Editorial Guidelines

Editors with a conflict of interest (COI) will decline to handle a paper. Editors-in-Chief are not allowed to submit manuscripts to CCA during their term of service. If a Handling Editor submits a paper to the journal, the paper will be assigned to another editor, and the submitting editor will not have access to the editorial data, discussion, or decisions for that submission.

All editors are expected to declare any actual or perceived COI and to recuse themselves from handling or advising on such manuscripts. Typical conflicts of interest include:

• being related to an author or in a close personal relationship,

• current or recent collaboration with an author on closely related work, or sharing a current or pending research grant,

• advisor/advisee or postdoctoral mentoring relationships (past or present),

• working in the same department (or equivalent unit) as an author.

Submissions by editors are always handled under strict recusal and access separation, to preserve the integrity and impartiality of the editorial process.