Publication Ethics & Publication Malpractice Statement

Section Menu

The Asian Journal of Managerial Science (AJMS) is committed to integrity, transparency, fairness, accountability, and editorial independence in scholarly publishing. AJMS expects authors, reviewers, editors, Editorial Board members, and the publisher to follow recognised standards of responsible research and publication practice. Ethical concerns are handled fairly and proportionately with reference, where applicable, to guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

This statement is AJMS’s principal publication-ethics policy and operates together with the Author Guidelines, Peer Review Process, Copyright & Licensing Policy, Generative AI Policy, and Post-Publication and Accountability Policy.

1. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must be limited to individuals who made substantial intellectual contributions, participated in drafting or critically revising the work, approved the final version, and accept accountability for the integrity of the work. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately. AJMS supports the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy for transparent reporting of individual contributions. Guest, gift, honorary, purchased, ghost, or otherwise misleading authorship is not acceptable. Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors should normally be made before acceptance and should include a clear reason and written agreement from all affected authors.

2. Duplicate, Redundant, and Concurrent Publication

Manuscripts submitted to AJMS must be original and must not be under consideration by another journal at the same time. Authors must disclose relevant prior publications, preprints, conference abstracts, datasets, or closely related manuscripts where these may affect assessment of originality or overlap. Duplicate publication, redundant publication, inappropriate salami publication, and simultaneous submission to multiple journals are not permitted.

3. Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

AJMS does not permit plagiarism, including unattributed use of another person’s words, ideas, data, figures, tables, methods, or intellectual work. Substantial reuse of an author’s own previously published material without appropriate citation or disclosure may constitute self-plagiarism or redundant publication. Similarity-detection tools and editorial checks may be used before or during peer review; similarity reports are interpreted by editors in context and are not treated as an automatic acceptance or rejection threshold.

4. Fabrication, Falsification, and Data Integrity

Fabrication of data or results, falsification or selective alteration of research records, misrepresentation of methods or findings, and manipulation that creates a misleading scholarly record are prohibited. Authors must report methods, data, results, limitations, and conclusions accurately and transparently. Editors may request original data, image files, analysis records, or other supporting documentation when integrity concerns arise.

5. Citation Manipulation

Citations must be relevant to the scholarly content and used to acknowledge sources, support claims, and place the work in context. Authors, reviewers, and editors must not request or add citations primarily to inflate citation counts, journal metrics, personal metrics, or the standing of a particular author, journal, institution, or group. Coercive citation, citation cartels, fabricated references, and irrelevant citation padding are not acceptable.

6. Peer-Review Manipulation and Reviewer Integrity

AJMS uses a double-blind peer-review process for manuscripts that pass initial screening, normally involving at least two independent external reviewers with relevant expertise. Fabricated reviewer identities, false contact details, impersonation, undisclosed relationships, review rings, coercion, or improper interference with reviewer selection are prohibited. Reviewers must maintain confidentiality, disclose conflicts, and provide objective evidence-based assessments. See the Peer Review Process and COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

7. Conflicts of Interest and Funding

Authors, reviewers, editors, and Editorial Board members must disclose financial, professional, personal, institutional, academic, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived to influence their work, review, or editorial judgement. Authors must disclose funding sources and, where applicable, the funder’s role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or the decision to submit.

8. Data Sharing and Reproducibility

Authors should retain accurate research records and, where ethically, legally, and practically possible, make data or supporting materials available in a manner that enables verification and reproducibility. Restrictions arising from privacy, confidentiality, commercial sensitivity, indigenous data governance, contractual obligations, or legal requirements should be stated transparently where relevant.

9. Ethical Oversight

Research involving human participants, personal or sensitive data, animals, or other activities requiring ethical oversight must comply with applicable institutional, national, and disciplinary requirements. Authors should obtain approval or exemption from an appropriate ethics body where required and report informed consent where applicable. Relevant principles may include the ICMJE Recommendations and, for health-related research involving humans, the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted material does not infringe copyright, privacy, confidentiality, trademark, or other rights. Permission must be obtained for third-party material where required. Publication and reuse conditions are governed by the AJMS Copyright & Licensing Policy.

11. Complaints and Appeals

Complaints concerning editorial handling, ethical matters, published content, or journal processes should be submitted in writing with sufficient detail and supporting information. Appeals against editorial decisions should identify a material error in the review or decision process. Complaints and appeals are considered fairly and without unnecessary delay.

12. Corrections

AJMS may publish a correction when an error affects accuracy, interpretation, attribution, or integrity but does not invalidate the article as a whole. A correction notice should identify the article, explain the change, and be linked to the Version of Record. Minor typographical or formatting errors that do not affect meaning may be corrected without a formal notice where appropriate; significant errors must not be concealed through silent alteration. See the Post-Publication and Accountability Policy.

13. Expressions of Concern

AJMS may issue an Expression of Concern when substantial questions about the integrity or reliability of a published article remain unresolved and an investigation is incomplete, inconclusive, delayed, or dependent on information from another responsible body. The notice should be linked to the article and updated when the matter is resolved.

14. Retractions

AJMS may retract an article when findings are unreliable because of major error or misconduct, or when plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated or falsified data, serious ethical non-compliance, manipulated peer review, copyright infringement, or another issue materially undermines the integrity of the article. Retractions are handled transparently with reference, where appropriate, to COPE Retraction Guidelines.

15. Research Misconduct Allegations and Investigation

Allegations of research or publication misconduct are assessed on the available evidence and may involve requests for explanation, supporting records, expert advice, institutional cooperation, or other proportionate steps. AJMS may contact an author’s institution, employer, funder, ethics body, or other responsible organisation when necessary to establish facts or protect the scholarly record.

16. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-Assisted Tools

Use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools must comply with the journal’s Generative AI Policy. AI systems cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the work, provide consent, manage conflicts of interest, or meet accountability requirements. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, citations, permissions, and integrity of all submitted content.

17. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, originality, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and relevance to AJMS. Decisions are independent of article processing charges, waiver status, advertising, sponsorship, marketing activity, ownership interests, or other commercial considerations.

18. Responsibilities of the Publisher

The Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI), as publisher of AJMS, supports the integrity and independence of the editorial process and is responsible for maintaining accurate public policies, ownership/contact information, access conditions, fees, copyright/licensing information, and preservation arrangements. Revenue, advertising, and marketing considerations are kept separate from editorial decision-making.

19. Reporting an Ethical Concern

Ethical concerns relating to a submitted manuscript, published article, peer review, authorship, editorial conduct, or any matter covered by this statement should be submitted in writing to the AJMS editorial office with sufficient information and supporting evidence to permit assessment. Editorial Office: Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI), 9/865, Maruthi Nagar, Rakkipalayam Post, Coimbatore - 641031, Tamil Nadu, India. Email: editorial@crijournals.org.