PUBLICATION ETHICS AND PUBLICATION STATEMENT

The journal is committed to maintaining the highest integrity level in the published content.

Content published in this journal is peer-reviewed.

Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) has adopted clear and rigorous ethical guidelines for best working practices. It follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and abides by its Code of Conduct in dealing with potential misconduct cases. It adheres to the principles outlined below, which have been devised to ensure accurate, trustworthy, transparent and efficient publication of scientific papers.

Introduction to Publication Ethics (COPE) – https://publicationethics.org/resources/elearning/introduction-publication-ethics-0

COPE Resources

Ethics toolkit for a successful editorial office

A short guide to ethical editing

PUBLICATION ETHICS

Requirements for Statement on Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice

The editorial board and the publisher of the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) implement the publication ethics and malpractice guidelines based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.

The editorial board and publisher of the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM)) follow the publication ethics and malpractice guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). COPE is a respected international organization that provides guidance on best practices in scholarly publishing, including issues related to authorship, peer review, data integrity, and ethical considerations in research. Adhering to COPE guidelines helps ensure that the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM)) maintains high standards of ethical conduct and integrity in publishing.

The basics of ethical policy are presented

Lithuania Business College (LBC) is a publisher of the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM).

The LBC is committed to promoting interdisciplinary research that contributes to the development of knowledge in the social sciences.

Open Access

Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) offers open access to its contents providing free access to the articles for anyone to read and download without any subscription fees or paywalls.

Similarity check

Using specialized software, the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) checks all articles for plagiarism, falsification, and manipulation. Including Crossref Similarity Check, iThenticate.

EDITORIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Editorial Board

The Vadyba/Journal of Management‘s Editorial Board comprises respected professionals who are recognized experts in their respective fields. You can find their complete names and affiliations listed in the Editorial Board section on the journal’s website. If you need to get in touch with the editorial office, you can find the contact information in the Contact section on the journal’s website.

Publication decisions

The editor-in-chief of the journal’s editorial board is responsible for deciding which scientific production manuscripts submitted to the journal can be published. The Editor-in-Chief may be governed by a policy of publishing ethical principles and may be limited by such legal requirements as may be in force at the time regarding defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editor-in-chief may consult with the editorial board members and/or reviewers in making this decision.

The editorial board is responsible for the quality of published scientific production, and for creating processes that ensure that the needs of authors do not undermine intellectual and ethical standards.

The editorial board’s decisions to accept or reject an article for publication should be based on the importance, originality, and clarity of the article, as well as the validity of the research and its suitability for the journal’s concept.

The editorial board ensures that appropriate reviewers are selected for the submitted scientific output (articles, reviews) (i.e. the editorial board selects one anonymous reviewer who can assess the quality of the scientific output, according to the intended form of journal review, and cannot disqualify competing interests).

The journal has its own website, which allows authors to freely publish original scientific articles.

Vadyba/Journal of Management uses double-blind peer review: the reviewers do not know the identity of the authors, and the authors do not know the identity of the reviewers either.

Fair play

Editors are required to evaluate manuscripts solely on the basis of their intellectual merit and without taking into account the author’s gender, race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, citizenship, or political beliefs. The decision to accept or reject a manuscript should be made based exclusively on the originality, clarity, and significance of the research, as well as its relevance to the scope and objectives of the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM).

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Editors are prohibited from using unpublished material from a submitted manuscript for their research without obtaining the author’s written consent. They must also maintain confidentiality regarding any privileged information or ideas acquired during the peer review process and must not use them for personal gain. Suppose an editor has a conflict of interest due to a competitive, collaborative, or other relationship or connection with an author, company, or institution associated with a manuscript. In that case, they must recuse themselves from the review process and ask another editor or member of the editorial board to handle the submission. Editors must also ensure that all contributors disclose any relevant competing interests and publish corrections if such interests come to light after publication.

Confidentiality

The editors and other editorial staff members are required to maintain the confidentiality of all information related to a submitted manuscript. This includes not disclosing details about the manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher. The editors are responsible for ensuring that the material submitted for review remains confidential throughout the review process.

Peer review process

Manuscripts submitted to Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) are subject to peer review to maintain the standards of the journal, promote rigorous research within the fields and to offer authors constructive feedback on their submissions.

Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) has a ‘double blind’ review process, involves two stages:

In the first stage, the editors review the articles and may reject them if they do not align with the journal’s scope or are of low quality.

In the second stage, relevant articles are sent to two independent reviewers who are experts in the field of the paper.

The reviewers are unknown to each other, and they classify the paper as publishable, publishable with amendments and improvements, or not publishable. Authors are not told who reviewed their paper, and referees do not know the name of the authors. The referees’ evaluations usually recommend what to do with the manuscript. The author receives the referees’ comments, and the editors should not reverse publication decisions unless they identify serious problems. Manuscripts are sent out for review electronically, and all correspondence takes place in the journal system or via e-mail.

