Ethics policy

The Editorial Board, publishing partners, reviewers, authors, and the publisher of the Journal of Business Sectors (JOBS) strictly follow all guidelines and recommendations in the field of publication ethics established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). These principles are published in detail here.

The publisher of JOBS, the Editorial Board, and the Scientific Editors are responsible for promoting accessibility, diversity, equality, and inclusiveness in all aspects of publishing activities. Editorial decisions are determined solely by the scholarly quality of a manuscript and will not be influenced by the author’s nationality, ethnicity, political views, race, or religion.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Editorial Board

Members of the JOBS Editorial Board are recognized experts in their respective academic fields. Their full names, academic titles, institutional affiliations, and countries are listed on the journal’s website in the section entitled Editorial Board. All members of the Editorial Board have agreed to serve in this role. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the activities of the Editorial Board. Editorial contact information is available on the journal’s website in the Contact section.

In their decision-making, members of the Editorial Board are independent of the publisher of the journal, but they are required to follow the journal’s editorial policies and rules, as well as legal standards that are essential in scholarly publishing, including those relating to defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Members of the Editorial Board do not pursue commercial interests, but only scholarly integrity and ethics. Where necessary, they are obliged to publish corrections, explanations, notices on retracted articles, or apologies to authors and other affected parties.

Responsibility for Publication Decisions

Decisions regarding which submitted manuscripts should be published in the journal are made by the Editorial Board on the basis of a recommendation by the responsible Scientific Editor. These decisions are always guided by the verification of the manuscript and its perceived importance for researchers and readers. The journal’s editorial policies provide the principles governing editorial work. Limitations arise from legal requirements such as copyright infringement and plagiarism. In making such decisions, the responsible Scientific Editor may consult disputed issues with other editors or reviewers.

Non-Discrimination Policy

Each manuscript must be evaluated solely on the basis of its scholarly content, regardless of the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. Decisions to accept or reject a manuscript for publication must be based exclusively on its significance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the aims and scope of the journal.

Confidentiality

No information about a submitted manuscript may be disclosed by editors or any member of the editorial team to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and, where appropriate, the publisher of the journal. Editors ensure that submitted material remains confidential throughout the review process.

Use of Author Materials and Editors’ Conflicts of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the author’s explicit written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained through the peer review process must remain confidential and must not be used for personal advantage. If the retraction of an article, an expression of concern, or the correction of articles published in the journal is under consideration, the COPE Retraction Guidelines shall apply.

Editors undertake to ensure that advertising, reprints, or other commercial revenue have no influence on editorial decisions. The Scientific Editor should ensure a fair and appropriate review process.

If conflicts of interest arise as a result of competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with a manuscript, such Scientific Editors must be excluded from handling that manuscript, and another member of the Editorial Board should be asked to oversee the review.

All authors must disclose any relevant competing interests, and if such interests are identified after publication, appropriate corrections must be published. Where necessary, other suitable action should be taken, such as issuing a retraction or an expression of concern.

Peer Review Process for Submitted Manuscripts

All manuscripts submitted for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others unless authorized by the responsible Scientific Editor. Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly and support them with scholarly arguments.

All submissions are first assessed by the responsible Scientific Editor appointed by the Editor-in-Chief. The responsible Scientific Editor evaluates whether the submission has been properly prepared and whether it complies with the ethical principles of the journal. This process also includes an originality check. Responsible Scientific Editors follow the principles of the Editorial Board and are bound by legal requirements such as copyright infringement and plagiarism. Manuscripts that do not comply with the journal’s ethical principles or fail to meet the journal’s requirements will be rejected before peer review. Manuscripts that are not properly prepared will be returned to the authors for revision and resubmission.

Once a manuscript passes editorial screening, it is assigned to two independent experts for double-blind peer review. The review process is described in detail on the journal’s website in the For Authors section. Reviews should be objective, reviewers should have no conflicts of interest, and they should identify relevant published work that has not yet been cited. Reviewed manuscripts must be handled confidentially. Reviewers are asked to assess the submission and may recommend:

publication in its current form,
publication after minor revisions,
publication after major revisions and additional review,
publication after a major revision and additional review, or
rejection.

If one review is positive and the other negative, the Editor-in-Chief will request a third review. If the third review is positive, the review process continues. If it is negative, the manuscript is returned to the authors together with the reviews.

Scientific Editors are responsible for deciding which submitted manuscripts should be published in the journal. The final decision on acceptance or rejection is made by the Editorial Board. This decision is also communicated to the corresponding author together with the reviewers’ recommendations. Authors are expected to respond to all reviewer comments point by point.

Instructions for authors are published on the journal’s website in the For Authors section. Instructions for reviewers are published on the journal’s website in the For Reviewers section.

