Ethical Guidelines

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The International Journal of Management Thinking (IJMT) upholds the highest standards of publication ethics, research integrity, and professional conduct throughout the editorial and publishing process. The journal adheres to the Core Practices and ethical guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and requires authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher to maintain these standards.

1. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for evaluating manuscripts based solely on their scholarly merit, originality, relevance, methodological rigor, and contribution to the field.

Editors shall:

  • Ensure a fair, impartial, and confidential double-blind peer-review process.
  • Evaluate submissions without discrimination based on race, gender, nationality, religion, political beliefs, institutional affiliation, or personal characteristics.
  • Protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and related communications.
  • Avoid conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where such conflicts exist.
  • Take reasonable steps to investigate allegations of misconduct, ethical breaches, plagiarism, citation manipulation, or other concerns.
  • Issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions where necessary to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

2. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers play a critical role in maintaining the quality of scholarly publications.

Reviewers shall:

  • Conduct reviews objectively, fairly, and constructively.
  • Maintain strict confidentiality regarding all manuscript content.
  • Identify relevant literature that may have been overlooked.
  • Notify editors of substantial similarity, duplication, plagiarism, or ethical concerns.
  • Decline review invitations when conflicts of interest exist or when they lack the necessary expertise.
  • Refrain from using unpublished information for personal or professional advantage.

3. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy, integrity, and originality of their work.

Authors shall:

  • Submit only original and unpublished work.
  • Ensure that manuscripts are not simultaneously submitted to another journal.
  • Accurately report research methods, data, findings, and interpretations.
  • Properly acknowledge the work of others through appropriate citation and referencing.
  • Disclose all sources of funding and any potential conflicts of interest.
  • Obtain ethical approval and informed consent where required.
  • Ensure that all listed authors have made substantial scholarly contributions and approve the final submitted version.
  • Promptly notify the journal if significant errors are discovered in published work.

4. Authorship Policy

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, analysis, interpretation, or writing of the manuscript. All authors must approve the final manuscript before submission. Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately.

5. Author Contributions

All listed authors must have made a substantial scholarly contribution to the manuscript. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission and publication

6. Number of Authors

The International Journal of Management Thinking (IJMT) generally accepts manuscripts with a maximum of six authors. Requests to include more than six authors must be supported by a clear justification describing each author's substantial contribution to the research. The editorial office reserves the right to request additional authorship documentation where necessary.

7. Research Ethics and Human Participants

Research involving human participants must comply with recognized ethical standards and applicable institutional or national regulations.

Where applicable, authors must provide:

  • Ethical approval details.
  • Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee approval information.
  • Informed consent statements.
  • Measures taken to ensure participant confidentiality and privacy.

8. Conflict of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence the objectivity of the research, review, or editorial decision-making process.

9. Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support, sponsorship, or funding related to the research. The role of the funding body, if any, should be clearly stated in the manuscript.

10. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative Technologies

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI tools in manuscript preparation in accordance with the journal's Author Guidelines. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and validity of all submitted content. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

11. Research Misconduct

The International Journal of Management Thinking (IJMT) does not tolerate:

  • Plagiarism
  • Duplicate publication
  • Simultaneous submission
  • Data fabrication
  • Data falsification
  • Citation manipulation
  • Authorship misconduct
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest

Allegations of misconduct will be investigated in accordance with COPE guidance and established editorial procedures.

12. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

Where significant errors, ethical breaches, or research misconduct are identified, the journal may publish a correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

Retraction notices will remain permanently linked to the original article, and reasonable efforts will be made to notify relevant indexing and abstracting services.

13. Responsibilities of the Publisher

United Frontiers Publisher (UFP) supports editorial independence and is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. The publisher will cooperate with editors in addressing ethical concerns, correcting the literature where necessary, preserving published content, and ensuring the long-term accessibility of scholarly research.

14. Complaints and Appeals

The International Journal of Management Thinking (IJMT) welcomes complaints and appeals relating to editorial decisions, peer review, publication ethics, or research integrity. Complaints will be handled fairly, confidentially, and in accordance with COPE guidance.

Appeals against editorial decisions must be supported by a clear academic justification and will be reviewed independently where appropriate.

15. Data Integrity and Availability

Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy, completeness, and integrity of all data reported in their manuscripts. Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to make supporting data available through recognized repositories or upon reasonable request to facilitate transparency, reproducibility, and scholarly verification.

16. Post-Publication Responsibilities

Authors, reviewers, editors, and readers are encouraged to notify the journal of any significant errors, ethical concerns, or inaccuracies identified after publication. The journal will investigate such matters and take appropriate corrective action where necessary.

17. Citation Integrity

The International Journal of Management Thinking (IJMT) promotes responsible citation practices. Citation manipulation, excessive self-citation, citation stacking, coercive citation, or the inclusion of irrelevant references intended to inflate scholarly metrics are considered unethical and may be treated as research misconduct.

18. Copyright Notice and Licensing

  • Open Access: IJMT is a fully open Access journal. All articles are available in PDF format immediately upon publication, free of charge and without any subscription fees. Any user may download, print, or copy the articles or use them for any other lawful purpose, as long as the licensing terms are respected.

  • Copyright Retention: Authors retain the copyright and the full publishing rights for their articles without any restrictions. The submitting author warrants that the submission is original and that they are the author of the submission together with the named co-authors; to the extent the submission incorporates text passages, figures, data, or other material from the work of others, the submitting author has obtained all necessary written permissions.

  • Licensing Terms: Articles in IJMT are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). This license allows users to share, copy, adapt, and distribute the work in any medium or format, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original creator, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are clearly indicated.

19. Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated metadata and communication purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any external party.