Publication Ethics

Bulletin of Management and Business (BMB) is committed to maintaining academic integrity, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. The journal seeks to ensure that published research meets appropriate standards of scientific quality, originality, and responsible academic practice.

This policy applies to authors, editors, reviewers, and journal management throughout the submission, peer-review, publication, and post-publication processes. It is informed by the Core Practices and relevant guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), alongside applicable research ethics requirements and regulations.

All parties involved in publishing with BMB are expected to act honestly, handle concerns fairly and confidentially, disclose relevant conflicts of interest, and cooperate in protecting the integrity of the scholarly record.

Reference: COPE Core Practices ↗

Authors are responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, and ethical conduct of their research throughout the submission and publication process.

Authors must present research objectives, methods, analyses, findings, and conclusions accurately, objectively, and transparently. Research reports must contain sufficient information to allow readers to understand how the study was conducted and how the conclusions were reached. Material limitations must not be concealed, and findings must not be misrepresented.

Submitted manuscripts must represent original scholarly work. Authors must acknowledge and cite sources of ideas, text, data, methods, and other intellectual contributions appropriately. Plagiarism, misleading paraphrasing, fabricated references, and unauthorized use of intellectual property are unacceptable. Manuscripts may undergo similarity screening in accordance with BMB's Plagiarism Policy. Similarity results must be assessed in context and do not automatically establish plagiarism.

Authors must not submit the same manuscript, or substantially overlapping manuscripts, to multiple journals simultaneously. Manuscripts must not reproduce previously published work in a manner that misleads readers about the originality of the contribution. Any substantial overlap with earlier publications, preprints, or related work must be disclosed and appropriately referenced. Exceptions, such as permitted preprint dissemination, are subject to the journal's applicable policies.

Authorship must accurately reflect meaningful scholarly contributions to the research and manuscript. All listed authors must meet BMB's Authorship Criteria, approve the final version, agree to the submission, and accept responsibility for their contributions. The corresponding author must coordinate communication with the Editorial Board and ensure that the author list, author order, affiliations, and contribution statements are accurate and agreed upon. Authorship disputes and requests for authorship changes will be handled in accordance with the journal's authorship policy and relevant COPE guidance.

Authors must conduct research in accordance with applicable ethical standards and legal requirements. Research involving human participants, animals, personal information, vulnerable populations, or confidential organizational data must comply with relevant requirements for ethical review, informed consent, confidentiality, and data protection. Where ethical approval or consent is applicable, authors must provide the relevant information and approval details. Any applicable exemption must be explained accurately.

Authors must collect, analyze, preserve, and report research data responsibly. Fabrication, falsification, deceptive manipulation, and selective misrepresentation of data or findings are prohibited. Authors should retain supporting data and documentation and provide access when reasonably required for verification, subject to ethical approval, participant confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property, and other legitimate restrictions. Any data availability statement must accurately describe whether the data are available and under what conditions.

Authors must disclose financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other competing interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their research or interpretation of findings. Funding sources and the role of sponsors in study design, data collection, analysis, manuscript preparation, or publication decisions must be disclosed where applicable. A declaration that no relevant competing interests exist should be provided when required.

Authors must follow BMB's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy. AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, validity, and integrity of AI-assisted content and must disclose substantive AI use in accordance with the journal's requirements. AI-generated references, data, images, analyses, and factual claims must be verified before inclusion.

Authors who identify significant errors or inaccuracies in a submitted or published manuscript must promptly notify the Editorial Board and cooperate in assessing the issue. Where necessary, authors must assist with corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions to preserve the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

Editors are responsible for maintaining the fairness, independence, confidentiality, and integrity of the editorial and publication process.

Editors must evaluate manuscripts on the basis of academic merit, relevance to the journal's Focus and Scope, originality, methodological quality, scholarly contribution, and compliance with publication ethics. Decisions must be made independently and must not be improperly influenced by commercial interests, institutional pressure, personal relationships, or publication charges.

Editors must assess manuscripts fairly and without discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, institutional affiliation, or other characteristics unrelated to scholarly merit.

Editors must select reviewers with appropriate expertise, provide clear review guidance, and manage the peer-review process fairly and efficiently. Reviewers must be asked to disclose relevant competing interests. Editorial decisions should consider the substance and quality of reviewer reports rather than relying mechanically on recommendations.

Editors must protect submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, research data, editorial correspondence, and personal information. Unpublished material must not be disclosed or used for personal or professional advantage without appropriate authorization. Confidential materials must also be protected when digital or AI-assisted tools are used.

Editors must disclose relevant competing interests and withdraw from handling a manuscript when their impartiality may be compromised. An appropriately independent editor should be assigned where necessary. Editorial decisions must remain separate from financial, institutional, personal, or commercial considerations.

Editors must ensure that information about the journal's aims and scope, editorial team, submission requirements, peer-review procedures, publication ethics, copyright and licensing, and publication charges is accessible, accurate, and kept up to date.

Editors must respond appropriately to credible allegations of plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, authorship disputes, undisclosed competing interests, unethical research, or other publication ethics concerns. Editors may request explanations, examine available evidence, consult independent experts, and refer matters requiring formal investigation to the relevant institution.

Reviewers support the quality and integrity of scholarly publishing by providing independent, constructive, and evidence-based assessments.

