What does "ethics" mean in journal publishing?

Being published in a peer-reviewed journal is an essential part of being a researcher. The benefits you receive as a writer (and to your funder and institution) are earned by ensuring that each manuscript adheres to established standards. Such a researcher must explain his manuscript accurately so that other people can use and apply it.

Strategic Management Business Journal establishes guidelines for publishing ethics that writers must understand and follow. There are also ethics guidelines for journal editors and peer reviewers. The Journal's Business Management Strategy also describes publishing policies and peer review in Scope & Purpose.

Strategic Management Business Journal's (SMBJ) mission is to publish original and empirical research that demonstrates academic and practical relevance.

Academic relevance means that research contributes to ongoing academic discussions and debates on relevant topics. Usually, this implies that the manuscript has a solid foundation and contributes to the theory. All manuscripts published in the Strategic Management Business Journal (SMBJ) must be in the empirical context of the research.

The definitive text balances rigor with relevance and offers new topics requiring contemporary attention. Recency does not necessarily mean focusing on emerging phenomena: New approaches to examining established phenomena are equally exciting and relevant.

Authors should observe high standards concerning publication ethics as set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Falsification or fabrication of data, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the authors' work without proper citation, and misappropriation of the work are all unacceptable practices. Any cases of ethical misconduct are treated very seriously and will be dealt with following the COPE guidelines. Visit http://publicationethics.org/.

Authorship

All authors listed on the manuscript should have contributed significantly to the experimental design, its implementation, or analysis and interpretation of the data. All authors should have been involved in the writing of the manuscript at the draft and any revision stages and have read and approved the final version. Anyone who made significant contributions to the manuscript report should be listed as an author (e.g., "ghostwriting" is prohibited by the Journal). Any other individuals who made less substantive contributions to the experiment or the writing of the manuscript should be listed in the acknowledgment section. Any change in authorship (including author order) after the initial manuscript submission must be approved in writing by all authors.