Introduction

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the integrity of the BER and its publisher, The Business Excellence Institute, is maintained and to provide authors with advice on how they can be certain their articles are suitable from an ethical perspective for publication in BER.  To this end, it details the ethical responsibilities of the publisher and the BER’s editors, reviewers, and authors.

All authors who wish to be published in the BER are expected to read, understand, and comply with this Ethics Policy before submitting any paper for consideration. The policy details the responsibilities of all authors, editors, and reviewers working with and for the BER as well as the ethical responsibilities of the BER and its publisher, The Business Excellence Institute. This includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, misuse of third-party material, falsification of data, fabrication of results and fraudulent authorship.

Please note, submitted manuscripts may be subject to checks using plagiarism check services to detect overlapping and similar text. Such services check submissions against millions of published research papers, documents on the web, and other relevant sources. If plagiarism or misconduct is found, consequences are detailed below.

We require all authors to read and understand our ethics policy before submitting an article for publication.

If you have any questions, please contact the Editor.

Policy

The Business Excellence Institute, holding true to its values, is firmly against unethical behaviour, which by its very nature is the opposite of excellence. It realises that many, if not most, incidents of plagiarism and copyright infringement occur due to a lack of knowledge or understanding rather than as the result of nefarious intent. Consequently, this policy has been designed to ensure prospective authors have adequate knowledge and understanding to avoid inadvertent unethical behaviour.

Authors shall indemnify and hold harmless The Business Excellence Institute and its directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives from and against all or any claims, damages, losses, liabilities or expenses (including, but not limited to, reasonable legal fees), arising out the author’s/authors’ conduct. This is in accordance with the Business Excellence Institute’s commitment to the prevention of unethical conduct. It is important to note that most incidents of plagiarism, redundant publication, copyright infringement or similar occur because of a lack of understanding, and not through fraudulent intent. Our policy is one of prevention and not persecution.

If ethical misconduct is suspected in relation to any article submitted, BER works closely with the editor(s) to conduct a fair and transparent investigation. The consequences of any plagiarism or misconduct detected are detailed below (see: If unethical conduct is detected).

Authors shall:

• Ensure that any article submitted (and any work it is based upon) is original, that its Commentary section is correctly and fully referenced, and that all authors are represented accurately
• Nominate a “corresponding author” for each article submitted and provide accurate contact details for this author, who shall be deemed fully responsible for the authorship of the article as well as for all communications concerning its originality and ethical status, including any and all queries that may arise either prior to or after publication
• Openly disclose the source of all data and third-party material (including their own unpublished work) and anything that could compromise the originality of the submission
• Identify any and all third-party material used in their article, obtain written permission to use such material from the relevant copyright holder(s), and submit all such permissions either when submitting the article for consideration or as soon as it is accepted
• Openly disclose any conflict of interest, or potential conflicts of interest (for example, if publication of the article could benefit an organization or service in which any of the authors have a vested interest)
• On acceptance of the article for publication, assign copyright of the article to The Business Excellence Institute for publication (the author(s) are responsible to ensure that the Corresponding Author is empowered to assign said copyright to the publisher..
• Expect the editor to scan submissions using plagiarism detection software to check for originality before sending out for review
• Correspond in a timely manner and comply with the Editor and publisher regarding any requests for source data, proof of authorship / originality, providing reasonable explanation for discrepancies or failures to disclose vital information
• Fully co-operate with any consequent investigations if the editor and/or publisher are dissatisfied with the evidence available or the explanations provided.
• Expect transparency, efficiency and respect from the publisher and the editor during the submissions process.
• Stay in contact with the editor and the BER (keeping their contact information and that of any co-authors, up-to-date) and maintain timely and accurate communications both prior to publication and afterwards
• When necessary, submit corrections in a timely and collaborative manner
• Co-operate fully with the publication of corrections once the article has been published (errata) and with the retraction of articles found to be unethical, misleading or damaging

Editors shall:

