At the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), the ethics and integrity of our academic research and publishing process are paramount. This document outlines the principles, practices and the best practices that we apply to our journal and other publications. It is our fervent intention that these guidelines will be useful to all authors, co-authors, editors, peer reviewers, proofreaders of the PIM. The PIM aims to support authors, editors and publishers to achieve global standards in publishing ethics.
We uphold high standards, and expect research published by the PIM to adhere to the principles within the PIM’s integrity-statement.
These ethics and principles encapsulate:
We, in addition to the above principles, expect our journal editorial team to provide specific guidelines and policies for authors on research ethics and integrity appropriate to their disciplines.
Anyone who is of the view that research published by the PIM has not been carried out in line with these Academic Research Publishing Ethics Guidelines, or the above principles, should raise their concern with the relevant editor or email editor@pim.sjp.ac.lk. Such concerns will be addressed based on the guidelines where possible and/or by directing the matter to our Committee on Publishing Ethics (COPE) as and when necessary.
The PIM is committed to editorial independence, and this principle will never be compromised due to conflict of interest, peer or superior pressure, fear, or any other corporate, academic, financial or political influence. Our editorial processes reflect this commitment to editorial independence.
The PIM does not discriminate against authors, editors or peer reviewers based on personal affiliations, or identity. The PIM values diversity, and promotes equity at every stage of our publishing process. The PIM actively seeks and promotes submissions from scholars of diverse backgrounds, including ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, disability and sexual orientation.
All academic publications at the PIM, is overseen by the Editor-in-Chief who is the Director of the Institute as the Head of Academic Affairs along with the Editorial Board across the world, who independently, professionally and academically advice. The PIM’s editors are free to contact additional reviewers for journal articles as and when necessary.
Peer review is critical to maintaining the standards of our publications. We at the PIM:
Protect the confidentiality of author/s in the peer review process where anonymity forms part of that publication’s peer review process. We also expect our publishing partners, authors and peer reviewers to uphold any relevant confidentiality arrangements for each article to provide necessary information to uphold this requirement.
The PIM encourages the co-reviewing process especially by inviting a junior colleague to review a manuscript for the purpose of reviewer-training. This allows the co-reviewer to gain experience with the review process, and become an effective reviewer for a journal.
An invited reviewer can have a co-reviewer on a manuscript only with the knowledge of the Editor of the SLJM. The invited reviewer will need to reach out to the journal’s editorial office about the co-reviewer when they accept the review. The co-reviewer must also declare any relevant conflict of interests.
The co-reviewer must be specifically identified during the completion of the review, either in the ‘Confidential Comments to the Editor’ section or, if a journal has a specific question about co-review, in the reviewer report form. This allows the co-reviewer to be credited for the review and to be added to a journal’s reviewer pool.
The PIM accepts journal articles only within the disciplines of Management Typology for those who are listed as author/s. Where no other guidance is specified, the PIM recommends applying the following principles.
The PIM strictly adheres to the PIM Policy Statement on plagiarism which is defined as ‘using someone else’s work, data, ideas, phrases or other material produced by them without due acknowledgement’.
Plagiarism can occur in respect to all types of sources and media, including:
The PIM does not tolerate plagiarism in any of our publications. The PIM reserves the right to check all submissions through appropriate plagiarism checking tools. No article will be accepted that is suspected of plagiarism. The PIM encourages our readers, reviewers and editors to raise any suspicions of plagiarism even with published articles, either by contacting the relevant editor or by emailing to editor@pim.sjp.ac.lk or director@pim.sjp.ac.lk.
Duplicate publication, or ‘self-plagiarism’, occurs when a work, or significant parts of a work, is published more than once by the author(s) of the work without appropriate cross-referencing or rationale for the overlap. This can be in the same or a different language.
The PIM does not support substantial overlap between publications, unless:
We expect our readers, reviewers and editors to raise any suspicions of duplicate or redundant publication, either by contacting the relevant editor or by emailing editor@pim.sjp.ac.lk
Any manuscript based on a thesis should be a reworking of the material in the thesis and should conform to the style and the requirements of the SLJM which is elaborated under “Guidelines”. When quoting from the thesis or reusing figures, authors should avoid self-plagiarism. The thesis writer should obtain permission from the publisher before submission of the article to SLJM. The editor of the SLJM should be informed that the manuscript draws on a thesis in the cover letter.
Affiliations to any article should represent the institution(s) at which the research was presented or approved. For non-research content, any affiliations should represent the institution(s) with which each author is currently affiliated to.
We at the PIM, need to affirm that all articles submitted for publication are free from undue influence. The PIM expects all authors submitting a journal manuscript to the SLJM to declare any potential competing interests that could interfere with the objectivity or integrity of a publication. Competing interests which may be financial, non-financial, contractual or personal, can be defined as situations where an exerted undue influence on the presentation, review or publication of a piece of work will be made. The PIM requests suspected or undisclosed competing interests regarding a work published or under consideration to email editor@pim.sjp.ac.lk. The PIM expects author/s to make funding declarations in addition to a competing interest declaration.
The PIM values freedom of expression in our academic publications, but it does not support publishing false statements to harm the reputation of individuals, groups, or organisations.
The Editor or the Editorial Board will consider retractions, corrections or expressions of concern if the author is found to have made an error. When this is found, the SLJM will issue a corrigendum. An erratum will be issued if the SLJM has made an error. Such retractions which are generally remote, are usually reserved for articles that are so seriously flawed and as a result, their findings, outcomes or conclusions cannot be relied upon, or that contain substantial plagiarism.
Under exceptional circumstances, the PIM may remove an article from online publication where we believe it is necessary to comply with our legal obligations. This includes, without limitation, where we have concerns that the article is defamatory, violates personal privacy or confidentiality, laws, is the subject of a court order, or might pose a serious risk to the general public. In these circumstances, the PIM may decide to remove the article, and publish a notice that clearly states why the full article has been removed.
In terms of fraudulent research and research misconduct, the PIM’s primary concern is the integrity of content that have been published. The PIM will not hesitate to work with the COPE, and other appropriate institutions to investigate. Any publication found to include fraudulent results will be retracted, or an appropriate correction or expression will be issued to address the concerns.
The PIM being a leading postgraduate institute not only in Sri Lanka, but also in South Asia, it is committed to the principle and promotion of freedom of speech, and expression. As an academic journal for almost three decades, the PIM is determined to disseminate knowledge to the widest possible audience, and to serve the academic community in all countries around the world.