Although the peer review process is accelerated by the use of electronic communication, traditional, high-quality peer-review standards are applied to all manuscripts submitted to the journal.

Peer reviewers are asked to give their opinion on a number of issues pertinent to the quality and suitability of a paper, and to judge papers on grounds of originality and importance. The editors recommend that authors review the guidelines for reviewers to ensure their manuscript meets the requirements. We pride ourselves on providing constructive and formative feedback to authors.

Similarity check and anti-plagiarism policy

It is the responsibility of the editors to review all submitted papers for any instances of plagiarism carefully. If plagiarism is detected in a submitted paper, the editors will reject it for publication. To prevent plagiarism, the journal’s content is indexed in Similarity Check, an initiative of CrossRef aimed at preventing plagiarism in scholarly and professional publishing:

• must use CrossCheck to screen for an unoriginal material before the peer-review process and at any point during the peer-review process; keep and promote ethical policies of the journal.
• keep and promote ethical policies of the journal.
• article matches published in the Vadyba / Journal of Management are checked via the iThenticate matching system.
• Vadyba / Journal of Management adheres to the Description of publishing ethics, Code of academic ethics of the LBC, Description of procedure for the management of intellectual property and transfer of knowledge of the LBC.
• if the article finds overlaps of more than 20%, the article will not be published.
• ensure the confidentiality of the review process for both sides involved.
• do not disclose any information regarding a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding Author, Reviewers, potential Reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the Publisher, when appropriate.
• make a decision on publication or rejecting the paper according to the scientific importance/quality, interest to readers, Reviewers’ comments and the related legal requirements (i.e. plagiarism, breach of copyright, etc.);
• communicate politely with the authors about their paper.
• preserve anonymity of reviewers.
• remove an identification of the authorship before the manuscripts are submitted for a critical review process.
• reserve the right to make minor amendments to the text or return it back to the author for further revision.
• reserve the right to refuse the manuscript without the review process due to inappropriate quality of the manuscript, a different focus or violation of legal requirements (i.e. plagiarism, breach of copyright, etc.).

Procedures for dealing with unethical behavior

The editors are responsible for taking appropriate action when ethical complaints are raised regarding a submitted manuscript or published paper. They should work with the publisher to investigate the complaint and take the necessary steps to address the issue. This may involve contacting the author of the manuscript or article and relevant institutions and research bodies to consider the complaint and determine the appropriate course of action. If the complaint is valid, the editors may issue a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or another relevant statement. It’s important to note that all reports of unethical behavior, even those that are discovered years after publication, should be thoroughly investigated.

Retraction policy

The editors are dedicated to maintaining the credibility of published literature and will publish necessary corrections based on the situation. In all cases, the original articles will be taken down and replaced with a note explaining the reason for retraction, along with a corrected version. If plagiarism is detected, the entire article will be removed from the journal, and a note will be published disclosing the authors’ names and the nature of the plagiarism. The authors and their affiliated institutions will be informed of the retraction.

Correction Policy

The Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) publisher is dedicated to maintaining the integrity of the published literature and will publish editorial corrections as necessary. Any original articles that require correction will be replaced with a corrected version.

REVIEWER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Contribution to editorial decisions

The reviewers of the publication Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) help the editorial board to decide on the publication of the manuscript of the submitted scientific production. Reviewers formulate recommendations for authors at several levels and revise articles after correction several times.

All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to others or discussed with others, except as permitted by the editorial board.

Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their opinions clearly and support them with arguments.

Reviewers should comment on the originality of submitted documents and be alert for unnecessary publications and plagiarism by checking the originality of the article through the iThenticate matching system.

Standards of objectivity

Reviews must be conducted objectively, and the author’s personal criticisms are not appropriate. Referees should present their opinions clearly, accompanied by justifications. In addition, independent external reviewers who are experts in the relevant academic field and have no affiliation with the author’s research center should be selected.

Disclosure and conflict of interest

Reviewers have a duty to ensure that they maintain the confidentiality of any unpublished materials contained in a submitted manuscript, and they should not use such materials in their research unless they have obtained written permission from the author. They are also responsible for keeping confidential any privileged information or ideas that they acquire during the peer review process and should not use them for personal benefit. If there are any conflicts of interest, such as competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with authors, companies, or institutions associated with the manuscripts, reviewers should refrain from reviewing such manuscripts.

Manuscript Evaluation

Peer reviewers will have five possible options, for any paper:

Accept manuscript (i.e. no need for any revision).

Accept after revision (i.e. accepted if the author makes the requested revisions).

Revise and resubmit (i.e. accepted or rejected after revisions have been made – paper will be sent out for another peer review round).

Reject manuscript (i.e. if the manuscript is not sufficiently developed for publication).

See comments (i.e. if the reviewer cannot choose from any of the above).

In addition, papers may be returned to authors by the Editors prior to review, if judged to be out of scope, out of the limits of the word length guidance or not sufficiently prepared for publication. To facilitate rapid publication, authors are given a maximum of 6 weeks for revision. After 6 weeks, revised manuscripts will normally be considered new submissions.

AUTHOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting standards

Authors are expected to provide a truthful and impartial account of their research and honestly discuss its significance. The data underlying the research must be accurately represented in the manuscript, and there should be sufficient details and references for others to replicate the work. Deliberately falsified or inaccurate statements are considered unethical and not acceptable. Reviewers and published articles must also be accurate and impartial, while editorial opinions must be clearly labeled as such.

Authors ensure that they have submitted original manuscripts of works that meet the journal’s requirements, and ethical standards if authors have used the work and/or words of others and that it has been properly cited or cited.

Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal is considered unethical non-compliance with publishing principles and unacceptable behavior due to a violation of academic ethics.

When the author finds an error or inaccuracy in his published article, the author must notify the journal’s editorial board and the editor-in-chief and cooperate with him to retract or correct the work.

Originality and plagiarism

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their work is original and that they properly cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Plagiarism can take many forms, including presenting someone else’s work as one’s own, copying or paraphrasing significant portions of someone else’s work without proper attribution, or claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in any form is considered unethical and is not acceptable in publishing.

Acknowledgment of sources

Giving proper credit and recognition to the work of others is crucial. It is the responsibility of authors to acknowledge and reference publications that have influenced their research. Any information obtained through private conversations or correspondence with third parties must not be used or reported without explicit written consent from the source. Similarly, information obtained through confidential services, such as reviewing manuscripts or grant applications, should not be used without the author’s explicit written permission for the work involved in these services.

Authorship of the paper

To qualify for authorship, an individual should have made a significant and substantial contribution to the research study, which may include its conception, design, implementation, or interpretation. Individuals who have contributed significantly should be recognized as co-authors. In cases where an individual has only participated in certain aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as a contributor. The corresponding author holds the responsibility of ensuring that all appropriate co-authors are included in the manuscript and that no inappropriate co-authors are listed. Before submitting the final version of the manuscript, all co-authors must review and approve it and provide their consent for publication.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

The Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest section is an important part of the manuscript submission process that helps ensure transparency and integrity in research publications. Complete the Declaration of Conflicts and Interests form.

Fundamental errors in published works

If an author or a group of authors discovers fundamental errors in their published works, they should take the following steps:

When the author finds an error or inaccuracy in his published article, the author must notify the journal’s editorial board and the editor-in-chief and cooperate with him to retract or correct the work.

Inform any individuals or institutions that may have been affected by the error, including funding agencies, collaborators, and other researchers who may have cited the article. The authors should provide them with the correct information and any necessary explanations.

Take steps to prevent similar errors from occurring in future publications, such as implementing improved quality control measures and reviewing data and conclusions more carefully before submitting manuscripts for publication.

If the editors or publisher become aware from a third party that the published work has a significant error, it is the author’s responsibility to promptly correct or retract the paper or provide proof to the editor that the original paper is correct.

Open access and copyright policy

The article freely available on our online platform with no subscription fee, article pay-to-view fee, or any other form of access fee and with no publication embargo.

PUBLISHER’S CONFIRMATION

In cases where scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism is suspected or confirmed, the publisher and editors will collaborate to take necessary actions to resolve the issue and rectify the relevant publication. This may entail publishing an erratum promptly or, in more serious instances, retracting the impacted work altogether.

Protection of Personal Data

According to Art. 13, paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 of the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (GDPR) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016) the journal’s editorial office informs that:

• The administrator of authors’/reviewers’ personal data is the editorial office of the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM).
• The controller responsible for the protection of personal data is the editorial board of the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) ([email protected]).
• Authors’/reviewers’ personal data are processed for the purpose of executing the process of publishing/reviewing the work of which one is the author/co-author/reviewer, i.e., where one has acted as an author/reviewer, making the data available to other subjects involved in the publishing process and to abstracting and indexing services, published on the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) website as the original source of these data in line with Art. 6, paragraph 1, point 1a of GDPR.
• The recipients of authors’/reviewers’ personal data will be readers of the journal, users of the Archive, other subjects connected with the publishing process, users of the abstracting and indexing services published on the journal’s website as the original source of these data.
• Authors’/reviewers’ personal data will be stored for the period of active life of the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM) editorial office and subsequent five years.
• Authors/reviewers have the right to access your data as well as the right to rectification, erasure, termination of processing, transfer of data, raise an objection, withdraw the consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before its withdrawal.
• Authors/reviewers have the right to lodge a complaint to the Office for Personal Data Protection whenever you conclude that the processing of your data constitutes an infringement of provisions of the GDPR of 27 April 2016.

Providing personal data is a condition for having the submitted article of which one is an author/co-author or a reviewer published. Authors are obliged to provide the requested personal data, and a consequence of refraining from this obligation will be the refusal of publishing your article or accepting your review by the editorial board of the Vadyba/Journal of Management (V/JOM).