Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

SMART Journal of Business Management Studies follows the ethical standards in its publications, to ensure the quality and originality in the manuscripts. SMART Journal aims to encourage the underprivileged young researchers, from less developed countries, to cover the gap in the existing literature. The value of academic publishing relies on the ethical behaviour of everyone involved in it. SMART Journal advises its authors, reviewers and editors, to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) website (www.publicationethics.org), and other websites mentioned under the head, in addition to publication ethics of SMART Journal. Non-compliance of the publication policies and ethics statement of SMART Journal, evidenced by plagiarism, fraud and any form of misconduct, if found after publication that particular article shall be retracted from the particular issue, if found after acceptance the acceptance shall be withdrawn, and those authors shall be barred from publication in SMART journal for at least ONE year. The responsibilities of every stakeholder of the SMART Journal and publication policies are detailed below:

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Editor Responsibilities

SMART Journal is committed to ensure quality publications, and hence the Chief Editor, Associate Editor(s), Assistant Editor(s) are accountable for finalizing the articles for publications. The editors of SMART Journal are dedicated to ensuring ethical standards in the articles published. The editorial team does not compromise on any act of plagiarism, fraud and forms of misconduct in academic publication. Publication policies of the journal, subject to publication ethics, would guide the Editorial Team in the process of finalization of articles. The reviewers for the double blind review would be identified by the Editorial Team. Based on the comments of the reviewers, accept or reject decision would be taken by the Editorial Team. For more details, visit www.smartjournalbms.org Review Process tab.

B. Reviewer Responsibilities

The Reviewer must refuse the offer to review, if he has any conflict of interest or inadequate knowledge. He should complete the review in a fair, professional manner within the stipulated time. He should comply with the publication ethics and check plagiarism and redundant publication. He should inform the Editorial Team about plagiarism, fraud and misconduct for further action. He should not disclose the confidential details about the review process to anyone, except to the Editorial Team. For further details, visit www.smartjournalbms.org, Review Process Tab.

C. Authors and Co-Authors Responsibilities

The individual, who made significant contribution to conceptualizing, designing, executing and interpreting the study alone, should be given authorship. All others, who had made significant contributions, should be given co-authorship. Those, who had supported in certain aspects of the research, can be acknowledged as contributors for the research. All the authors should agree and approve the final draft for submission. The authors and co-authors should strictly adhere to the Author Guidelines given in www.smartjournalbms.org. The authors should submit only those articles which are the results of ethically, responsible and legally permitted research works. The authors should ensure that their submitted work is original, and it was not submitted for publication elsewhere or plagiarized. Submitting the manuscript, describing the same research to more than one journal, is regarded as multiple, redundant and concurrent publication, which is regarded as unethical and unacceptable. Using any fraudulent or incorrect statements is also regarded as unethical and unacceptable behavior. If the author realizes any fundamental errors made in his research only after publishing, he should inform the Editorial Team to retract or correct the published paper in the subsequent issues. The SMART holds the copy right to all articles, accepted for publication. The authors will be asked to transfer the copyright of their article to the Publisher- Editor (in the undertaking letter). For more details, visit www.smartjournalbms.org Author Guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions.

D. Reporting and Complaints
Any report or complaints on plagiarism, fraud and misconduct, can be made by writing to:
Professor Murugesan Selvam
Founder - Publisher and Chief Editor
SMART Journal of Business Management Studies
Chair, School of Business Studies, Professor and Head,
Department of Commerce & Financial Studies,
Tiruchirappalli - 620 024, Tamil Nadu, India.
E- Mail: drmselvam@yahoo.co.in
Web link: https://www.smartjournalbms.org