Similarity Check and Anti-Plagiarism Policy

All submitted manuscripts are checked for plagiarism. The journal uses the Crossref platform for plagiarism screening. The permitted similarity rate is 10%.

Procedures for Addressing Unethical Conduct by Editors

Scientific Editors should protect the integrity of published manuscripts by issuing corrections and retractions where necessary and by pursuing suspected or alleged research and publication misconduct. Misconduct by reviewers and editors must also be addressed. If ethical complaints are submitted regarding a manuscript or a published article, the Scientific Editor should take appropriate action based on the decision of the Editor-in-Chief.

Such action usually includes contacting the author of the manuscript and properly evaluating the relevant complaint or allegation, but may also include further communication with relevant institutions and research bodies. If the complaint is substantiated, a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other appropriate notice may be published. Every reported case of unethical publishing conduct must be investigated by the Editorial Board, even if it is identified years after publication.

Archiving of Published Content

The Editorial Board ensures the digital archiving of the journal’s content on the journal’s website. This journal is indexed in important databases such as Index Copernicus, ERIH+, and others, which serve as permanent electronic archives of scholarly journals. The journal is also a member of Crossref, whose aim is to facilitate the discovery, citation, and evaluation of manuscripts. Crossref is the official agency for registering digital object identifiers.

This journal permits the use of copies of manuscripts on authors’ personal websites and in non-commercial digital repositories of non-profit institutions with which the authors are affiliated.

Retraction Policy

Scientific Editors are committed to maintaining the integrity of scholarly research and to publishing significant corrections where necessary. In all unethical cases, the original articles will be removed and replaced by a note stating the reason for the retraction together with the corrected version, except in exceptional cases where no corrected version is provided. In the event of plagiarism, the entire article will be removed from the journal and replaced by a note including the names of the authors and a description of the plagiarism.

Journal Website

The Editorial Board is responsible for ensuring that the journal’s website is regularly maintained. Those responsible for the website pay due attention to security aspects and apply ethical standards when updating the website.

Information published on the website must be accurate. The journal’s website must not contain information that could mislead readers or authors, nor should it copy the pages, design, or logo of another journal. Any copied text from other websites must be clearly identified.

Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers

Decisions on the acceptance or rejection of a scholarly article are substantially supported by peer reviews, which evaluate the scientific quality of the article and, through editorial communication with the author, may also help improve the manuscript. Peer review is regarded as an essential part of the Editorial Board’s decision-making process.

Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is considered inappropriate. Reviewers are expected to express their opinions clearly and support them with scholarly arguments.

Independent external reviewers who are experts in the relevant academic field must not be affiliated with the research centre or institution of the author.

All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with other persons unless authorized by the responsible editor.

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that the authors have not cited in their publication. Any statement suggesting that part of the submission has already been published should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also alert the responsible Scientific Editor to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and any other published work of which the reviewer is aware.

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in the reviewer’s own research without the author’s written consent. Confidential information or ideas obtained through the peer review process must remain confidential and must not be used for the reviewer’s personal benefit. Manuscripts in which there is a conflict of interest must not be reviewed by the affected reviewers.

Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review a manuscript or knows that a prompt review will not be possible should immediately inform the responsible editor and withdraw from the review process so that other appropriate reviewers can be contacted without delay.

Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

A submission to JOBS must be an original, previously unpublished work written in English. It must have the required structure of a scholarly article. Details on the structure of a scholarly article are provided in the For Authors section. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to allow other researchers to replicate the research. The data used must be accurately reported in the manuscript. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable. Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works. If the authors have used the work or words of others, such sources must be properly cited or acknowledged.

A manuscript submitted to JOBS must not have been previously published and must not be under review by another journal.

Submissions to JOBS are assessed through an anonymous double-blind peer review process. First, each submission is evaluated by the responsible Scientific Editor of the journal, who may reject it if it is outside the scope of the journal, does not meet the journal’s requirements, is of insufficient quality, or fails the originality test. In the second stage of the review process, the manuscript is sent to two independent reviewers. Detailed information on the review process is provided in the For Authors section.

Access to Data and Data Retention

The JOBS Editorial Board may request from authors the data presented in their manuscript for editorial assessment in connection with the submitted article. Public access to such data should be provided where possible. In any case, the data should be retained for an appropriate period after publication.

Originality of the Scholarly Article and Forms of Plagiarism

Authors are required to submit original works. If the work and/or words of others have been used, they must be properly cited. Authors should cite only publications that have significantly influenced the preparation of the submitted manuscript. Excessive citation, self-citation, and any other form of citation manipulation are inappropriate and unethical. Citation manipulation will result in rejection of the article. Authors are obliged to report to the publisher any attempts by reviewers or Scientific Editors to encourage such practices.

Plagiarism may take many forms, such as presenting another person’s article as one’s own, copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another work without acknowledgement, or appropriating the results of research conducted by other researchers.

