Peer Reviewer Conduct and Intellectual Property

Authors are entitled to expect that peer reviewers or other individuals privy to the work an author submits to JOPI will not steal their research ideas or plagiarize their work. JOPI explains to peer reviewers that material is in confidence until it has not been published. Editors of JOPI protect peer reviewers from authors and, even if peer reviewer identities are revealed, should discourage authors from contacting peer reviewers directly, especially if misconduct is suspected.