The International Journal of Management Science (IJMS), published by Tinta Emas, strictly adheres to the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). IJMS is dedicated to upholding high ethical standards in all aspects of publication, particularly in addressing research and publication misconduct. The journal’s commitment to COPE principles ensures the integrity and quality of research published by maintaining ethical standards for publishers, editors, authors, and reviewers. Here, we outline the ethical responsibilities that authors, editors, and reviewers must adhere to:

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

1. Authors must follow the ethical guidelines adopted by IJMS when writing and submitting their reports. Unethical practices can lead to severe consequences, including the retraction of the published article or a ban on future submissions.
2. Authors must be fully aware of the content of their submitted manuscripts. The presented data should be accurate, free from fabrication, and fraud.
3. Authors must ensure the originality of their reports. IJMS does not accept manuscripts or any parts of manuscripts that have been previously published or are under consideration for publication elsewhere (Please see the journal’s policy regarding Reproducing Published Material from other Publishers). Manuscripts should have a similarity index of no more than 15%.
4. Authors should strive to make the underlying data available. Editors or reviewers may request raw data during the evaluation process. Authors are encouraged to make their data publicly available, except for confidential information regarding research subjects.
5. Authors must disclose any competing interests and their funding sources in separate sections as per the journal's instructions. Funders should not influence the design of the experiment or the interpretation of results.
6. Authors must inform editors about any inaccuracies in their manuscript prior to publication for immediate correction. They are also responsible for reporting significant post-publication errors or inaccuracies to the Journal or Editor-in-Chief. The journal will issue an erratum for corrections or retract the article after consulting with the Editor-in-Chief, handling editor, and reviewers.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

1. Editors must comply with COPE practices when evaluating and making decisions on submitted manuscripts.
2. Editors should judge submitted manuscripts based on academic merits such as novelty, originality, scientific correctness, and readability, as well as relevance to the scope of IJMS. Discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political philosophy, or institutional affiliation is not permissible during the editorial process.
3. Editors' decisions should not be influenced by the policies of governments or any external agencies. Acceptance decisions should be supported by reviewers' recommendations.
4. Editors are responsible for informing authors about the acceptance or rejection of their manuscripts.
5. Editors must treat submitted manuscripts with full confidentiality, ensuring that information contained in the manuscripts is not disclosed to parties not involved in the evaluation and publication processes.
6. Editors must respect authors' requests to exclude certain reviewers from the review process, provided these requests are based on objective considerations.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers play a pivotal role in upholding the quality of papers published in IJMS. Each submitted manuscript undergoes a peer-review process by ideally two independent reviewers, selected by editors based on their expertise and professional track record in the manuscript's subject area. Reviewers are bound to the following ethical responsibilities:

1. Reviewers' primary responsibility is to provide an unbiased evaluation of the manuscript based on scientific merits and publication standards.
2. Manuscripts sent for review must be treated as confidential documents.
3. Reviewers must respect the journal's single-blind peer-review policy and not disclose their identity to the authors during the review process.
4. Reviewers should offer detailed, point-by-point suggestions and explanations in their review reports to help authors improve their manuscripts.
5. Reviewers are expected to submit their reports promptly and should communicate with the handling editor if additional time is required to complete the review.
6. Reviewers must inform editors of any scientific or ethical misconduct detected in the manuscript, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, or manipulation.

Conflicts of Interest

For all types of submissions, authors must disclose any financial relationships between themselves and the organization that sponsored the research. This information should be included in a separate section before the reference list. If no conflicts exist, authors should explicitly state so. Further details can be found in the Instructions to Authors.

Conflicts of interest may also arise during manuscript evaluation, potentially compromising the fairness of the process. To mitigate this, editors are prohibited from handling manuscripts authored by individuals from the same institution, research collaborators, co-authors, or competitors. In such cases, another editor will be appointed to handle the manuscript.

