Guidelines on Publishing Ethics

GUIDELINES ON PUBLISHING ETHICS IN THE POZNAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS OF ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
The actions of the Editorial Committee of Poznan University of Technology Scientific Journals of Organization and Management are focused on upholding the highest ethical standards at all stages of the publication process. As a result, we endeavor to prevent and investigate all cases of research misconduct. This document is a set of guidelines for all those involved in the publishing process, that is, the authors, reviewers and editorial staff. The Editorial Committee of Poznan University of Technology Scientific Journals of Organization and Management is fully committed to applying the principles contained in this document in the interest of ensuring that the publishing process is fair, unbiased, and timely and upholds the standards of publishing ethics. The Editorial Committee’s policy in this area serves to maintain the confidence of the interested parties, as well as to preserve the transparency of the publishing process. The editorial staff’s position is, above all, to prevent any kind of misconduct in the publishing process, by providing transparent rules and initiating procedures in any case of a breach of the rules, as described in this document. This document contains guidelines in line with the recommendations of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education on compliance with ethical standards and good scientific practice, with the aim to ensure the integrity of the publishing process and to prevent research misconduct. The adopted rules of conduct are based on the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), available on the website https://publicationethics.org.

Code of Conduct for Authors
Articles that are accepted for publication in Poznan University of Technology Scientific Journals of Organization and Management cannot violate the canons of scientific integrity and honesty as well as ethical standards and scientific principles. The selection of articles by the Editorial Committee and decisions regarding their acceptance or rejection are made solely on the basis of their scientific value, research area, originality and clarity. Only manuscripts that were written by the author(s) themselves will be accepted for publication. Authorship is determined when a given person contributed to the conception of the article or conducted research, wrote a draft of the manuscript or contributed to its revision, and accepted the final version of the manuscript submitted to the Journal and takes responsibility for it. The authors are obliged to disclose in what capacity they contributed to the work, as a percentage expressing their commitment in creating the article (as well as listing their affiliation). The authors consent to the transfer of all copyrights to the article to the Publishing House of Poznan University of Technology. Authors are responsible for guaranteeing the full originality of the works submitted to the Journal. They cannot contain plagiarism of any kind, false or unreliable data, or data obtained in a manner contrary to ethical principles or in violation of the personal rights or property of others. Furthermore, the work to be published in the Journal cannot be a work which has already been published (fully or partially) in another journal or is in the middle of the publication process at another journal. Authors are required to report it if they are publishing similar materials in another journal or presenting them at conferences, academic symposia, etc. Using fragments of other people’s works or statements by other authors in the article may take place only with the observance of copyright rules, with a proper footnote or quote. The article cannot violate the privacy rights of third parties, including the right to the protection of personal data. Articles submitted to the Scientific Journals of Organization and Management must contain acknowledgements of the people who contributed to the creation of the manuscript but who do not meet the criteria for authorship. 2 Authors are obliged to disclose the sources of funding for the publication, the contributions of scientific and research institutions, associations and other entities that contributed to the publication. If the authors notice a fundamental mistake or inaccuracy in their work, they should immediately inform the editorial staff of the Scientific Journals of Organization and Management. By submitting a manuscript to be published in the Scientific Journals of Organization and Management, the authors agree to remain at the disposal of the Editorial Committee and to quickly respond to any requests addressed to them as a result of the publication process and to comply with the relevant deadlines (in particular, to provide the required documents and to introduce the suggested corrections to the text). Glaring examples of scientific misconduct include, among others, phenomena such as ghostwriting (not disclosing that an author contributed to the creation of the publication even as an acknowledgement) and guest authorship (granting authorship or co-authorship to a person who did not participate in the creation of the manuscript or whose participation in this work was negligible). Both phenomena constitute a serious violation of ethical standards and the integrity of the scientific community.

Code of Conduct for Editors
The Editorial Committee of the Poznan University of Technology Scientific Journals of Organization and Management is aware of and adheres to current publication guidelines in matters related to copyright, plagiarism and ethical code violations as well as relevant scientific standards. The editors continuously update their knowledge on these issues based on the materials provided by COPE. Submission of a manuscript indicates that the authors agree to abide by the Journal’s publishing policies. All manuscripts submitted to the Journal are subject to peer review. It is the editorial staff’s priority to maintain the anonymity of reviewers. The Editorial Committee of the Scientific Journals of Organization and Management performs an initial screening of the submitted manuscripts and decides whether or not to include them for publication. This decision is based on the scientific value of the manuscripts, their subject matter, originality and clarity of message, as well as the expectations of readers and authors. The members of the Editorial Committee are committed to impartiality, professionalism, and diligence in making their assessment. All submitted manuscripts are subject to the same publication policy – without bias or discrimination of authors due to their age, sex, race, or sexual orientation. The decision whether to accept or reject a manuscript cannot result from a possible conflict of interest. In the event a submitted manuscript is rejected, it cannot be used by the editorial staff in any way without the written consent of the authors. Manuscripts that have been accepted for peer review are confidential and cannot be shared with third parties, that is, people other than the authors, reviewers, publishers or other advisers associated with the editorial process. The Editorial Committee of the Poznan University of Technology Scientific Journals of Organization and Management is obliged to investigate any suspicions of unethical activity or instances of research misconduct, with no limitations period.

Code of Conduct for Reviewers
Peer reviewers are familiar with the Journal’s publication policies and agree to comply with them. Reviewers should only agree to review if they have the required expertise to assess the manuscript and can be unbiased in their assessment. Reviewers should provide supporting evidence to substantiate their position towards the entire manuscript or its selected fragments. The peer review process is anonymous. Reviewers do not have access to the personal data of authors and their affiliation (the authors are also unaware of the identity of reviewers – “double blind review”). Maintaining the anonymity of authors is a very important matter as it ensures that the reviewers will remain impartial towards the authors of the article. In the event that the reviewer, as a result of a mistake or negligence on the part of the editor, comes to possess the above-mentioned data, he/she should immediately inform the Editorial Committee of this fact and refuse to review the article. Manuscripts cannot be shown to third parties during the peer review process. 3 In the event a submitted manuscript is rejected, it cannot be used by the reviewer in any way without the written consent of the authors. Reviewers are obliged to inform the Editorial Committee of any suspicions or any instances of violations of ethical and research standards.

In order to ensure the transparency of reviews, reviewers are not entitled to compensation.

Procedures for Addressing Publication Ethics Violations
The editorial staff of the Poznan University of Technology Scientific Journals of Organization and Management have the obligation to document all instances of research misconduct, especially violations of ethical standards in scientific research. All manifestations of misconduct and conduct contrary to the adopted guidelines will be disclosed and referred to the appropriate entities (institutions employing authors, scientific societies, associations of scientific editors, etc.) Cases where research misconduct (such as plagiarism, text recycling, data fabrication, ghost authorship, guest authorship, etc.) is identified will be handled in accordance with COPE recommendations, formulated in the form of flowcharts and available on the website: https://publicationethics.org/files/Full%20set%20of%20English%20flowcharts_9Nov2016.pdf