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively and constructively, considering scholarly quality, methodological rigor, originality, and contribution to knowledge. Personal criticism, discriminatory remarks, unsupported accusations, and inappropriate language must be avoided. Comments and recommendations should be supported by clear reasoning.

Manuscripts received for review are confidential documents. Reviewers must not share, reproduce, disclose, or use unpublished content for personal advantage or their own research without appropriate authorization. Confidential manuscripts must not be uploaded to unauthorized external AI systems.

Reviewers should confidentially notify the editor of credible concerns about plagiarism, redundant publication, inappropriate citations, questionable data, possible ethical violations, or other matters affecting research integrity. Concerns should be explained with reasonable evidence where available, rather than presented as unsupported allegations.

Reviewers should complete their assessments within the timeframe established by the Editorial Board. Where a two-week deadline is specified in the review invitation, reviewers are expected to comply or promptly request an extension or decline the assignment if they cannot complete it in time.

Reviewers must disclose financial, personal, professional, institutional, or academic relationships that could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, their independence. Reviewers should decline assignments where a conflict cannot be appropriately managed.

Reviewers remain responsible for their evaluations and recommendations. AI tools must not be used in a manner that compromises manuscript confidentiality, transfers confidential content to unauthorized services, or replaces the reviewer's independent scholarly judgment.

Journal management is responsible for maintaining the administrative, technical, and governance arrangements necessary for ethical and sustainable scholarly publishing.

Journal management must clearly communicate BMB's academic mission, aims and scope, editorial structure, and publication policies. Responsibilities and procedures should be sufficiently clear to support accountable administration and editorial independence.

Journal management must respect the academic independence of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board. Commercial considerations, institutional interests, sponsorship, and publication charges must not determine manuscript evaluation or acceptance decisions.

Journal management must respect authors' intellectual property rights and communicate copyright, licensing, and reuse conditions transparently. BMB applies the license specified in its current Copyright and Licensing Policy. Articles previously published remain subject to the licensing terms applicable to those publications.

All publication-related charges must be disclosed clearly. BMB does not charge manuscript submission fees. Article Processing Charges (APC) apply after formal manuscript acceptance as follows:

Publication charges must not influence peer-review outcomes, editorial assessments, or acceptance decisions.

Journal management must safeguard personal information and confidential material obtained during journal operations. Such information must be collected, processed, stored, and used responsibly for legitimate journal and publication purposes, subject to applicable privacy and data-protection requirements.

Journal management should maintain appropriate electronic archiving and preservation arrangements to support the continued accessibility and integrity of published scholarly works. Any claims about specific preservation services or systems must accurately reflect the arrangements actually implemented by the journal.

BMB provides a process for authors and other relevant parties to raise concerns about editorial procedures, alleged breaches of publication ethics, or the handling of a manuscript. Authors may appeal an editorial decision by submitting a reasoned explanation identifying the grounds for the appeal and providing relevant supporting information.

Complaints and appeals should be submitted through the journal's official communication channels and will be assessed by an appropriate editor or journal representative who is not directly conflicted by the matter. Where necessary, an independent person may be asked to review the concern.

Complaints and appeals will be considered fairly, confidentially, and on their merits. Submitting an appeal does not guarantee that an editorial decision will be reversed. The journal will communicate the outcome when the assessment is complete.

BMB takes credible allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously, whether they arise before or after publication. Concerns may be reported by authors, reviewers, readers, editors, institutions, or other relevant parties through the journal's official communication channels.

The Editorial Board will assess concerns in a fair, confidential, and proportionate manner, following the principles below:

Depending on the circumstances, actions may include requesting clarification or revision, rejecting a manuscript, correcting the published record, issuing an expression of concern, or retracting an article. The journal may also cooperate with relevant institutions in the investigation of serious concerns.

Allegations alone do not constitute proof of misconduct. Decisions must be based on the available evidence and an appropriate assessment of the circumstances.

BMB recognizes the importance of maintaining the accuracy and reliability of the scholarly record after publication. Readers and other relevant parties may report substantive concerns about published articles through the journal's official communication channels.

The Editorial Board will assess post-publication concerns based on their nature, supporting evidence, and potential effect on the reliability, interpretation, or ethical status of the published work. Authors may be contacted for clarification or a response, and independent expertise may be sought where appropriate.

Where a published article contains a significant error that can be corrected without invalidating the overall work, the journal may publish a correction. Where substantial concerns remain about the reliability or integrity of an article, an expression of concern may be considered while the matter is investigated.

Retraction may be considered when evidence establishes that an article's findings or conclusions are unreliable, or when serious ethical or publication violations undermine the integrity of the published record. Corrections, expressions of concern, and retraction notices should clearly identify the affected article and explain the editorial action. Such actions are intended to correct the scholarly record, not simply to punish authors.

Reference: COPE guidance on post-publication discussions and corrections ↗

The Editorial Board is responsible for implementing this policy and reviewing it periodically to ensure that it remains appropriate to the journal's scope, editorial procedures, applicable requirements, and developments in publication ethics.

This policy should be read together with BMB's Plagiarism Policy, Authorship Criteria and Author Contributions policy, AI Usage Policy, Peer Review Policy, and Copyright and Licensing Policy.