Similarly, reviewers must avoid evaluating manuscripts authored by individuals from their own institution, research collaborators, co-authors, or competitors. Reviewers should promptly inform the handling editor of any potential conflicts of interest and return the manuscript.

Reproducing Published Material from Other Publishers

Authors must obtain permission to reproduce any published material (figures, schemes, tables, or text extracts) that is not in the public domain or for which they do not hold the copyright. Permission should be requested from the copyright holder (usually the publisher).

Permission is required for:

1. Your own works published by other publishers where you did not retain copyright.
2. Substantial extracts from anyone's works or a series of works.
3. Use of tables, graphs, charts, schemes, and artworks if they are unaltered or slightly modified.
4. Photographs for which you do not hold copyright.

Permission is not required for:

1. Reconstruction of your own table with data already published elsewhere, provided the source is cited (e.g., "Data from..." or "Adapted from...").
2. Reasonably short quotes considered fair use.
3. Graphs, charts, schemes, and artworks that are completely redrawn by the authors and significantly changed beyond recognition.

Obtaining Permission

To ensure a smooth publication process, authors should start obtaining permissions for copyrighted materials as early as possible. If there is any uncertainty regarding copyright, authors should proactively seek permission. Manuscripts containing materials from other publications without the necessary permissions will not be considered for publication in the International Journal of Management Science (IJMS).

The copyright holder may specify the required form of acknowledgment. If not specified, use the following format: "Reproduced with permission from [author], [book/journal title]; published by [publisher], [year]" at the end of the caption for tables, figures, or schemes.

Publication Misconducts

Publication misconduct encompasses several serious violations including data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and improper authorship. In the context of IJMS, these terms are defined as follows:

Fabrication - The creation of false information or data that did not exist, misrepresenting research findings.

Falsification - The deliberate manipulation or alteration of research materials, processes, or data to produce misleading or inaccurate results.

Plagiarism - The unauthorized use or reproduction of others’ ideas, research content, or results without proper acknowledgment or permission.

Improper Authorship - Including individuals as authors who have not made a significant contribution to the research or manuscript preparation.

IJMS is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and transparency in the research and publication process. Any form of publication misconduct is taken seriously and will be addressed according to the journal’s ethical guidelines.

In Case of Research and Publication Misconducts

At the International Journal of Management Science (IJMS), editors, in collaboration with reviewers, are committed to preserving the accuracy and integrity of the published content. Addressing allegations of research and publication misconduct involves a rigorous adherence to COPE guidelines, including thorough investigation of the claims.

Editorial and Peer-Review Process:

• Pre-Publication: Manuscripts found to exhibit any form of misconduct during the editorial or peer-review process will be rejected. The editorial board will ensure that such manuscripts do not proceed to publication.
• Post-Publication: If a paper is found to have committed misconduct after publication, the editors will retract the paper. A retraction notification will be issued, detailing the findings of the investigation. Additionally, authors involved in proven misconduct may face a publication ban from IJMS for a specified period.

Investigation Procedure:

• Initial Review: All allegations are reviewed by the editorial board to assess their validity, ensuring they align with the definitions of research misconduct. The investigation also includes checking for any conflicts of interest from those reporting the allegations.
• Author Response: If misconduct or significant research irregularities are suspected, the corresponding author, representing all co-authors, will be asked to provide a detailed response. This response will be evaluated, and if necessary, additional expert reviews (such as statistical evaluations) will be sought.
• Resolution: In cases where misconduct is unlikely, clarifications or additional analyses may be published as letters to the editor, which may include correction notices or amendments to the original article.

Institutional Responsibility:

Affiliated institutions of the authors are expected to conduct their own investigations into allegations of scientific misconduct. The responsibility for maintaining the accuracy and integrity of published scientific content is shared among authors, the journal, and the institutions. IJMS will take appropriate actions, including corrections, retractions with replacements, or full retractions, to uphold the validity and integrity of the scientific record.