Editorial Policies
Materials Engineering and Technologies (MET) upholds the highest standards of academic integrity, transparency, and innovation in materials science and engineering. Our policies align with COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines and emphasize reproducibility, industrial relevance, and ethical research practices.
1. Scope and Aims
MET publishes original research, reviews, and technical briefs in the following areas:
- Advanced Materials Synthesis: Novel fabrication techniques (e.g., additive manufacturing, CVD, sol-gel processes).
- Characterization & Testing: Structural, mechanical, and functional analysis (e.g., SEM/TEM, nanoindentation, thermal stability).
- Industrial Applications: Scalable solutions for aerospace, biomedical devices, energy storage, and electronics.
- Sustainability & Safety: Eco-friendly materials design, lifecycle assessment, and hazardous material protocols.
2. Submission Requirements
All manuscripts must:
- Be submitted via the Editorial Manager system.
- Include a structured abstract (Objective, Methods, Results, Significance) and 5–8 keywords.
- Provide raw datasets (e.g., .cif files for crystallography, .stl files for 3D-printed models, stress-strain curves).
- Follow ACS or Elsevier formatting standards.
- Declare conflicts of interest (e.g., corporate funding, pending patents).
3. Peer Review Policy
- Single-Blind Review: Reviewers remain anonymous; authors may choose to disclose identities.
- Technical Rigor: Reviewers validate experimental reproducibility (e.g., sintering parameters, phase purity via XRD).
- Industrial Relevance: Submissions must address scalability (e.g., cost analysis for bulk ceramic production).
- Review Timeline: First-round decisions within 6–8 weeks.
4. Ethical Policies
Authorship and Originality
- Authorship requires substantial contributions to experimental design, data analysis, or manuscript drafting.
- Plagiarism Check: All submissions screened via iThenticate; manuscripts with >15% similarity (excluding references) are rejected.
- Self-Plagiarism: Reuse of prior data must be explicitly cited and limited to <10% of the new submission.
Data Integrity
- Reproducibility: Detailed protocols must enable replication (e.g., annealing temperatures, polymer curing times).
- Fabrication/Falsification: Cases of manipulated data (e.g., altered TEM micrographs, omitted fatigue test outliers) result in immediate retraction.
Safety Compliance
- Hazardous Materials: Submissions involving nanomaterials, toxic solvents, or high-temperature processes must include institutional safety approvals.
5. Open Access and Copyright
- Open Access: MET offers Gold Open Access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
- Copyright: Accepted manuscripts are copyrighted to MET; authors retain non-commercial reuse rights.
- APCs: Article Processing Charges (APCs) waived for submissions from low- and middle-income countries.
6. Corrections and Retractions
- Errata: Minor errors (e.g., mislabeled SEM images) corrected via an online notice.
- Retractions: Proven ethical breaches (e.g., undisclosed conflicts, data fraud) result in retraction with a public statement.
7. Appeals and Complaints
- Authors may appeal decisions by submitting a rebuttal letter to the Editor-in-Chief within 4 weeks.
- Ethical concerns (e.g., reviewer bias, procedural violations) should be reported to ethics@met-journal.org.
Special Considerations for Materials Science
- Data Sharing: Open-access raw data required (e.g., EBSD maps, DSC thermograms).
- Multidisciplinary Work: Studies combining materials science with AI, bioengineering, or energy systems require cross-disciplinary reviewer input.
- Standardized Reporting: Adherence to community guidelines (e.g., MIAB for biomaterials, ASTM standards for mechanical testing).
By adhering to these policies, MET ensures the publication of groundbreaking, ethical, and industrially impactful research. For inquiries, contact the editorial office at met@gospub.com.
