Ethical Statements
Publication Ethics
The IOASD Journal of Business and Management Studies is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics, research integrity, and responsible scholarly publishing. The journal promotes honesty, transparency, accountability, fairness, and professionalism throughout the publication process and expects all participants—including authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and the publisher—to conduct themselves in accordance with these principles.
Submission of a manuscript to the journal signifies that the authors have read and accepted the journal's publication ethics policies and confirm that the submitted work complies with applicable ethical standards and represents original scholarly research.
Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research is conducted and reported honestly, accurately, and transparently. They must comply with the journal's ethical requirements throughout the submission, peer review, and publication process.
Originality and Plagiarism
Authors must submit original manuscripts that have not been published previously and are not simultaneously under consideration by another journal or publisher.
The following practices are considered unacceptable:
· Plagiarism of published or unpublished work.
· Self-plagiarism or redundant publication without appropriate disclosure.
· Duplicate or multiple submission of substantially similar manuscripts.
· Unauthorized use of copyrighted material.
· Improper citation or deliberate omission of relevant sources.
All ideas, data, figures, tables, quotations, and previously published material must be properly acknowledged through appropriate citation.
Data Integrity and Research Accuracy
Authors are responsible for the accuracy, authenticity, and integrity of all information presented in their manuscripts.
Research data must be collected, analyzed, interpreted, and reported honestly. Fabrication, falsification, selective reporting, manipulation of results, or misleading presentation of findings constitutes research misconduct and will not be accepted.
Authors should retain original research data and supporting documentation and make them available to the Editorial Office if requested during the editorial process.
Authorship
Authorship should accurately reflect individual scholarly contributions to the research.
Only individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or preparation of the manuscript should be listed as authors.
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:
· All eligible contributors are included as authors.
· Individuals who do not meet the criteria for authorship are not listed as authors.
· All authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
· All authors agree to the manuscript's submission and publication.
Any request to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be supported by an appropriate explanation and the written agreement of all authors.
Conflicts of Interest
Authors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research or its interpretation.
Where applicable, sources of research funding, grants, sponsorship, consultancy, employment, or other relevant support should be disclosed within the manuscript.
Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not necessarily prevent publication but enables readers to evaluate the research with appropriate transparency.
Research Ethics
Research involving human participants, interviews, questionnaires, surveys, organizational data, or case studies should be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical principles and institutional requirements.
Where required, authors should obtain appropriate ethical approval before commencing the research and should obtain informed consent from participants where applicable.
Authors must respect the confidentiality, privacy, dignity, and rights of research participants and organizations.
Any information that could identify individual participants or confidential organizational data should not be disclosed unless appropriate permission has been obtained.
Data Availability
The journal encourages authors to support transparency and reproducibility by providing information regarding the availability of data underlying their research findings.
Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to deposit research data in recognized repositories or make the data available upon reasonable request, subject to ethical, legal, or contractual restrictions.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-Assisted Technologies
Authors are responsible for all content submitted to the journal, including material prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) or automated technologies.
AI tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the integrity, originality, or accuracy of scholarly work.
Where AI-assisted technologies have been used for language editing, writing assistance, data analysis, image generation, coding, or similar purposes, authors should disclose such use appropriately within the manuscript.
Authors remain fully accountable for verifying the accuracy, originality, and integrity of all submitted content, regardless of whether AI-assisted technologies were used during manuscript preparation.
Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers
Reviewers play an essential role in maintaining the quality, integrity, and credibility of scholarly publishing. They are expected to evaluate manuscripts fairly, objectively, and professionally while maintaining the confidentiality of the review process.
Reviewers should:
· Accept review assignments only when they possess appropriate subject expertise.
· Conduct reviews objectively and provide constructive, evidence-based, and respectful comments.
· Evaluate manuscripts solely on their scholarly merit without discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, gender, institutional affiliation, religion, political beliefs, or other personal characteristics.
· Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and all associated review materials.
· Promptly disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest and decline the review where impartiality may be compromised.
· Inform the Editorial Office if they identify suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, image manipulation, citation manipulation, authorship concerns, or other forms of publication misconduct.
· Refrain from using unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal, academic, professional, or commercial benefit.
· Not share confidential manuscripts or upload manuscript content to publicly accessible artificial intelligence (AI) tools or third-party services without prior authorization from the journal.
Ethical Responsibilities of Editors
Editors are responsible for maintaining the integrity, quality, and credibility of the journal and for ensuring that all manuscripts are handled fairly, consistently, and professionally.
