Allegations of Research Misconduct

Involvement International Journal of Business (IIJB) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of research integrity, academic honesty, transparency, and ethical scholarly publishing. The journal takes allegations of research misconduct seriously and is committed to handling suspected violations fairly, confidentially, and in accordance with recognized principles of publication ethics.

1. Scope of Research Misconduct

Research misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

• Fabrication — making up data, results, participants, research procedures, or other research information and reporting them as genuine.

• Falsification — manipulating research materials, processes, data, images, analyses, or results in a way that misrepresents the research.

• Plagiarism — using another person's words, ideas, data, images, or other intellectual contributions without appropriate acknowledgment or citation.

• Duplicate or redundant publication — publishing substantially the same research or content in more than one publication without appropriate disclosure or justification.

• Citation manipulation — adding citations that are irrelevant or unnecessary for the purpose of increasing citation counts or improperly influencing the scholarly record.

• Authorship misconduct — inappropriate attribution, including ghost authorship, guest or honorary authorship, or failure to appropriately recognize individuals who have made substantial contributions.

• Undisclosed conflicts of interest that may improperly influence the research, review, or publication process.

• Manipulation or fabrication of peer review, including suggesting fabricated reviewers, impersonating reviewers, or interfering with the review process.

• Misrepresentation of research findings, qualifications, affiliations, funding, ethical approval, or other relevant information.

• Other practices that seriously violate accepted standards of research integrity or publication ethics.

2. Reporting Allegations

Any person who has a reasonable and credible concern regarding possible research misconduct in an article submitted to or published by IIJB may report the concern to the Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Office.

Allegations should, where possible, include sufficient information to enable the journal to assess the concern, such as:

• The title and/or DOI of the affected article;

• A clear description of the suspected misconduct;

• Specific evidence supporting the allegation;

• Relevant sources, documents, or links; and

• Any other information that may assist the editorial team in evaluating the concern.

Anonymous allegations may be considered when sufficient evidence is provided to allow a meaningful assessment.

3. Preliminary Assessment

Upon receiving an allegation, the editorial team will conduct an initial assessment to determine whether the concern appears credible and falls within the journal's responsibility.

The Editor-in-Chief may consult members of the editorial board, reviewers, institutional representatives, or other appropriate experts where necessary.

The journal will distinguish between honest errors, differences in scholarly interpretation, and conduct that may constitute research or publication misconduct.

4. Investigation

If an allegation appears to have sufficient basis, IIJB may initiate a formal investigation or request clarification from the authors.

The authors concerned will normally be given an appropriate opportunity to respond to the allegations and provide relevant explanations or supporting documentation.

Where the matter involves institutional research practices, ethical approval, research data, or serious allegations of misconduct, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution, research organization, ethics committee, or other appropriate authority for further investigation.

The journal will not normally make a final determination of serious research misconduct solely on the basis of an editorial assessment when the matter requires institutional investigation.

5. Confidentiality and Fair Treatment

All allegations and investigations will be handled as confidentially as reasonably possible.

IIJB will make reasonable efforts to protect the identities and privacy of individuals involved in the investigation while maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record.

The journal will seek to ensure that all parties are treated fairly and given an appropriate opportunity to provide relevant information or respond to concerns.

6. Possible Editorial Actions

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the concern, the journal may take one or more of the following actions:

• Request clarification or additional documentation from the authors;

• Request corrections to the manuscript or published article;

• Issue an Editorial Expression of Concern when the reliability of the work is uncertain while an investigation is ongoing;

• Reject a manuscript that is still under consideration;

• Retract a published article when its findings or content are sufficiently unreliable or when serious misconduct has been established;

• Publish a correction, retraction notice, or other appropriate editorial notice;

• Restrict or suspend future submissions from individuals involved in serious misconduct, where justified;

• Notify the relevant institution, funder, ethics committee, or other responsible authority; or

• Take other appropriate actions necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

Editorial action will be proportionate to the seriousness and nature of the allegation.

7. Plagiarism and Similarity

IIJB does not tolerate plagiarism or substantial unattributed use of other people's intellectual work.

Manuscripts may be screened using appropriate similarity-detection or plagiarism-detection tools during the editorial and peer-review process.

A similarity score alone does not automatically establish plagiarism. The editorial team will assess the nature, context, and source of any similarities before making an editorial decision.

Where plagiarism is confirmed, appropriate action may be taken in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policies.

8. Post-Publication Concerns

Concerns about articles that have already been published will be evaluated carefully.

If credible evidence indicates that a published article contains serious errors, unreliable findings, plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, or other significant ethical problems, IIJB may correct, issue an Expression of Concern, or retract the article as appropriate.

Any post-publication notice will clearly explain the reason for the editorial action and will remain linked to the original article to preserve transparency and the integrity of the scholarly record.

9. Appeals and Responses

Authors may provide a written response to an allegation or editorial action when they believe that the decision was based on incomplete or incorrect information.

Any appeal should provide clear reasons and relevant supporting evidence. Appeals will be considered by the editorial team in accordance with the journal's editorial policies.

An appeal does not automatically suspend an ongoing investigation or remove an editorial notice that is necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

10. Protection Against Retaliation

IIJB does not tolerate retaliation against individuals who raise research-integrity concerns in good faith.

Individuals reporting concerns should provide factual information and avoid making knowingly false, malicious, defamatory, or unsupported allegations.

The journal will handle legitimate concerns professionally and confidentially to the extent reasonably possible.

11. Generative AI and Research Misconduct

The use of Generative AI does not remove the responsibility of authors for the integrity and accuracy of their research.

AI-generated or AI-assisted content must not be used to fabricate data, manipulate results, create false references, generate misleading evidence, or otherwise misrepresent scholarly work.

Authors, reviewers, and editors must comply with the journal's Generative AI Policies when using AI-assisted technologies in connection with scholarly publishing.

12. Commitment to Research Integrity

Involvement International Journal of Business (IIJB) is committed to protecting the integrity of the academic record and ensuring that published research meets appropriate standards of originality, reliability, transparency, and ethical conduct.

All allegations of research misconduct will be assessed carefully, objectively, and proportionately. The journal may refer serious cases to the relevant institutions or authorities when necessary and will take appropriate editorial action to protect the credibility of the journal and the wider scholarly community.