Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Policies

The Journal of KMITL Business School (JKBS) upholds the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and responsibility in scholarly publishing. All parties involved—editors, reviewers, and authors—must follow these ethical principles to ensure the credibility and quality of published work.

1. Editorial Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for ensuring that all manuscripts meet the journal’s quality standards and comply with ethical publishing principles.

  1. Fair and Objective Decision-Making

    • All editorial decisions are based solely on the manuscript’s scholarly merit, originality, and relevance to the journal’s scope.

    • Decisions must be free from personal, professional, or financial bias.

  2. Peer Review Integrity

    • All submissions undergo a double-blind peer-review process, ensuring anonymity between authors and reviewers.

    • Manuscripts are sent for review only if they pass initial checks for scope, format, and plagiarism.

  3. Conflict of Interest

    • Editors must declare and avoid any conflict of interest with authors, reviewers, or funding bodies.

    • Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where such conflicts exist.

  4. Plagiarism and AI Content Checks

    • All manuscripts are screened with plagiarism detection software (e.g., Turnitin; similarity ≤30%).

    • The journal prohibits the submission of work that is entirely or predominantly AI-generated without significant human intellectual contribution.

    • Authors must disclose if AI tools were used (e.g., for language editing, data analysis assistance) and describe the scope of such use.

  5. Editorial Conduct

    • Editors who fail to adhere to these ethical standards may be removed from their role.

    • Final decisions on acceptance, revision, or rejection rest with the Editor-in-Chief.

2. Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers are key to ensuring the validity and quality of published research.

  1. Confidentiality

    • Manuscripts under review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not share or discuss them with unauthorised individuals.

  2. Expertise and Objectivity

    • Reviews should be based on scholarly expertise, conducted objectively, and free from personal bias.

    • Reviewers should decline assignments if the manuscript is outside their area of expertise or if a conflict of interest exists.

  3. Identification of Ethical Issues

    • Reviewers should alert the editor to any suspicion of plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, or unethical research practices.

  4. Acknowledgement of Sources

    • Reviewers must identify relevant published work not cited by the authors and recommend proper attribution.

3. Author Responsibilities

Authors must ensure the accuracy, originality, and ethical integrity of their work.

  1. Originality and Exclusivity

    • Manuscripts must be original and not previously published or under review elsewhere.

    • Self-plagiarism (duplicate publication of the author’s prior work) is prohibited.

  2. Accuracy and Integrity

    • Data must be presented truthfully without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation.

    • All sources must be cited appropriately by the journal’s reference style (APA 7th edition).

  3. Disclosure of AI Use

    • Authors must disclose any use of AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, GPT-4, DALL·E, Midjourney) in the research or writing process.

    • AI tools must not be listed as authors, and authors retain full responsibility for the content.

    • Submissions that rely predominantly on AI-generated text or images without substantial author contribution will be rejected.

  4. Ethics Approval

    • Research involving humans or animals must include a Certificate of Ethical Approval from a recognised institutional review board (IRB).

    • Such approval must be mentioned in the manuscript’s methodology section.

  5. Funding and Conflicts of Interest

    • Authors must disclose all funding sources and any potential conflicts of interest.

  6. Copyright and Intellectual Property

    • Manuscripts must not infringe upon any copyright or intellectual property rights.

    • Upon acceptance, authors must sign a Copyright Transfer Agreement granting JKBS the right of first publication.

4. Misconduct and Enforcement

  • Plagiarism: If plagiarism is detected before publication, the manuscript will be rejected. If found post-publication, the article will be retracted and the authors’ institutions notified.

  • AI Misuse: Manuscripts found to have undisclosed or excessive AI-generated content without meaningful human authorship will be rejected or retracted.

  • Sanctions: Authors, reviewers, or editors violating these ethics may be barred from future submissions or service to the journal.