Editors should:
· Make editorial decisions solely on the basis of the scholarly merit, originality, methodological quality, and relevance of the manuscript.
· Treat all submitted manuscripts fairly and without discrimination.
· Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts, reviewer reports, and editorial communications.
· Avoid handling manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist and, where appropriate, transfer editorial responsibility to another qualified editor.
· Take appropriate action when ethical concerns or publication misconduct are suspected.
· Safeguard the integrity of the scholarly record through appropriate editorial action where necessary.
· Ensure that editorial decisions are based on objective evaluation and supported by appropriate evidence.
Research and Publication Misconduct
The journal takes all allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously and will investigate concerns in a fair, objective, and confidential manner.
Examples of misconduct include, but are not limited to:
· Plagiarism or self-plagiarism.
· Duplicate or redundant publication.
· Data fabrication or falsification.
· Image manipulation intended to misrepresent research findings.
· Citation manipulation.
· Authorship manipulation, including guest, honorary, or ghost authorship.
· Undisclosed conflicts of interest.
· Misrepresentation of research methods or findings.
· Submission of fraudulent ethical approval or participant consent documentation.
· Any other conduct that compromises the integrity of scholarly publishing.
Where appropriate, the journal may request original research data, supporting documentation, ethical approvals, funding information, or other relevant records to verify the authenticity of submitted work.
Investigation of Ethical Concerns
When potential ethical concerns are identified before or after publication, the Editorial Office will conduct an appropriate assessment based on the available evidence.
Depending on the nature of the concern, the journal may:
· Request clarification from the authors.
· Seek additional supporting documentation.
· Consult independent experts where appropriate.
· Contact the authors' institution or funding organization if necessary.
· Suspend editorial processing while an investigation is underway.
All investigations are conducted fairly, confidentially, and with due consideration for the rights of all parties involved.
Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
The journal is committed to maintaining the accuracy, reliability, and integrity of the scholarly record.
Where necessary, appropriate editorial action may include:
Corrections
Corrections may be published where errors are identified that do not invalidate the overall findings or conclusions of the article but require clarification or amendment.
Retractions
Articles may be retracted where there is clear evidence of serious ethical misconduct or where published findings are shown to be unreliable due to plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, significant errors, or other serious breaches of publication ethics.
Expressions of Concern
Where an investigation is ongoing and conclusive evidence is not yet available, the journal may publish an Expression of Concern to inform readers of potential issues affecting the reliability or integrity of a published article.
Whenever possible, authors will be informed of editorial actions before publication of a correction, retraction, or expression of concern.
Appeals and Ethical Complaints
The journal is committed to ensuring that ethical concerns, complaints, and appeals are handled fairly, impartially, and in a timely manner.
Authors, reviewers, readers, or other stakeholders may submit complaints or raise concerns regarding publication ethics, editorial conduct, authorship disputes, conflicts of interest, research integrity, or other matters related to published or submitted manuscripts.
Appeals against editorial decisions should be submitted in writing to the Editorial Office with a clear explanation and any supporting evidence. The journal will review all appeals objectively and may seek additional information or independent advice where appropriate.
The outcome of an appeal or ethical complaint will be communicated to the relevant parties after the review process has been completed. The decision reached by the journal following the completion of the investigation shall be considered final.
Post-Publication Responsibilities
Publication does not conclude the journal's responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record.
Where credible concerns regarding the accuracy, reliability, or ethical integrity of published work are brought to the journal's attention, the Editorial Office will assess the matter and take appropriate action where necessary.
Authors are expected to cooperate fully with any post-publication investigation and provide clarification, supporting documentation, or original research data when requested.
Readers are encouraged to notify the Editorial Office of any suspected errors, ethical concerns, or research misconduct identified in published articles.
Policy Review
The journal periodically reviews and updates its publication ethics policies to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, research integrity, and editorial best practices.
Revisions become effective upon publication on the journal's website and apply to all new submissions unless otherwise stated.
Related Policies
This Publication Ethics policy should be read together with the journal's:
Commitment to Ethical Publishing
The IOASD Journal of Business and Management Studies is dedicated to promoting ethical research, responsible scholarly communication, editorial transparency, and academic excellence.
The journal expects all participants in the publication process to uphold the highest standards of honesty, integrity, professionalism, and accountability. Through the consistent application of these principles, the journal seeks to preserve the credibility of the scholarly record, foster trust within the academic community, and support the dissemination of high-quality research in business, management, commerce, economics, finance, entrepreneurship, accounting, marketing, human resource management, public administration, and related disciplines.
