in published works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

Reporting standards: Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance.

Submissions to HTRD are automatically screened using iThenticate's CrossCheck within the editorial system to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts.