Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

Nexus Business & Management Journal (NBMJ) is committed to maintaining high standards of integrity, transparency, accountability, and responsible conduct throughout the scholarly publication process. This statement outlines the ethical principles and responsibilities expected from all parties involved in the publication of manuscripts in NBMJ, including editors, reviewers, authors, and the publisher.

The journal seeks to ensure that editorial and publication practices are conducted fairly and that published scholarly work is reliable, original, and produced in accordance with accepted principles of academic integrity.

Ethical Principles of Scholarly Publishing

Scholarly publishing plays an important role in developing, validating, and disseminating knowledge. The credibility of academic literature depends not only on the quality of research but also on responsible behavior throughout manuscript submission, peer review, editorial evaluation, and publication.

NBMJ therefore expects authors, editors, reviewers, and other parties involved in the publication process to uphold academic integrity, transparency, confidentiality, objectivity, and fairness. Editorial judgments must be based on scholarly considerations and must remain independent from inappropriate personal, institutional, financial, or commercial influence.

 

Duties of Editors

Editorial and Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief, together with the appropriate editorial team, is responsible for determining whether a submitted manuscript is suitable for publication in NBMJ.

Decisions are made by considering the manuscript's academic quality, originality, relevance to the journal's focus and scope, methodological soundness, contribution to knowledge, and recommendations arising from the peer-review process.

Where appropriate, editors must also consider applicable ethical and legal matters, including plagiarism, copyright infringement, defamation, research misconduct, and other violations of publication standards.

Acceptance or rejection must not be influenced by considerations unrelated to the scholarly merit of the manuscript.

Fair and Non-Discriminatory Evaluation

Manuscripts must be evaluated according to their academic content and relevance to NBMJ. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by an author's race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, religious beliefs, political views, institutional affiliation, or other personal characteristics unrelated to the scholarly quality of the work.

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff are responsible for protecting information concerning submitted manuscripts. Manuscript contents and information relating to the review process should only be shared with individuals who have a legitimate role in manuscript evaluation and publication, such as the corresponding author, assigned reviewers, prospective reviewers, relevant editorial personnel, and the publisher when necessary.

Information obtained through editorial handling must not be disclosed or used improperly.

Conflicts of Interest

Editors should avoid handling manuscripts where personal, professional, institutional, financial, collaborative, or other relationships may compromise—or reasonably appear to compromise—their impartiality.

When a relevant conflict exists, editorial responsibility should be transferred to another qualified editor whenever appropriate.

Use of Unpublished Material

Ideas, data, methods, interpretations, or other unpublished information obtained from a submitted manuscript must not be incorporated into an editor's own work without appropriate authorization from the rights holder. Information acquired through the editorial process must be treated as confidential and must not be exploited for personal or professional advantage.

Editorial Integrity

NBMJ is committed to preserving the independence of editorial decisions. Sponsorship, advertising, institutional relationships, financial considerations, or other external interests must not improperly influence decisions concerning manuscript acceptance, rejection, revision, or publication.

 

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review is an important component of the journal's quality-control process. NBMJ applies a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from each other during review.

Reviewers provide independent scholarly assessments and recommendations to assist editors in reaching editorial decisions. Constructive reviewer feedback should also help authors identify weaknesses and improve the quality, clarity, rigor, and contribution of their manuscripts.

The final decision regarding publication remains the responsibility of the journal's editorial authority.

Timeliness

A reviewer who accepts a review assignment should endeavor to complete the assessment within the period established by the journal.

If a prospective reviewer believes that they lack the necessary expertise, cannot provide an objective evaluation, or cannot complete the review within a reasonable period, they should promptly inform the editor so that another qualified reviewer can be appointed.

Confidentiality of Manuscripts

Manuscripts received for review are confidential scholarly documents. Reviewers must not distribute, reproduce, share, or discuss manuscript content with unauthorized persons.

Information obtained through peer review must be used solely for the purpose of evaluating the manuscript unless explicit authorization has been provided for another use.

Objectivity and Constructive Review

Reviewers should assess manuscripts impartially and on scholarly grounds. Comments should be clear, evidence-based, constructive, and sufficiently detailed to support the reviewer's recommendation.

Personal criticism, insulting language, discriminatory comments, or unsupported judgments about authors are inappropriate. Where reviewers identify weaknesses, they should explain them in a professional manner that can assist authors and editors in evaluating or improving the manuscript.

Identification and Acknowledgment of Relevant Sources

Reviewers should identify important scholarly literature that appears relevant to the manuscript but has not been appropriately acknowledged.

When reviewers recognize substantial similarities, duplication, or possible overlap between the manuscript under consideration and other published or submitted work known to them, they should confidentially inform the editor and provide sufficient information for further assessment.

Reviewer Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must disclose circumstances that could affect the independence of their assessment. They should decline manuscripts where competitive, collaborative, financial, institutional, supervisory, personal, or other relationships with the authors or organizations associated with the manuscript create a significant conflict of interest.

Misuse of Privileged Information

Data, arguments, concepts, methods, or other information obtained through peer review must not be used by reviewers for personal advantage or incorporated improperly into their own research. The confidentiality of the review process continues to apply after the review has been completed.

 

Duties of Authors

Accuracy and Integrity of Research Reporting

Authors are responsible for presenting their research accurately, transparently, and objectively. Manuscripts should provide an appropriate description of the research problem, theoretical foundations, methodology, analysis, findings, limitations, and implications as relevant to the type of study.

Fabrication, falsification, deliberate misrepresentation of findings, manipulation of evidence, or knowingly misleading statements are serious violations of research and publication ethics and are not acceptable in NBMJ.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that manuscripts submitted to NBMJ represent original scholarly work.

Ideas, words, data, figures, tables, methods, or other intellectual contributions originating from other sources must be properly acknowledged through appropriate citation, quotation, attribution, or permission where required.

Plagiarism in any form—including unattributed copying or inappropriate appropriation of another person's intellectual work—is inconsistent with the journal's standards and may result in rejection or further editorial action.

Data Availability and Retention

Authors are expected to retain research data and relevant documentation supporting the findings reported in their manuscripts in accordance with applicable ethical, institutional, and legal requirements.

When reasonably necessary for editorial assessment or investigation of questions concerning research integrity, authors may be requested to provide relevant underlying data or supporting documentation, subject to legitimate confidentiality, privacy, ethical, or legal restrictions.

Multiple, Duplicate, or Concurrent Submission

A manuscript submitted to NBMJ should not simultaneously be under consideration by another journal.

Authors must not submit substantially the same work to multiple journals at the same time. Authors should also appropriately disclose and cite related publications arising from the same dataset, project, or study when such information is relevant to determining the originality and distinct contribution of the submitted manuscript.

Proper Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must appropriately acknowledge scholarly works that have influenced the development, methodology, analysis, interpretation, or argumentation of their research.

References should be relevant and used responsibly. Authors should avoid misleading attribution, unnecessary citation practices, or omission of sources necessary for readers to understand the intellectual foundations of the manuscript.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be reserved for individuals who have made meaningful scholarly contributions to the work and who are prepared to take appropriate responsibility for its content.

All listed authors should approve the submitted version of the manuscript and agree to its submission to NBMJ. Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately where relevant.

The corresponding author is responsible for facilitating communication between the journal and all co-authors and for ensuring that authors are appropriately informed about significant developments during submission, review, revision, and publication.

Research Involving Human Participants, Animals, or Potential Hazards

Where research involves human participants, personal or sensitive data, animals, hazardous substances, potentially dangerous procedures, or other activities requiring ethical oversight, authors must comply with applicable institutional, national, and professional requirements.

Relevant ethical approval, informed consent, permissions, safety considerations, or other required information should be reported in the manuscript where applicable.

Any significant or unusual risks associated with materials, procedures, equipment, or research activities should be clearly described.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, interpretation of findings, or presentation of the manuscript.

Sources of research funding and other relevant forms of support should also be disclosed appropriately.

Fundamental Errors in Published Articles

Authors have a continuing responsibility for the integrity of their published work.

If an author becomes aware of a significant error, inaccurate statement, or other problem that may materially affect the reliability of an article published in NBMJ, the author should promptly contact the editorial office and cooperate in determining the appropriate corrective action.

Depending on the nature and severity of the issue, such action may include a correction, clarification, retraction, or another appropriate form of amendment to the scholarly record.

 

Responsibilities of the Publisher

The publisher of Nexus Business & Management Journal (NBMJ) supports the editorial team in maintaining the integrity and reliability of the journal's scholarly record.

The publisher respects editorial independence and should not allow commercial, financial, institutional, advertising, or other inappropriate interests to interfere with legitimate editorial decisions.

Where allegations or evidence of research or publication misconduct arise, the publisher and editorial team may cooperate in reviewing the matter and implementing appropriate actions in accordance with applicable ethical standards and journal policies.

 

Handling Suspected Publication Misconduct

NBMJ takes credible concerns regarding publication misconduct seriously. Potential issues may include plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated or falsified data, inappropriate authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, manipulation of the peer-review process, copyright violations, or other conduct that threatens the integrity of the scholarly record.

When a concern is raised, the journal will seek to assess the matter fairly and confidentially. Authors and other relevant parties may be asked to provide explanations or supporting information.

Where misconduct or a significant publication problem is established, NBMJ may take appropriate editorial action depending on the circumstances. Such measures may include rejection of a manuscript, requests for correction, publication of a correction or other notice, retraction of a published article, or communication with relevant institutions or other responsible parties where necessary.

NBMJ is committed to addressing ethical concerns consistently, fairly, and with due regard for the integrity of scholarly communication.