Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Management and Finance Bulletin is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, and responsible scholarly publishing. The journal seeks to publish original, high-quality research that contributes to the advancement of knowledge in management, finance, and allied disciplines.

The journal follows a transparent editorial process based on fairness, integrity, confidentiality, and academic excellence. All submissions are evaluated solely on their scholarly merit without discrimination based on nationality, gender, institutional affiliation, race, religion, or political beliefs.

Journal Commitments

Management and Finance Bulletin is committed to:

Publishing original, high-quality, and ethically conducted research.
Maintaining a rigorous double-blind peer-review process.
Providing unrestricted open access to published articles.
Ensuring transparency and fairness throughout the editorial and publication process.
Using the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform to facilitate manuscript submission, peer review, and editorial workflow.
Promoting responsible publishing practices and minimising the environmental impact of scholarly communication wherever possible.
Protecting the confidentiality of authors, reviewers, and editorial decisions.
Correcting or retracting published articles where necessary to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

Ethical Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for safeguarding the quality and integrity of the journal and shall:

Make impartial editorial decisions based solely on the scholarly merit of submitted manuscripts.
Ensure compliance with the journal's editorial policies and applicable legal requirements relating to copyright, plagiarism, and defamation.
Oversee the peer-review process and maintain effective coordination among editors and reviewers.
Address allegations of publication misconduct in a fair, transparent, and timely manner.
Preserve the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and editorial communications.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Editors shall:

Evaluate manuscripts objectively without discrimination.
Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts throughout the editorial process.
Ensure that manuscripts are assessed fairly, consistently, and in accordance with the journal's editorial policies.
Select qualified reviewers with appropriate subject expertise.
Monitor the quality and timeliness of peer review.
Promote accuracy, clarity, and completeness in published research.
Provide authors with an opportunity to respond to reviewer comments and, where appropriate, appeal editorial decisions.

Ethical Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers shall:

Treat all manuscripts as confidential documents.
Conduct reviews objectively, fairly, and without personal bias.
Provide constructive, evidence-based comments to assist authors and editors.
Inform the editor promptly if they identify plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, ethical concerns, or other forms of research misconduct.
Decline the review if they have a conflict of interest or are unable to complete the review within the agreed timeframe.
Refrain from using unpublished information obtained during the review process for personal or professional advantage.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are expected to:

Submit only original, unpublished work that is free from plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct.
Ensure that all listed authors have made a significant scholarly contribution to the manuscript and have approved the final version before submission.
Properly acknowledge the work of others through accurate citation and referencing.
Present research findings honestly and accurately without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation of data.
Obtain all necessary ethical approvals for research involving human participants or animals and provide evidence where required.
Disclose all sources of funding and any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could influence the research.
Promptly notify the journal if a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered after publication and cooperate fully in issuing corrections or retractions when necessary.

Publication Ethics

The journal is committed to ensuring that:

All published work complies with internationally accepted standards of publication ethics.
Editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly quality and ethical considerations.
Intellectual property rights and authors' copyrights are respected.
Corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions are issued whenever necessary to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.
Allegations of publication misconduct are investigated thoroughly, fairly, and confidentially.

Handling Cases of Publication Misconduct

All allegations of plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, authorship disputes, copyright infringement, or other forms of publication misconduct are investigated by the Editorial Office.

Where necessary, the Editorial Board may seek clarification from the authors, reviewers, editors, or the authors' affiliated institutions before reaching a decision.

Depending on the severity of the misconduct, the journal may reject the manuscript, publish a correction or retraction, notify the relevant institutions or funding agencies, restrict future submissions from the responsible author(s), or take any other action considered appropriate to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.