In all these forms, plagiarism is considered unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

Manuscripts describing the same research should generally not be published in more than one journal or other publication. Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal is considered unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

Authorship Policy

The authors listed on a manuscript are regarded as the persons who participated in the preparation of the article. They are responsible for the submitted results and for compliance with all ethical standards. All persons who have made a significant contribution to the creation of the article should be listed as co-authors and should agree with the content of the publication. If other persons contributed to less significant activities, this should be appropriately acknowledged in the article. The corresponding author should ensure the inclusion of all relevant co-authors, agreement on the order of authors and their contribution to the article, and the exclusion of inappropriate co-authors. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication. Adding an author who did not participate in the preparation of the article is unethical. The corresponding author is responsible for the correct, complete, and ethical listing of authors in the manuscript.

All authors listed on the manuscript must have made a substantial contribution, for example through collaboration in the conception or design of the manuscript, contribution to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, input into the development and presentation of the research results, drafting of the manuscript, or critical revision of the publication output. Authors are required to specify their contribution to the preparation of the article according to the defined categories directly in the manuscript submitted to the journal. All relevant information and statements on data transparency from all authors should, where appropriate, be included in the manuscript.

The primary affiliation of each author should reflect the scientific institution where most of the work was carried out. Authors are encouraged to designate a corresponding author and confirm the order of authors before submission. If an author has changed their name for any reason, it is possible to request a correction of their name in previously published articles.

Authors are strongly encouraged to use an ORCID identifier when preparing their manuscript.

Authors are required to provide relevant information regarding funding sources and financial or non-financial interests. In the case of studies involving human or animal subjects, they must submit the necessary approvals from an ethics committee and, where applicable, informed consent. Authors must also ensure that all data, materials, software applications, and other elements supporting the claims made in the published work comply with legal standards.

All communication with the journal before and after publication is managed and conducted by the corresponding author.

All communication with the journal, including correspondence with Scientific Editors and reviewers, should be treated as confidential unless explicit permission has been granted to share such information. In the event of an authorship dispute arising during peer review or after acceptance and publication, the journal will not conduct any investigation or make any determination.

Authors must agree that the published version of the article will be made available on the journal’s website in PDF format. This consent is granted by the authors through the corresponding author in electronic form provided by the journal.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose in the manuscript any financial or other significant conflict of interest that could influence the results or interpretation of the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project must be disclosed.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works and Their Correction

If authors or readers discover a significant error or inaccuracy in a published article, the author should immediately inform the responsible Scientific Editor of the journal and cooperate in retracting or correcting the article, depending on the nature of the error. If a significant error is reported to the editors or publisher by a third party, the author is obliged either to ensure that the article is promptly corrected or retracted, or to provide the responsible Scientific Editor with clear evidence confirming the correctness of the original work.

Open Access and Copyright Policy

The journal provides access to its content under an open access model based on the principles of the non-exclusive Creative Commons licence (CC BY 4.0).

Appeals and Complaints by Authors

Authors have the right to submit an appeal or complaint regarding the operation of the journal, for example an appeal against an editorial decision rejecting an article, a complaint about failure in editorial processes such as an excessively long review period, as well as complaints concerning publication ethics.

Appeals and complaints by authors should primarily be handled by the Editor-in-Chief or the responsible Scientific Editor. Authors should address their appeals or complaints directly to the Editor-in-Chief, who will determine the procedure for handling them.

Biosafety and Biosecurity

Research submitted to JOBS must be conducted in accordance with relevant biosafety and biosecurity protocols and any national or international recommendations applicable to the field of research. Authors are required to take adequate steps to minimize the misuse of their work.

The editorial office reserves the right to seek expert advice in cases where it believes that issues may arise in this area and may request that the manuscript undergo peer review specifically to assess dual-use risk.

Policy on Retraction and Correction of Suspect Articles

In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism, the publisher, in close cooperation with the responsible Scientific Editor, will conduct an investigation and take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and remedy it, for example by removing or correcting the relevant article. In such cases, the journal’s editorial office will contact the authors by email and allow them to comment on the findings.

If misconduct by the authors is proven before publication, the manuscript will be returned to the authors. If an inappropriate article has already been published, then depending on the severity of the misconduct, a correction, editorial note, or retraction may be added to the article, meaning that it will remain on the platform marked as “retracted”.

Use of Artificial Intelligence [AI]

We acknowledge that the use of AI is becoming part of scholarly research. However, the use of AI cannot replace original and creative scientific inquiry. It may form part of scholarly activity, but only in a supportive role. Excessive use of AI in the preparation of a scholarly article shall be considered unethical conduct by the authors and will be grounds for rejection of the manuscript. Authors are required to disclose in the article the extent to which AI was used.