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Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics

Frontiers in Business Innovations and Management (FBIM)

eISSN: 2978-3682

1. Introduction & Core Principles

Frontiers in Business Innovations and Management (FBIM) is dedicated to upholding the highest benchmarks of publication ethics, intellectual rigor, and editorial integrity. Maintaining credibility across business and management research requires that authors, editors, peer reviewers, and publishers strictly adhere to standardized ethical conduct.

FBIM operates in strict accordance with the guidelines, flowcharts, and core practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and international standards for transparent scholarly publishing.

2. Article Submission Process

Authors interested in submitting their original research manuscripts to FBIM are requested to submit through the official submission portal using the link below:

Submit Article Now

3. Duties & Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting their research to FBIM must ensure complete transparency and compliance with the following standards:

  • Originality & Novelty: Manuscripts must represent completely original work that has not been published elsewhere and is not currently under consideration by any other journal or conference platform.

  • Data Transparency & Authenticity: Authors must present accurate empirical data, robust research methodologies, and objective interpretations of findings. Underlying raw data must be retained and made available upon editorial request.

  • Proper Attribution & Referencing: Ideas, text, charts, or theories taken from third-party works must be cited accurately using the APA 7th Edition format.

  • Disclosure of Conflicts: Authors must explicitly declare any financial support, corporate sponsorships, or personal interests that could be perceived as influencing the research outcomes.

  • Cooperation in Post-Publication Issues: Authors are obligated to promptly notify the Editor-in-Chief if an error is discovered in their work and cooperate fully in issuing corrections or retractions where necessary.

4. Originality, Plagiarism & Research Misconduct

FBIM maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding academic dishonesty and scientific misconduct. Every submission is subjected to automated similarity checks before formal evaluation.

The journal strictly prohibits:

  • Direct Plagiarism: Verbatim copying of text without citation or quotation marks.

  • Mosaic & Paraphrased Plagiarism: Rephrasing ideas from other sources without explicit attribution.

  • Self-Plagiarism & Text Recycling: Reusing substantial passages of the author’s own previously published work without disclosure.

  • Data Fabrication & Falsification: Inventing data, altering statistical outputs, or selectively omitting findings to manipulate outcomes.

  • Image & Graph Manipulation: Modifying visual data representations in a manner that misrepresents original findings.

Consequence: Confirmed cases of intentional misconduct will lead to immediate desk rejection, notification of institutional ethics boards, and potential banning from future submissions.

5. Authorship Criteria & Acknowledgment

Authorship credit must accurately reflect meaningful scholarly contributions. To be listed as an author, an individual must have:

  1. Contributed substantially to the conception, empirical design, execution, or data interpretation of the study.

  2. Participated actively in drafting or critically revising the manuscript for important intellectual content.

  3. Approved the final Version of Record prior to publication.

  4. Agreed to be held accountable for the integrity and validity of all aspects of the research.

  • Contributors: Individuals who provided administrative assistance, language editing, or technical support (without contributing to conceptualization) must be recognized in the Acknowledgments section, not listed as co-authors.

6. Duties & Responsibilities of Editors

The Editorial Board of FBIM operates with complete autonomy and responsibility for all content published in the journal:

  • Impartial Decisions: Manuscript decisions are driven solely by academic merit, research quality, methodological soundness, and relevance to business scholarship. Nationality, gender, institutional affiliation, or political views of the authors play zero role in evaluations.

  • Editorial Independence: Commercial operations, including the payment of applicable Article Processing Charges (APCs) upon acceptance, have no influence on editorial outcomes. Acceptance cannot be purchased.

  • Confidentiality: Editors will not disclose information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, assigned reviewers, and potential editorial advisers.

  • Conflict Handling: Editors will recuse themselves from processing manuscripts in which they have competing interests arising from direct collaborative, financial, or personal relationships.

7. Duties & Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Peer review is essential to safeguarding scientific rigor. Reviewers invited by FBIM agree to uphold the following duties:

  • Objective Evaluation: Reviews must be conducted objectively, constructively, and impartially. Personal criticism of authors is strictly inappropriate.

  • Confidentiality: Reviewers must treat all manuscripts received as privileged, confidential documents. They must not share, discuss, or utilize unpublished research insights for personal or institutional gain.

  • Promptness & Availability: Reviewers should accept invitations only when qualified and able to complete the evaluation within the designated timeframe.

  • Reporting Concerns: Reviewers must alert the Handling Editor if they detect substantial similarity to previously published works, suspected data manipulation, or potential unethical practices.

8. Double-Blind Peer Review Integrity

To eliminate unconscious bias, FBIM strictly enforces a Double-Blind Peer Review process. The identities of authors are withheld from reviewers, and reviewer identities are concealed from authors throughout the lifecycle of the evaluation.

Review outcomes result in one of four formal determinations:

  1. Accept without revision

  2. Minor Revisions Required

  3. Major Revisions Required (Subject to re-review)

  4. Reject

The Editor-in-Chief maintains final responsibility for all publication decisions based on reviewer recommendations and editorial assessments.

9. Corrections, Retractions & Expressions of Concern

FBIM is dedicated to preserving the permanent accuracy and integrity of the digital scholarly record:

  • Errata / Corrigenda: Published when minor honest errors or inadvertent omissions occur that do not invalidate the scientific validity of the paper.

  • Expressions of Concern: Issued by the Editor-in-Chief if an investigation into potential research misconduct is ongoing but conclusive evidence is not yet available.

  • Retractions: Executed in cases of confirmed plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated datasets, unethical research practices, or severe analytical errors that render the findings unreliable. Retraction notices will explicitly state the reason for retraction and link directly to the original article.

10. Appeals, Complaints & Editorial Governance

  • Appeals: Authors who believe a decision was rendered based on a factual misunderstanding or procedural anomaly may submit a written appeal to the Editorial Office via email at editor@irjernet.com. Appeals must include detailed, evidence-based rebuttals addressing specific reviewer concerns.

  • Complaints: Allegations regarding editorial misconduct, peer review integrity, or breaches of ethics should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief at editor@irjernet.com. Complaints are investigated thoroughly, confidentially, and impartially in accordance with COPE flowcharts.

11. Digital Archiving & Long-Term Preservation

The publisher ensures the long-term accessibility, permanent digital hosting, and continuous availability of all published articles. In the event that the journal ceases publication, published content will remain permanently accessible through open repository infrastructures, Crossref metadata registers, and digital archiving systems.

12. Contact Information

For inquiries regarding publication ethics, misconduct reports, editorial procedures, or policy clarifications, please contact the Editorial Office: