OSA Press follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines. To qualify for authorship, authors must meet all four criteria:

• Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
• Draft the work or review it critically for important intellectual content.
• Provide final approval of the version to be published.
• Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Those who contributed but do not qualify for authorship should be listed in the acknowledgments.

All submitted manuscripts should include an author contributorship statement using the CRediT taxonomy. Example format:

Conceptualization, X.X. and Y.Y.; methodology, X.X.; software, X.X.; validation, X.X., Y.Y., and Z.Z.; formal analysis, X.X.; investigation, X.X.; resources, X.X.; data curation, X.X.; writing—original draft preparation, X.X.; writing—review and editing, X.X.; visualization, X.X.; supervision, X.X.; project administration, X.X.; funding acquisition, Y.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

If a manuscript is submitted with a deceased author, the corresponding author should inform the Editorial Office and confirm the contribution and any potential conflicts of interest. Uponf publication, a note will be added under the author list.

Any proposed change to the author list—including the removal of individuals—requires formal approval from every author. The corresponding author acts as the editorial contact and bears the responsibility of updating co-authors on all significant editorial decisions, while ensuring their involvement throughout the process.

OSA Press recognizes the opportunities and challenges presented by Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools, including ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs), in scholarly publishing. To promote transparency and research integrity, OSA Press has established the following policy.

Authors must disclose the use of GenAI tools when they have been used to generate text, data, graphics, study designs, or to assist with data collection, analysis, or interpretation. Details of such use should be described in the manuscript and acknowledged appropriately.

• Suggested Acknowledgment:

  "During the preparation of this manuscript, the author(s) used [tool name and version] for [purpose]. The authors reviewed and edited the generated content and take full responsibility for the final published work."

  The use of AI-assisted tools solely for language editing, grammar correction, spelling, punctuation, or formatting does not require disclosure.

  Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of all content submitted, including any content generated with AI tools.

• Authorship:

  AI tools and LLMs cannot be listed as authors, as they do not meet the requirements for authorship and cannot assume responsibility for published work.

Reviewers must not use GenAI tools to generate or evaluate peer review reports. Manuscripts, figures, tables, or any confidential materials under review must not be uploaded to AI systems. Limited use of AI for language editing of review reports may be acceptable but should be disclosed to the editorial office.

Editors must not use GenAI tools in editorial evaluation or decision-making processes. Confidential manuscript materials must not be uploaded to AI systems under any circumstances.

The Publisher and Editors are jointly responsible for maintaining the integrity of the published record through fair and timely investigations of alleged misconduct, transparent processes, and appropriate corrective actions.

Corrections are issued for honest errors that affect interpretation but do not invalidate overall findings. Examples include errors in figures or tables, mathematical errors that do not affect conclusions, incorrect affiliations, and minor methodology description errors. The Publisher and Editor review correction requests promptly and publish corrections in a timely manner. Corrections are linked bidirectionally with the original article and indexing services are notified.

OSA Press follows COPE retraction guidelines. Retractions are issued to correct the literature and alert readers to publications with serious concerns about integrity, validity, or reliability. Grounds for retraction include data fabrication or falsification, plagiarism, research conducted without ethical approval, unreproducible findings without adequate explanation, unethical authorship practices, and duplicate publication without disclosure.

Retractions may be initiated by authors, the Editor-in-Chief, the Publisher, authors' institutions or employers, funding agencies, or readers with compelling evidence. When authors refuse to retract despite clear evidence, the Editor or Publisher will issue the retraction independently.

All retraction notices include the title formatted as "Retracted: " followed by the original article title, complete citation, identification of who is retracting, clear and specific reason, date of retraction, and whether authors agree or disagree. Retracted articles remain online permanently with "RETRACTED" watermarks on every page, prominent banners, and clear links to retraction notices.

All manuscripts submitted to journals published by OSA Press are subject to peer review before acceptance. We are fully committed to unbiased editorial processes that prioritize scholarly merit, methodological soundness, and relevance to the field.

All journals under our press implement a double-anonymised peer review model. This means:

• Authors do not know the identity of the reviewers.
• Reviewers do not know the identity of the authors.
• Manuscripts are anonymized before being sent to reviewers.
• The review process is overseen by editors who ensure fairness, timeliness, and adherence to ethical standards.

Reviewers are expected to:

• Provide objective and constructive feedback
• Evaluate manuscripts confidentially and refrain from sharing content
• Declare any potential conflicts of interest
• Decline to review if impartiality cannot be ensured
• Avoid using information from the manuscript for personal or professional gain

Editors act independently of commercial or institutional influence and base their decisions solely on academic merit. Where a conflict of interest arises, editors must recuse themselves from involvement with the manuscript.

Authors who wish to appeal an editorial decision or report concerns regarding the peer review process may contact the journal's editorial office. Appeals are reviewed carefully in accordance with our ethical standards and the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

• Submit work that is entirely original, not under consideration elsewhere, and properly cites all sources.
• Ensure the accuracy and completeness of all data, and refrain from fabrication, falsification, or selective reporting.
• Disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could reasonably influence their research or its interpretation.
• Confirm that all listed authors meet the accepted criteria for authorship and that no eligible individual has been omitted.
• Promptly inform the journal of any significant errors in their published work and cooperate fully in any necessary corrections.

• Assess manuscripts impartially, based solely on scientific quality, significance, and methodological soundness.
• Preserve the confidentiality of all materials and refrain from using unpublished content for personal or professional advantage.
• Declare any competing interests and withdraw from handling manuscripts where such interests exist.
• Provide detailed, constructive, and respectful feedback that helps authors improve their work.
• Complete reviews within the agreed time or notify the editorial office promptly of any delay.

• Making acceptance decisions on academic merit alone, without regard to authors' personal characteristics, institutional affiliation, or national origin.
• Protecting the confidentiality of all submissions until formal publication.
• Managing any personal or professional conflicts that may affect their editorial handling.
• Investigating allegations of misconduct in a timely, impartial, and confidential manner.
• Applying editorial policies uniformly across all submissions and ensuring a robust peer-review process.

• Provide and maintain clearly written, publicly available editorial policies that are consistently enforced.
• Preserve the authenticity of the published record through transparent correction and retraction procedures.
• Ensure long-term digital archiving and perpetual access to published content.
• Review this ethics statement at least annually and communicate policy updates to editors and authors.

From the time of submission until formal publication, every manuscript is held in strict confidence. No editor or reviewer may share, cite, discuss, or otherwise reveal any part of a submitted work without the explicit written permission of the corresponding author.

All correspondence and materials generated during the review process—including reviewer reports, editorial decision letters, and related exchanges—remain permanently confidential. Reviewers are required to destroy or return all copies of manuscripts in their possession once their review is completed.

For journals operating under a double-anonymised peer-review model, access to authors' identifying information is restricted to editors and reviewers only to the extent necessary for evaluation, and such information is handled with the utmost discretion.

Any personal data submitted to OSA Press—whether by authors, reviewers, or editors—are processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and all applicable data protection regulations. Individuals may request access to, correction of, or deletion of their personal data by contacting our privacy office at privacy@osapress.org.

Special Issues are curated collections of articles focused on a specific research theme or emerging topic. They are managed by appointed Guest Editors—subject experts who oversee the editorial process for submissions within the scope of the Special Issue.

Unlike traditional issues, Special Issues are not published as standalone volumes. Instead, accepted articles appear within the journal's regular issues but are clearly grouped and labeled under the relevant Special Issue both online and in metadata.

Special Issues help amplify focused scholarly conversations, promote topical visibility, and enhance discoverability through thematic coherence.

• Special issues address emerging or interdisciplinary themes curated by Guest Editors.
• Guest Editors are nominated by the EiC and undergo a vetting process.
• All submissions to special issues go through standard peer review and ethical checks.
• Guest Editors must disclose any conflicts and adhere to the same editorial and ethical standards as regular editors.

All submissions to Special Issues undergo the same rigorous editorial and ethical procedures as standard submissions:

• Articles are reviewed by at least two independent reviewers
• Editorial decisions by Guest Editors are subject to oversight by the Editor-in-Chief or assigned Board Member
• If Guest Editors have a conflict of interest with any manuscript, they must recuse themselves from the review process
• Any suspected issues (e.g., citation manipulation, excessive self-publication, or review misconduct) will result in investigation and may lead to withdrawal of editorial privileges or article retraction

• Guest Editors use the journal's online editorial platform to manage submissions
• Review progress can be monitored in real time
• Final decisions (accept/reject) must be based on peer review reports and ethical review
• Any submission by a Guest Editor will be reassigned to another editor for full independence
• If a Guest Editor is unresponsive or conflicted, the journal reserves the right to reassign responsibilities

To propose a Special Issue, please download and complete our [Special Issue Proposal Form] (PDF/Word), and send it to: information@osapress.com

For further assistance, you may also reach out to the Editorial Office of the specific journal to discuss your idea prior to formal submission.