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Ethics and Malpractice Policies

PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

The Institute for Business and Finance Research upholds the highest publication ethics.  The following statements provide guidance on our ethics expectations.   This statement applies to The Institute for Business and Finance Research publications and presentations including the following:

Journals

Accounting & Taxation (ISSN: 1944-592X and 2157-0175)
Business Education & Accreditation (ISSN: 1944-5903 and 2157-0809)
Global Journal of Business Research (ISSN: 1931-0277 and 2157-0191)
International Journal of Management and Marketing Research (ISSN:1933-3153 and 2157-0205)
Review of Business & Finance Studies (ISSN:2150-3338 and 2156-8081)
The International Journal of Business and Finance Research (ISSN:1931-0269 and 2157-0698)
Revista Internacional Administración & Finanzas (ISSN:1933-608X and 2157-3182)
Revista Global de Negocios (ISSN: 2328-4641 and 2328-4668)
Proceedings and Presentations

Global Conference on Business and Finance Proceedings (ISSN: 2168-0612 and 1941-9589)
Global Conference on Business and Finance Conference Presentations

Author Responsibilities

Authors certify that submitted manuscripts are their original work.  The editors may submit articles to electronic services to verify originality.  Submitted papers must not be simultaneously under publication consideration elsewhere.  Submitted papers must not have been published elsewhere.  All authors are aware of, and consent to the article submission.  The author list includes all significantly contributing individuals.  Listed authors include only contributing individuals.  The acknowledgement section appropriately recognizes non-author contributors.

Authors certify that data used in the analysis were legally obtained for the purpose at hand.  Fraudulent data or data obtained illegally is unacceptable for publication.  Authors fully and accurately describe data used in the analysis and indicate the methodology applied. Authors accurately report findings and provide factual interpretations.  Authors should clearly differentiate between factual information and author opinion.

Authors have conducted the research in compliance with all laws, university policies and professional responsibilities.  Authors are aware of human, animal subject and other clearances required by their institution, professional affiliations, laws and government authorities.  If no ethics body is available, the authors confirm the research is in compliance with concepts outlined in the Helsinki Declaration as revised in 2008.  Authors have obtained all relevant clearances to conduct the research submitted.

Authors warrant the work is not an infringement of any existing copyright or proprietary right, invasion of privacy or libel.  Authors have obtained necessary releases from companies or individuals involved with, or in, the work where necessary.

The manuscript appropriately acknowledges and cites the work of others.  The manuscript also acknowledges funding and other support sources.  Copyrighted or proprietary materials included in the article are appropriately acknowledged. Copyright clearance, for the purpose at hand, has been obtained and must be transmitted to the editor.

Authors are responsible for promptly notifying the editor of substantive errors discovered after publication of the manuscript. The editor will provide an appropriate course of action based on the Corrections and Retractions policy.

Views presented represent the opinions and findings of the respective authors.  Authors have sole responsibility for the originality, accuracy of reported findings and opinions expressed.  Authors are responsible for any errors.  Authors agree to hold the journal, its affiliates, subsidiaries and parent company, agents, employees, directors, editors, reviewers and other affiliated parties harmless and, agree to defend all of the above for any action for damages, from third party liability which might arise as a result of the manuscript and its publication.

Upon acceptance of an article for journal publication, authors must sign a document transmitting copyright to the Institute and warranting the authors and manuscript are in compliance with these ethics and malpractice guidelines.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers should refrain from author discovery efforts.  Reviewers must base their comments on the manuscript merits only.  Age, race, color, ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and institutional affiliation must have no bearing on the review.    Reviewers must complete their work within the timeframe established by the editor.   Reviewers must decline the review if, for any reason, they will not be able to complete the review in the allotted time.  Reviewers must also decline to review any manuscript for which they have a conflict of interest.

While critical assessment of the manuscript is appropriate, reviewers should frame their comments in a positive tone.  Reviewer comments should be clear and recommend a specific course of action.  In no instance should a reviewer make demeaning comments about any author or subject area.  Reviewers should take special care to point out relevant articles that have not been cited.  In conjunction with their comments, reviewers should make an overall recommendation of reject, revise and resubmit or accept. Information in manuscripts is confidential until the manuscript appears in print.  Reviewers may not expropriate information in unpublished or rejected manuscripts for their own purposes.

Editor Responsibilities

The editors have complete and final authority for determining if a manuscript is accepted or rejected.   The editors communicate manuscript information with reviewers and members of the editorial advisory board as necessary.  Reviewer identities will not be disclosed.  Manuscript submissions and contents are otherwise confidential.  The editors use software tools to detect unoriginal text and combine their own comments with those of the reviewers. The editor may accept the paper without changes, require the authors to revise and resubmit the document, or reject the paper.  In some instances, the editors may require multiple rounds of reviews and modifications.  The editors communicate review result in a timely fashion.  The editors reserve the right to edit, clarify or shorten the manuscript as deemed necessary.

Final publication decisions are based on manuscript merits only.  Age, race, color, ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and institutional affiliation have no bearing on the decision.  However, manuscripts submitted or authored by persons residing in countries that would make it illegal by U.S. law to accept the manuscript or associated fees, will be rejected regardless of the article merits.  Editors may not expropriate information in unpublished or rejected manuscripts for their own purposes.

Corrections and Retractions

The editors will promptly investigate any ethics violation complaints or reported errors in published manuscripts.  Appropriate responses to positive findings will be determined based on the offense severity.  These responses may include publishing a correction, apology or retraction.

Corrections to published articles will be available on the IBFR website. The correction will be added at the end of the paper for the specific journal issue.  Minor typographical or grammar errors are not grounds for corrections.

Retractions will occur due to misconduct of an author, author’s violation of the Statement for Ethics and Malpractice, author’s copyright violations and author warranty violations.  Retracted papers will be replaced with a page stating the title author(s) and reasons for retraction on the IBFR website only.

Advertising

To maintain independence from external influence, paid advertising materials are not accepted or printed in the Journals, Proceedings or affiliated conference documents.

Editorial Board Responsibilities

The editorial board, reviewers, editors and readership are responsible for pointing out any lapses in ethics.  Any such ethics breaches should be reported to the Managing Editor editor@theibfr.com.  The editors and editorial board are responsible for reviewing and suggesting changes to publication policies including Ethics and Malpractice Statements.

Liability Limitations

The information presented and opinions expressed in articles or presentations do not reflect opinions of the editors, editorial advisory board, reviewers or staff of the Institute for Business and Finance Research, LLC.  While articles are actively reviewed, the Institute does not warrant the correctness of information provided in articles or the suitability of information in articles for any purpose.