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Series editorial board members & our commissioning editors must:

acknowledge receipt of submitted book proposals within a few days of receipt and ensure the efficient, fair and timely review process of submitted book proposals

make certain that submitted book proposals are handled in a confidential manner, with the details never disclosed to anyone other than the referees without the permission of the editor/author(s) until a decision has been taken as to whether the book proposal has been accepted

decide to accept or reject a book proposal for publication with reference only to the book proposal's importance, originality and clarity, and its relevance to our publishing programme

respect the intellectual independence of editor/author(s)

make known any conflicts of interest that might arise (see 'Declaration of conflict of interest'); specifically, in cases where a series editorial board member is an editor/author of a submitted book proposal, the series editorial board member must not provide a review of the book proposal

consider the use of an editor/author's suggested referees for their submitted book proposal; however, the commissioning editor maintains the right to use referees of their own choice

ensure the confidentiality of the names and other details of referees

comply with data protection regulations, as appropriate.

Editors must:

inform the commissioning editor of related manuscripts under consideration for publication by the same editor(s) with another publisher; editors should provide details of these related manuscripts and their present status

ensure that a manuscript is submitted for publication to only one publisher at a time; it is unacceptable for an editor to submit a manuscript (or manuscripts describing essentially the same matter) to more than one publisher at a time

ensure that submitted chapters contain no personal criticism of other scientists; while criticism of the work of another scientist may be justified, a chapter may not contain any defamatory or otherwise actionable material

give due acknowledgement to all workers contributing to the work; those who have contributed significantly to the book as a whole should be listed as editors; on submission of the manuscript, the editor(s) attests to the fact that those named as editor(s) have agreed to its submission for publication and accept the responsibility for having properly included all editor(s); any change in editorship after submission of the manuscript must be approved by all editor(s) and justified to the commissioning editor

declare any conflict of interest (see 'Declaration of conflict of interest')

identify clearly in the manuscript any unusual hazards inherent in the use of chemicals, procedures or equipment in the investigation

include – in cases where a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects –  a statement in the 'Methods/Experimental' section of the manuscript that all experiments were performed in compliance with the relevant laws and institutional guidelines, and to state the institutional committee(s) that have approved the experiments; and include a statement that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects.

Authors must:

produce an original manuscript, which does not have significant overlap with previously published works, either by the same author (self-plagiarism) or by a different author (plagiarism)

gather and interpret data in an honest way; we reserve the right to assume that submitted (and published) manuscripts do not contain scientific dishonesty and/or fraud comprising among others fictitious or manipulated data or plagiarised material (either from the previous work of the authors or that of other persons); authors must not breach any copyright; when reproducing figures and/or schemes from previous publications, it is the author’s responsibility to seek appropriate permission from the relevant publishers

give due recognition to published work relating to their submitted manuscript by way of correct reference and citation; all sources should be disclosed, and if a significant amount of other people's material is to be used, permission must be sought by the author in accordance with copyright law; an author should not use privately obtained information (for example, information obtained through conversation), or information obtained through the performance of a confidential service (for example, the refereeing of a manuscript), without permission from the person from whom the information originated

inform the editor of related manuscripts or chapters under consideration for publication by the same author with another publisher; authors should provide details of these relevant manuscripts and chapters, and their present status

ensure that a manuscript or chapter is submitted for publication in only one book at a time; it is unacceptable for an author to submit a manuscript or chapter to more than one publisher at a time

make certain that their submitted chapters contain no personal criticism of other scientists; while criticism of the work of another scientist may be justified, a chapter may not contain any defamatory or otherwise actionable material

give due acknowledgement to all workers contributing to the work; those who have contributed significantly to the chapter should be listed as authors; on submission of the chapter, the principal author attests to the fact that those named as authors have agreed to its submission for publication, and accepts the responsibility for having properly included all (and only) authors; the principal author signs a copyright licence on behalf of all the authors; any change in authorship after initial submission must be approved by all the editors, and justified to the commissioning editor

declare any conflict of interest (see 'Declaration of conflict of interest')

identify clearly in the manuscript any unusual hazards inherent in the use of chemicals, procedures or equipment in the investigation

include – in cases where a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects –  a statement in the 'Methods/Experimental' section of the manuscript that all experiments were performed in compliance with the relevant laws and institutional guidelines, and state the institutional committee(s) that have approved the experiments; include a statement that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects.

Reviewers must:

acknowledge receipt of a book proposal within a few days of receipt and ensure the efficient, fair and timely review of the book proposal

notify the editor and excuse him/herself from the review process if he or she feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or know that its prompt review will be impossible

treat the book proposal as confidential; the book proposal (or its existence) should not be shown or disclosed to, or discussed with, others

destroy/erase the book proposal and to inform the commissioning editor should they be unqualified to review the manuscript, or lack the time to review the manuscript, without undue delay

judge the manuscript objectively and in a timely fashion; referees should not make personal criticism in their reviews

inform the commissioning editor if there is a conflict of interest (see Declaration of 'conflict of interest'); specifically, referees should not review book proposals by a person with whom the referee has a close personal or professional relationship, if this relationship could be reasonably thought to bias the review

respect the intellectual independence of the editor/author(s)

explain and support their judgements so that editor/author(s) and commissioning editor may understand the basis of their comments

ensure that all unpublished data, information, interpretation and discussion in a submitted book proposal remain confidential and not use reported work in unpublished, submitted articles for their own research.