Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement
Archives of Business Research · Policies
Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement
The responsibilities of editors, authors, reviewers, and the publisher under COPE best practice.
Archives of Business Research is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. As a COPE member, the journal follows the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines and expects all parties to meet the responsibilities set out below. This statement draws on COPE’s principles and the guidance underlying recognised standards such as those of DOAJ and OASPA.
Duties of editors
| • | Decision-making: decisions to accept or reject are based on the manuscript’s importance, originality, validity, and relevance to scope, free from discrimination or commercial influence. |
| • | Confidentiality: editors must not disclose information about a submission to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and the publisher, as appropriate. |
| • | Conflicts of interest: editors must recuse themselves from manuscripts in which they have a competing interest. |
| • | Integrity: editors act promptly on credible concerns and are willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed. |
Duties of authors
| • | Originality and acknowledgement: work must be original; the work and words of others must be properly cited. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. |
| • | Multiple or concurrent submission: manuscripts must not be submitted to more than one journal at a time, nor describe already-published work (redundant publication). |
| • | Data integrity: authors must present accurate results and retain raw data; fabrication, falsification, and inappropriate image or data manipulation are serious misconduct. |
| • | Authorship: all and only those who qualify must be listed (see Authorship & Contributorship). |
| • | Disclosure: authors must declare conflicts of interest, funding, and any use of generative AI. |
| • | Errors: authors must promptly notify the journal of any significant error and cooperate in issuing a correction or retraction. |
Duties of reviewers
Reviewers must maintain confidentiality, declare conflicts of interest, review objectively and constructively, and report suspected ethical breaches (see the Peer Review Policy).
Duties of the publisher
Scholar Publishing supports the journal’s editorial independence, ensures sound archiving and access (see Archiving & Preservation), and assists editors in handling allegations of misconduct.
Handling misconduct
Allegations of misconduct — including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, authorship disputes, undisclosed conflicts, redundant or duplicate publication, and citation manipulation — are investigated following the relevant COPE flowcharts, whether the article is at submission or already published. Outcomes may include rejection, correction, an expression of concern, retraction, and notification of the authors’ institutions or funders. Authors are given the opportunity to respond to any allegation.
Complaints
Concerns about the journal’s conduct or content are handled under the Complaints & Appeals policy.
