Publication Ethics
Overview
Journal of Commerce and Trade (JCT) believes in the principles of not-for-profit organization, transparency and scholarly publishing to evaluate submitted manuscript on its website. The sole responsibility of a submitted manuscript is of submitting author/s. Any observed unethical behaviour or research misconduct is highly objectionable. Journal of Commerce and Trade has established its Publication Ethics Policy on the acknowledged practices settled by COPE-Committee on Publication Ethics. JCT is Double-Blind Reviewed journal with broad scope. Authors are bound to work with publication ethics and academic integrity. Following statement entails the ethical conduct of all parties of publication i.e., Authors, Editors & Editorial Board and Peer-Reviewers.
Authors
Authorship
Authorship should be limited to only those who have made a significant contribution in the process of research i.e., from idea generation to execution and results extraction. Corresponding author is the person who is responsible for communication with the journal and other researchers.
Standards
Manuscripts must be scientifically sound, original, bonafide, significant, ethical and consistent with vision, mission, aim and scope of the journal. Any unethical approach or research misconduct is not acceptable. Every Author has to follow Author Guidelines of Journal of Commerce and Trade.
Acknowledgement of Sources and Citations
If the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted. Any financial support and providing agency should also be given due position in acknowledgement.
Data Fabrication and Falsification
Data fabrication means that the author did not actually did the study, but made-up the data. Data falsification means the author did the experiment, but then changed some of the data. Both of these practices are not acceptable. It creates a mistrust in the social, national and academic periphery by the Journal.
Multiple or Concurrent and Redundant Publication
Authors cannot get one work published in more than one journal. This is called multiple or concurrent publication. It is unethical to submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
Redundant publications (or 'salami' publications) means publishing many very similar manuscripts based on the same experiment. It is highly objectionable.
Cooperation in Double Blind Peer Reviews
All submitted manuscripts have to undergo a strict and pre-defined Double-blind-peer-review process by not the less than two reviewers who have expertise in the area and are not a member in Editorial team. Authors must have to positively participate in the Double-blind-peer-review process as a policy of JCT. If any corrections, rejections or modifications are suggested, authors have to rectify them (even multiple times) with care and patience. Revisions do not gurantee the publication of paper until it suits to the whole Publication Ethics, Peer Review Process and Author Guidelines.
Plagiarism, AI and Copyright
Authors have to follow Plagiarism & AI Policy and Copyright Policy as stated on the website. They are liable for any case of Plagiarism or research misconduct claimed against them. Authors must undertake an ethical viewpoint while practicing or using AI during the development of the paper. Unethical practices may lead to rejection of the paper any time.
Conflicts of Interest
Manuscript must not have conflict of interests, against public policy, copyright infringements and other legal issues. Authors should disclose any conflict of interest or opinion between authors including employment, consultancies, testimonies, registrations, funding and sequencing of the author names. If author found a mistake or any other thing that might affect the quality of publication, it is his/her responsibility to notify the editors.
Editors and Editorial Board
Quality Assurance and Transparency
Editors must evaluate the manuscripts purely on the basis of Merit and without any discrimination and favourism. Editors must keep each and every information confidential regarding submitted manuscripts and Peer-Reviews.
Editors should guarantee the quality of the papers and the integrity of the academic record. Editors should have a clear picture of the research’s funding sources. Unethical, plagiarised, AI generated, inconsistent or low-quality manuscript should be rejected outright at the initial stage.
Authority
Editors have the authority to select/reject any manuscript if it is against publication ethics, weak in quality and does not follow the vision, mission, aim and scope of the journal or a case of research misconduct. Editors have the responsibility to reject any manuscript if it is plagiarized more than the said limit as stated in Plagiarism & AI Policy.
Responsibility & Conflict of Interest
Editors will report to the Chief Editor of the journal. Chief Editor is responsible to follow the policies laid down by editorial board and the general body of the journal publisher. Editors should ask a co-editor or other member of the editorial board about any conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions connected to the papers. Editors should require all contributors to disclose relevant competing interests and publish corrections if competing interests are revealed after publication. If needed, other appropriate action should be taken, such as the publication of a retraction or expression of concern.
Peer Reviewers
Timeliness and Objectiveness
Reviewers must take care of the time as mentioned in review request. Reviewers must assist to the Editors in review process and assist the authors for further improvement.
Transparency and Confidentiality
Reviewers must evaluate the manuscripts with objective and constructive and without any discrimination and favour. They should Read the Author Guidelines carefully before starting a review. Reviewers must contact any time to Chief Editor in case of any discrepancy, mal-practice or research misconduct found in Manuscript. Reviewers have to conduct the review by themselves. Don’t allow anyone to handle review except you only.
Against National Integrity and Public Policy
If paper is against India’s respect, integrity and public policy, reviewers should not forward and recommend it for publication. Reviewers should restrain themselves from to be influenced by the origin, nationality, religion, political beliefs, gender, caste, creed or social class or by commercial considerations.
Credit and Discredit
Reviewers should not use any information and submitted content obtained from the peer-review process for your own or any other person’s or organization’s advantage or to disadvantage or discredit others. They have to be apart from promoting their own research and hypothesis.
Conflicts of Interest
It is of paramount importance for Journal of Commerce and Trade to establish clear and transparent criteria on what constitutes a conflicting or competing interest. If reviewer feels that he has conflict of interest with any written script, he/she should decline to review it. In such circumstances alternative reviewers need to be sought, and in which cases disclosures need to be made effectively. Here are some points about competing interests among editors, reviewers and authors as given below:
Family or close personal friends: Never acceptable
Current collaborations: An ongoing collaboration is never acceptable. Collaboration in the past 3 years are manually verified. If the collaboration presents a low risk of potential bias, the editor/reviewer can continue with an accompanying disclosure statement.
Supervisor/advisor relationships: Ongoing supervisory relationships are never acceptable. The same is true for a student/subordinate relationship.
Shared affiliations: Generally not acceptable, except in the case of a large institution, and where no other conflicts exist. If a shared affiliation is permitted, a disclosure will accompany the publication.
Financial interests with the authors, related businesses, or the content of the manuscript: Never acceptable
Queries
In case of any query, message or email to Chief Editor.
Updated: 15 February, 2025.
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