Unethical behaviour

Procedures for Dealing with Allegations of Unethical Behaviour

Management Science Advances (MSA) takes credible concerns relating to research integrity, publication ethics, and the integrity of the peer-review and editorial process seriously. Suspected unethical behaviour or publication misconduct may be reported to the Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Office, or Publisher at any stage of the submission, peer-review, editorial, publication, or post-publication process.

Concerns may be raised by authors, reviewers, readers, editors, institutions, or other interested parties. Reports should provide sufficient information to allow the journal to understand and assess the concern and, where available, should include relevant documentation or supporting evidence. Anonymous concerns may be considered where sufficient information is available to permit a meaningful assessment.

Ethical concerns may be assessed regardless of when they are identified, including concerns relating to previously published articles.

Initial Assessment

All credible allegations will be considered seriously and assessed according to their nature, seriousness, and the available evidence. The Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately appointed independent editor will normally conduct or oversee the initial assessment.

Where an editor has a relevant conflict of interest concerning the manuscript, individuals involved, or circumstances of the case, that editor will not participate in the assessment or decision-making process. The matter will be assigned to an appropriate independent editor or other suitably qualified individual.

The journal may request additional information, documentation, underlying data, source files, code, correspondence, ethical approvals, authorship documentation, conflict-of-interest disclosures, or other materials considered necessary to evaluate the concern.

Confidentiality and Fair Procedure

Information relating to an allegation or assessment will be treated confidentially to the extent reasonably possible and will normally be shared only with individuals or organizations whose involvement is necessary for appropriate evaluation or investigation.

Individuals whose conduct or work is the subject of a substantive allegation will normally be informed of the relevant concern and given an appropriate opportunity to respond before the journal reaches a conclusion or takes substantial editorial action, except where legal, regulatory, confidentiality, or other compelling considerations require a different approach.

The journal will distinguish, where possible, between honest error, differences in scholarly interpretation, minor breaches of publication standards, and potentially serious misconduct. Any action taken will be proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the concern and the evidence available.

Types of Ethical Concerns

Potential unethical behaviour may include, but is not limited to:

• plagiarism or substantial unattributed reuse;
• fabrication or falsification of data, results, analyses, references, or other research information;
• inappropriate manipulation of figures, images, datasets, computational outputs, or other research records;
• duplicate or redundant publication;
• guest, gift, ghost, purchased, or otherwise inappropriate authorship;
• peer-review manipulation or interference with the editorial process;
• citation manipulation or coercive citation practices;
• undisclosed or improperly managed conflicts of interest;
• misrepresentation of research methods, data sources, models, computational procedures, ethical approvals, funding, affiliations, or other material information;
• breaches of confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property, or copyright;
• use of Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in violation of the journal's applicable policies;
• other conduct that may materially compromise the integrity of the research, peer-review process, editorial process, or scholarly record.

Specific concerns involving plagiarism or conflicts of interest will also be assessed under the journal's applicable Plagiarism Policy and Conflict of Interests policy. Matters governed by other dedicated journal policies will also be considered under the relevant policy.

Minor Concerns

Minor concerns may include limited or inadvertent breaches of publication standards that do not materially compromise the integrity or reliability of the research, editorial process, or scholarly record.

Depending on the circumstances, such concerns may be addressed through clarification, guidance, correction of information, additional disclosure, or a formal warning. The journal may request that an author, reviewer, or editor remedy an identified problem or comply with the journal's applicable standards and policies.

Serious Misconduct

A concern may be considered serious where the available evidence indicates deliberate, systematic, repeated, or materially consequential misconduct, or where the reliability or integrity of the research, peer-review process, editorial process, or scholarly record may be substantially compromised.

Serious concerns may require additional expert assessment, consultation with relevant institutions, or referral to an appropriate research integrity, professional, regulatory, funding, or other competent body.

Investigation and Institutional Referral

MSA will assess matters that fall within its editorial responsibilities. However, the journal does not normally have the authority or resources to conduct formal institutional investigations of research misconduct requiring access to employment records, laboratory records, institutional documentation, confidential administrative information, or other evidence unavailable to the journal.

Where appropriate, the journal may refer a concern to an author's, reviewer's, or editor's institution, employer, research integrity office, funding organization, regulatory authority, professional body, or other competent organization and may request that the relevant body investigate the matter.

The journal may cooperate with an institutional or other competent investigation and may take its findings into account when determining what editorial action is appropriate.

Editorial Actions

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the concern and the stage at which it is identified, MSA may request clarification or supporting information, require appropriate corrective action, suspend editorial consideration, replace a reviewer, transfer a manuscript to an independent editor, reject a manuscript, terminate a review or editorial assignment, refer a matter to an appropriate institution or competent body, or take other proportionate measures necessary to protect the integrity of the editorial and scholarly record.

Where an established concern affects an article that has already been published, any formal action affecting the scholarly record will be taken in accordance with the journal's Retraction and Correction Policies.

Editorial Restrictions

In cases involving established serious or repeated breaches of publication ethics, MSA may consider proportionate restrictions on future submissions, reviewing activities, or editorial involvement for a defined period.

Such measures will be appropriately documented and considered separately from formal determinations of research, employment, academic, or legal misconduct made by institutions, employers, regulatory authorities, or other competent bodies.

Concerns Involving Editors or the Publisher

Where an allegation concerns an editor who would normally be responsible for handling the matter, that editor will not participate in its assessment or decision-making. The concern will be assigned to an independent editor or other appropriately qualified individual without a relevant conflict of interest.

Where a concern involves the Editor-in-Chief, it may be referred to Scientific Oasis (SCIO), an independent senior editor, or another suitably qualified person who was not involved in the matter.

Where a concern involves Scientific Oasis (SCIO) as the Publisher, the matter should, where reasonably possible, be considered by an appropriate independent person or editorial representative who was not directly involved in the circumstances giving rise to the allegation.

Good-Faith Reporting and False Allegations

Individuals who raise ethical concerns in good faith should not be subjected to retaliation by the journal. MSA will seek to protect the confidentiality of individuals raising concerns to the extent reasonably possible and legally permissible.

Knowingly false, malicious, or deliberately misleading allegations may themselves constitute inappropriate conduct and may be addressed accordingly. This provision is not intended to discourage legitimate concerns raised in good faith.

Related Policies

This procedure should be read together with the journal's Publication Ethics Statement, Plagiarism Policy, and Conflict of Interests policy.

Where a case requires correction, an Expression of Concern, retraction, or another formal amendment to the published scholarly record, the applicable procedures are defined in the journal's Retraction and Correction Policies.

COPE Guidance

In assessing allegations of unethical behaviour and determining appropriate editorial action, MSA will consider relevant guidance and recommendations provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Each case will be evaluated according to its individual circumstances, the evidence available, and the journal's applicable publication ethics policies and procedures.