a. Complaints may be made by phone, email, or letter, ideally to the person the complainant is already in contact with over the matter being complained about. If that is not appropriate, please email: editor01@stmpub.com.

b. Whenever possible complaints will be dealt with by the person to whom they are made. If that person cannot deal with the complaint, he or she will refer it to the Editor-in-Chief.

c. Complaints about editorial matters that are sent to STM Publishing officers and officials will usually be referred in the first instance to the Editor.

d. All complaints will be acknowledged (immediately on the phone, within seven working days if by email or post).

e. If possible, a definitive response will be made within two weeks. If this is not possible an interim response will be given within two weeks. Interim responses will be provided until the complaint is finally resolved.

f. If the complainant remains unhappy, complaints should be escalated to the editor, whose decision is final.

g. If the complainant has exhausted the internal processes and is still unhappy, he or she can complain to the following body:

The Committee on Publication Ethics COPE publishes a code of practice for editors of scientific, technical, and medical journals http://www.publicationethics.org.uk/. It will consider complaints against editors but only once a journal's own complaints procedures have been exhausted.