Publication Ethics

The International Journal of Applied Business and International Management (IJABIM) is committed to maintaining high standards of integrity, transparency, fairness, and responsibility in scholarly publishing. Authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher share responsibility for protecting the integrity of the editorial process and the published scholarly record.

IJABIM's editorial policies are informed by the principles and core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and recognized standards of responsible scholarly publishing.

Submission of a manuscript to IJABIM confirms that the work is original, has not been published in substantially the same form elsewhere, and is not under consideration by another journal at the same time.

Editorial Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for evaluating submitted manuscripts fairly and independently and for making editorial decisions based on scholarly quality, originality, relevance to the journal's aims and scope, methodological rigor, research integrity, and the outcome of peer review.

Editorial decisions are made without discrimination based on an author's nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, political beliefs, institutional affiliation, socioeconomic background, or other personal characteristics unrelated to the scholarly merits of the manuscript.

Editors and editorial staff must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and must not use unpublished information obtained through the editorial process for personal or professional advantage.

Editors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest and should not participate in decisions on manuscripts where their impartiality may reasonably be questioned. Where necessary, responsibility for the manuscript will be assigned to another qualified and independent editor.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Peer reviewers assist the Editor in assessing the scholarly quality and suitability of manuscripts and may provide constructive recommendations that help authors improve their work.

Reviewers should provide objective, constructive, evidence-based, and professional assessments. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate.

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential. Reviewers must not disclose manuscript content or use unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal, academic, commercial, or other advantage.

Reviewers should decline an invitation when they do not have appropriate expertise, cannot complete the review within the agreed timeframe, or have a conflict of interest that may affect their independence.

Suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation, citation manipulation, unethical research, or other potential integrity concerns identified during review should be reported confidentially to the Editor.

Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and appropriate presentation of the research reported in their manuscripts. Research methods, analyses, and findings should be described sufficiently and accurately to allow appropriate scholarly evaluation.

The words, ideas, data, figures, methods, and other intellectual contributions of others must be appropriately acknowledged and cited. Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, inappropriate manipulation of data, and other forms of research misconduct are not acceptable.

Authors should not submit substantially the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal or publish substantially redundant findings without appropriate disclosure, justification, and citation.

Authors should disclose relevant financial and non-financial competing interests and identify sources of research funding or other material support where applicable.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the work and who accept responsibility for the published article. All listed authors should have reviewed and approved the submitted version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission.

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately. Guest, gift, honorary, and ghost authorship are not acceptable.

Requests to change authorship after submission or acceptance must be supported by an appropriate explanation and agreement of the affected authors and will be considered by the Editor in accordance with applicable publication-ethics guidance.

Research Ethics and Ethical Oversight

Research involving human participants, personal or confidential information, or other activities requiring ethical oversight should comply with applicable institutional, national, and disciplinary ethical standards.

Where relevant, authors should obtain approval from an appropriate research ethics committee or institutional review body and obtain informed consent from participants. Information concerning ethics approval and informed consent should be reported in the manuscript when applicable.

Editors may request supporting documentation or clarification concerning ethical approval, informed consent, data collection, or other ethical aspects of the research where necessary.

Data and Research Transparency

Authors should retain research data and documentation necessary to support the findings reported in their manuscripts in accordance with applicable legal, ethical, institutional, and disciplinary requirements.

Where appropriate and ethically permissible, authors are encouraged to make relevant research data, materials, instruments, or supplementary information available to support transparency and reproducibility. Restrictions arising from privacy, confidentiality, commercial sensitivity, or legal obligations should be respected.

Research and Publication Misconduct

IJABIM takes allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously. Concerns may include plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, duplicate or redundant publication, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, manipulation of the peer-review process, undisclosed competing interests, or other practices that compromise the integrity of the scholarly record.

Allegations will be assessed fairly and confidentially. Where appropriate, the journal may request clarification or supporting information from the authors or other relevant parties and may communicate with institutions or other responsible bodies where further investigation is necessary.

Editorial action will depend on the nature, seriousness, and available evidence concerning the issue and may include revision, rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or another appropriate action.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors and other stakeholders may raise concerns regarding editorial procedures, publication decisions, ethical matters, or published content by contacting the Editorial Office.

Appeals against editorial decisions should provide a clear explanation of the grounds for the appeal and address the scholarly or procedural issues relevant to the decision. Appeals and complaints will be considered by an editor or other responsible person who is able to assess the matter impartially.

Post-Publication Corrections and the Scholarly Record

Authors who identify a significant error or concern in their published work should promptly contact the Editorial Office and cooperate in determining the appropriate editorial response.

Corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, and other significant post-publication updates are handled in accordance with IJABIM's Crossmark and Post-Publication Update Policy.