Citation Policy

Citation Integrity and Citation Manipulation

Cancer Biome and Targeted Therapy is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record and actively monitors submitted manuscripts for inappropriate citation practices, including citation manipulation.

All article types, including research and non-research content (e.g., Reviews, Commentaries, Perspectives, and Opinions), must include accurate, balanced, and relevant citations that appropriately support scientific claims, interpretations, and discussion.

Authors are expected to engage with the scholarly literature ethically and responsibly.

Citation Manipulation

The following practices are considered inappropriate and are prohibited:

  • Excessive self-citation without a clear scholarly justification
  • Coordinated citation practices among authors, institutions, or research groups are intended to artificially increase citation metrics
  • Inclusion of unnecessary citations to articles published in the submitting journal for the purpose of inflating journal-based metrics
  • Preferential citation of colleagues, collaborators, mentors, or institutional affiliates without objective scientific relevance
  • Citation padding or inclusion of references unrelated to the scientific content of the manuscript

The journal reserves the right to assess citation patterns during editorial evaluation and peer review. Manuscripts containing evidence of citation manipulation or unethical citation practices may be rejected or returned for revision.

Editorial Peer review Conduct

Editors and reviewers may recommend additional references when scientifically justified and directly relevant to the manuscript. However, requests for unnecessary citations intended to influence personal, institutional, or journal-level citation metrics are considered inappropriate and contrary to publication ethics.

Concerns regarding coercive citation practices or attempts to manipulate citation patterns should be reported to the editorial office or publisher.

Publication Ethics

The journal follows ethical publishing standards consistent with recommendations from COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and reserves the right to investigate suspected citation misconduct before or after publication.