Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

This statement is based on the guidelines and standards developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

To publish a manuscript in Journal of Management and Health it is necessary to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior by all parties involved in the act of publishing: the authors, the journal editors, and the peer reviewers. This statement is based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

I. Duties of the Editors

a. Decisions about Publication: The editors-in-chief of G¨&S are responsible for deciding which texts submitted to the journal are to be published. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's Editorial Board and are constrained by such legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or with reviewers in making this decision.

b. Fair play: An editor evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content, without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origins, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors. 

c. Confidentiality: The editors and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, the reviewers, the potential reviewers, and other editorial advisers, as appropriate. 

d. Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by the editors’ in their own research without the express written consent of the author. 

II. Duties of Peer Reviewers or Referees 

a. Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer reviewers assist the editors in making editorial decisions, by means of editorial communications with the editors and the author. They may also assist the author in improving the manuscript. 

b. Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should immediately notify the editors and excuse himself from the review process. 

c. Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated by reviewers as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editors. 

d. Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted and written objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly, using supporting arguments. 

e. Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument has been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. Reviewers should also call to the editors’ attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge. 

f. Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and must not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers. 

III. Duties of Authors 

a. Reporting standards: Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

b. Data Access and Retention: Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for the purpose of editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers and The International Association of Scientific, Technical, & Medical Publishers Joint Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

c. Originality and Plagiarism: The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works; if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, they should ensure that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

d. Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication: An author should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Additionally, submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

e. Acknowledgement of Sources: Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite all publications that have been influential in determining the nature and the results of the reported work. 

f. Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. If there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed only as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication. At submission, all co-authors’ email addresses should be provided. Once accepted by the Editorial Board, G&S will send a copy of its Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement to all co-authors, for which individual agreements are expected as a requirement for the beginning of the review process. After this point, all communication will be made only with the corresponding author. 

g. Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects: If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that present any unusual hazards to humans or animals in their use, the author must clearly identify them in the manuscript. 

h. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial, professional or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. Also, all sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

i. Fundamental errors in published works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editors and cooperate with them to retract or correct the paper.