To ensure the integrity of research manuscripts and the publishing process, the Journal of Innovation Management continuously investigates allegations of publication misconduct, both before and after publication. If malpractice is discovered at any time, even after the publication, the Journal of Innovation Management will take appropriate actions, such as issuing a correction or retraction, to make sure the conformance to ethical standards is met by all parties involved. The Journal of Innovation Management adheres to COPE Guidelines for Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.

Authors must comply with best practice in publication ethics, specifically concerning authorship, duplicate submission, originality and plagiarism, acknowledgment of sources, fabrication, digital image manipulation, competing financial interests, disclosure and conflicts of interest, hazards to human or animal subjects, and fundamental errors in published works. In addition, authors should present their work with sufficient detail and references in a clear and objective manner so that replication of the research is possible.

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the manuscript for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available, if practicable. In any event, authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals upon request, provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.

Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts exclusively based on their academic merit (importance, originality, validity, clarity) and their relevance to the journal’s scope, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political philosophy or institutional affiliation. Decisions to edit and publish are not determined by the policies of governments or any other agencies outside of the journal itself. The Editors-in-Chief have full authority over the entire editorial content of the journal and the timing of publication of that content.

Furthermore, editors will not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone else than the corresponding author and co-authors, assigned editor or editor-in-charge, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisors, and the publisher as appropriate. Editors must ensure a fair and unbiased double-blind peer-review of manuscripts for publication, and will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from collaborative or competitive relationships with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the papers; instead, they will ask another member of the editorial board to handle the manuscript. Editors must guard the integrity of the publication by pursuing suspected or alleged research and publication misconduct and issuing corrections and retractions when needed. Editors should also follow rigorous editorial policies that not only promote the transparency and objectivity of peer review but also prevent reviewer and editorial misconduct.

Reviewers must contribute to editorial decision-making with standards of objectivity, promptness, and confidentiality. Any invited reviewer with conflicting interests or lack of expertise regarding the manuscript to be refereed should notify the editor and decline the invitation to review. The review, conducted comprehensively and objectively, should be reported with clearly stated observations with supporting evidence that can facilitate the editor's decision-making process as well as help authors to improve their manuscripts.

The Journal of Innovation Management does not tolerate any type of plagiarism. We reserve the right to use plagiarism detecting software to screen submitted manuscripts.

Retraction Guidelines

The journal adheres to the COPE Retraction Guidelines. Retraction is a mechanism for correcting the literature and alerting readers to articles that contain such seriously flawed or erroneous content or data that their findings and conclusions cannot be relied upon. If only a small part of an article reports flawed data or content, authors may be invited to rectify the issues by a correction. Complaints and appeals shall be directed to the Journal Editors.

Journal Editors will consider retracting an article if:
·      They have clear evidence that the findings are unreliable;
·      It constitutes plagiarism;
·      The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper attribution to previous sources or disclosure to the editors, permission to republish, or justification (ie, cases of redundant publication);
·      It contains material or data without authorization for use;
·      Copyright has been infringed or there is some other serious legal issue (e.g., libel, privacy);
·      It reports unethical research;
·      It has been published solely on the basis of a compromised or manipulated peer review process;
·      The author(s) failed to disclose a major competing interest that would have unduly affected interpretations of the work or recommendations by editors and peer reviewers.

Editorial contact: editors@open-jim.org