Publication Ethics

Journal of Business Ethics (ETHICS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and integrity in scholarly publishing. The journal follows internationally recognized ethical guidelines, including the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), to ensure transparency, fairness, accountability, and academic excellence throughout the publication process.

All parties involved in the publication process—including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher—are expected to adhere to the ethical principles outlined below.

Duties of Authors

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that their manuscripts are original works and have not been published previously or submitted simultaneously to another journal. Proper acknowledgment and citation of the work of others must always be provided.

Data Integrity and Accuracy

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all data presented in the manuscript are accurate, reliable, and honestly reported. Fabrication, falsification, manipulation of data, or misleading presentation of results are considered serious ethical violations.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors should not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Duplicate publication or redundant publication is unacceptable.

Authorship of the Manuscript

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant intellectual contributions to the conception, design, execution, analysis, or interpretation of the study. All co-authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, professional, or personal relationships that could influence the interpretation or presentation of their research.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must appropriately acknowledge all sources of information and ideas used in the research and manuscript preparation.

Correction of Errors

When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their published work, they are obligated to promptly notify the editors and cooperate in correcting or retracting the article when necessary.

Duties of Editors

Publication Decisions

Editors are responsible for making publication decisions based on the manuscript’s academic merit, originality, relevance to the journal’s scope, methodological quality, and contribution to knowledge.

Fair Play and Editorial Independence

Editors evaluate manuscripts solely on intellectual content without discrimination based on race, gender, nationality, religion, institutional affiliation, political beliefs, or other personal characteristics of the authors.

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff must not disclose information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial advisors, and the publisher as appropriate.

Conflicts of Interest

Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, financial, or other relationships with authors, institutions, or organizations connected to the research.

Ethical Oversight

Editors will take appropriate action when ethical concerns are raised regarding submitted or published manuscripts, including issuing corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions when necessary.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists editors in making publication decisions and helps authors improve the quality of their manuscripts through constructive feedback.

Confidentiality

Reviewers must treat all manuscripts received for review as confidential documents and must not share or discuss them with others without authorization from the editor.

Objectivity and Constructive Feedback

Reviews should be conducted objectively and professionally. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate. Reviewers should provide clear, evidence-based, and constructive comments.

Acknowledgment of Relevant Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors and alert editors to any substantial similarity or overlap with other known publications.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must decline review assignments if they have conflicts of interest that could affect their objectivity.

Publication Malpractice

The journal does not tolerate any form of publication misconduct, including but not limited to:

• Plagiarism

• Self-plagiarism

• Data fabrication or falsification

• Citation manipulation

• Duplicate or redundant publication

• Authorship manipulation

• Undisclosed conflicts of interest

• Peer-review manipulation

Any suspected misconduct will be investigated according to established ethical procedures and COPE recommendations. Appropriate actions may include manuscript rejection, publication correction, article retraction, notification of authors’ institutions, or other necessary measures.

Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards and regulations. Authors should indicate that informed consent has been obtained where appropriate and that ethical approval has been granted by the relevant ethics committee or institutional review board when required.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors may appeal editorial decisions or submit complaints regarding editorial processes, publication ethics, or reviewer conduct. All appeals and complaints will be handled fairly, transparently, and in accordance with the journal’s ethical policies.

Retraction, Correction, and Withdrawal Policy

The journal reserves the right to publish corrections, clarifications, expressions of concern, or retractions when necessary to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record. Retractions will be issued in cases of serious ethical breaches, unreliable findings, plagiarism, or other forms of publication misconduct.

Commitment to Ethical Publishing

By submitting a manuscript to Journal of Business Ethics (ETHICS), authors affirm that their work complies with these ethical standards. The journal is committed to promoting integrity, transparency, accountability, and responsible research practices in all aspects of scholarly publishing.