• Read, understand, and comply with editorial guidelines and the BER ethics policy
• Protect the reputation of the BER and its published work by only publishing content of the highest quality and relevance in a timely and responsible manner
• Oversee thorough, objective, and confidential peer+ review for submitted articles which pass the initial quality check and editorial assessment
• Justify, with sufficient detail, any article types which will not be peer reviewed
• Provide, as far as is reasonably possible, a transparent process of article review and publication
• Provide authors with periodic status updates on submitted articles and information on publication decisions
• Allow authors the right to appeal any editorial decision
• Only publish articles based on the original merit, relevance, and quality of their content
• Advise The Business Excellence Institute of any third-party material which has been included for which they believe insufficient permission has been obtained
• Publish, if necessary, corrections (to typos/errata) once the article has been published and retract articles that are deemed by the BER to be unethical, misleading or damaging
• Stay in contact with the author(s) of articles they have published and with the BER

Reviewers shall:

• Only accept invitations to review work which they judge to be relevant to their knowledge and expertise
• Adhere to the BER’s policy of confidential peer review and the non-disclosure agreement to which they are bound, insuring among other things that (i) they do not disclose information or work shared with them or use it for any purpose other than to review it as part of the Peer+ Review process and (ii) they keep their identity unknown to article authors
• Review submitted work in an open-minded, responsible, impartial and timely manner
• Report, as part of their critical review of articles, any suspected unethical conduct
• Not use unnecessarily derogatory, inflammatory or offensive language in their appraisals
• Not share their opinions of any article they review with anyone except the appropriate representatives of the BER
• Review, as required, any article revisions and the editor(s) with ‘follow-up’ advice if requested
• Clarify any details which they find unclear – by checking with the BER – before accepting an invitation to review an article
• Stay in contact with the BER and the editor(s) of any article they review

The Business Excellence Institute will:

• Protect the reputation of the Business Excellence Review and its published work by only publishing relevant content of the highest quality
• Provide information on its understanding of publication ethics and how acts to ensure ethical publication, emphasising prevention over post-hoc detection, of unethical conduct
• Keep its editorial and publishing team up-to-date with relevant guidelines and policies
• Request evidence demonstrating the originality and/or accuracy of any article submitted (or of the work on which it is based), from the corresponding author when deemed necessary
• Use plagiarism detection software, as deemed necessary, at any stage of the submissions and publication process it deems appropriate
• Provide a transparent article submission, review, and publication (including detailed and instructions on article structure, referencing style, and acceptable article topics)
• Investigate any possibility of unethical conduct detected during any stage of the submissions process (including but is not limited to: plagiarism, redundant publication, and fabrication or misuse of data)
• Correct substantive errors in articles in a timely fashion (adding a dated statement of the correction to the article)
• When necessary, retract articles that are deemed to be unethical, misleading or damaging
• When necessary, publish corrections once an article has been published
• Stay in contact with authors, reviewers, and editors

If unethical conduct is detected

The Business Excellence Institute takes unethical conduct very seriously. After careful investigation of any suspicion or allegation of ethical misconduct, a range of possible consequences exist. In each case, the author(s) will be given the opportunity to explain any misconduct and the consequences of it shall be determined on a case-by-case basis. If it is clear that the issue is a result of human error then the consequences may be limited but, as authors are required to read this Ethics Policy and understand their obligations prior to submitting articles for publication, the responsibility to demonstrate (with clear evidence) that it was inadvertent human error lies with the author(s) who shall be jointly held responsible for any misconduct.

Editorial decisions will only be made once the investigation is completed.

In cases where serious misconduct is detected, consequences are proportionately more serious. The Business Excellence Institute reserves the right to request any and all information from the author concerning the creation of the article submitted, to verify its originality. If no such evidence is provided or no satisfactory explanation given, then it may ban the author(s) from resubmitting to the BER. In extreme cases, it may call the matter to the attention of the organization(s) to which the author(s) are affiliated. If ethical misconduct is discovered in content once it has already been published, it may publish a statement of concern whilst the work is investigated. If it is deemed necessary, the paper may be retracted with a statement of explanation. Other consequences may include a submissions ban for any or all authors, and contacting the organisations to which they are affiliated about the misconduct.

There may be additional legal consequences if the misconduct results in any legal proceedings.