Code of Ethics

Communication Management Review’s Rules on Ethical Behaviour and Prevention of Abuse

Publication Ethics Statement

Communication Management Review (henceforth in the text: CMR) is an academic and professional journal published by the Edward Bernays University of Applied Sciences (henceforth in the text: Bernays) with the objective of encouraging academic and professional activities in the wider academic community.

CMR is an open access journal, following the BOAI definition of open access. Authors of articles published in Communcation Management Review retain their copyright without any restrictions. In accordance with the law and academic rules, readers have the right to read, view, copy, save, forward and use the contents of the journal for other purposes without the prior consent of the publisher, editors or authors. The journal Communication Management Review is used under the terms of the Creative Commons license, following the CC BY-NC-ND license that allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

CMR shall be published twice annually and it shall publish academic and professional papers whose topics shall encompass the fields of public relations, marketing, management, political science, and, indirectly, psychology, sociology and economics. CMR publishes papers in both the English and Croatian language.

The Rules on Ethical Behaviour and Prevention of Abuse is a necessary research principle and essential to maintain the publisher’s and researcher’s reputation. All manuscripts undergo a double-blind review process, along with clear ethical policies to support our high standards of publication.

The Rules shall apply to all parties involved in the work of the journal (publisher, editors, authors & co-authors, reviewers).

 

Duties of Publisher

The publisher shall ensure the transparency of the submission and publishing process. A double-blind peer review is conducted to ensure the highest publishing standards, protecting author and reviewer anonymity.

The publisher maintains the integrity of the academic record. By signing the CMR Copyright Form, all the authors make a commitment to the integrity of the academic record.

In the communication process, the publisher has a supporting, investing and nurturing role, and it is responsible for ensuring that best practices are followed in its publications.

The publisher shall ensure that the publishing process prevents compromising intellectual and ethical standards.

If an author discovers fundamental errors in the published papers, the author’s is required to immediately notify the editorial board  by e-mail: cmr@bernays.hr. The editorial board is always be prepared to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when required.

The publisher shall apply a zero-tolerance policy to plagiarism and fraudulent data. In the event plagiarism and/or fraudulent data is exposed, CMR shall conduct a preliminary investigation. CMR shall inform the author and ask from the author an official statement related to plagiarism and fraudulent data by sending the statement to CMR’s official e-mail: cmr@bernays.hr. In the event of confirmation of plagiarism or fraudulent data, CMR shall contact the author, author’s institute and retract the paper.

CMR routinely screen article submissions for plagiarism. To avoid a plagiarism, all submitted papers will go undergo for check using a plagiarism tool Unicheck.

The retraction process shall be conducted according to the following guidelines:

1. a) In the event of clear evidence of plagiarism, fraudulent data or the findings have been published elsewhere, without proper cross-referencing, permission or justification, the paper shall be considered for the retraction process.
2. b) The main aim of retractions is to ensure the publisher’s integrity, as well integrity of the academic community.
3. c) The retracted papers shall not be removed from CMR’s online issues. Retraction notices shall be promptly published and linked to the retracted paper, referencing information on the retracted paper, the reason for the retraction and who is retracting the article. The notices shall be available to all readers.

Duties of Author

By signing the CMR Copyright Form, guaranteeing authorship of the paper is the stated author. All the authors make a commitment to the integrity of the academic record.

An associate who participated in a specific segment of the preparation of the paper not related to writing the paper and adaptations for publication is not considered an author of the paper.

The author shall respect the paper submission and delivery procedure (accuracy of personal information, set deadlines and communications channels), as well as the contents of the Instructions for Authors.

The author is required to use the academic writing style and categorical apparatus adapted to the field and topic about which he or she is writing, as well as to consistently use and cite sources. If the author notices a mistake in the citing of sources, the accuracy of data or other content in the paper, he or she is required to immediately notify the editor.

The author is required to respect the legal regulations, provisions and codes of ethics when collecting and using data for the paper and conducting research, as well as interpreting research findings.

The raw data of the research should be available for at least ten years after the publication of the paper.

The author must avoid possible conflicts of interest of any nature, and all sources of financing of the paper must be clearly stated in the paper. All financial support for the research must be disclosed.

Retractions or corrections of mistakes are to be provided by authors.

 

Duties of Editor

The editor-in-chief sets the editorial policy (sending and receiving papers, communication among all editors, authors, reviewers, proof-readers and graphic designer; monitoring the review and publishing procedure for papers) of the journal, which is founded on respecting the fundamental ethical principles and procedures for submitting and publishing papers.

The editor-in-chief shall supervise the implementation of the procedure and, together with the journal’s editorial board, decide on the academic and professional suitability of the received papers that are submitted into the publishing procedure (structure, methodology and originality of paper).

The editor does not have to agree with the recommendations of the editorial board and, during the publishing procedure, may refuse to forward the paper into the review procedure if he or she determines that the paper does not meet the criteria or plagiarism is suspected. The journal’s scope and its academic quality should be the only basis upon which this decision is made.

The editor and the editorial staff must not use the submitted papers for their own research without written authorization from the authors.

The double-blind review shall be adhered to by the editor to in the peer review process which includes two reviewers per one submission.

The reviewers are selected by the editor-in-chief and the executive editor in coordination with the editorial board, whereby taken into consideration are the academic qualifications of the reviewers and their expertise in the academic research area in question. Required to publish a paper are two positive, anonymous reviews if the received paper has met the basic criteria.

The editor must guarantee the confidentiality of the paper publication procedure, keeping in accordance with all of the prescribed principles and procedures, as well as ensure the same treatment for all parties, regardless of sex, age, gender, religious and political affiliation, and geographical belonging.

The editor and the editorial board shall not enable, to external parties, access to information on reviewers, outcomes of review procedures and other contents related to the paper publication procedure.

The received, unpublished papers and their contents shall be stored in a database, and the editor and the reviewers may not use them for their personal benefit, but rather they are required to respect the confidentiality and secrecy of data.

Editors should have no conflict of interest with respect to rejected or accepted papers.

Duties of Reviewer

The selected reviewers must, in advance, accept all of the conditions of the journal’s editorial policies, to keep to the set deadlines and the formal procedures for assessing the paper, respecting the principle of objectivity.

Should the reviewer feel inadequate to review the paper or cannot do so promptly, the reviewer must notify the editor and withdraw from the paper’s peer review process.

The reviewer’s assessments should be objective and they should indicate relevant published papers not yet cited.

Confidentiality of the submitted papers must be guaranteed by the reviewer.

The reviewer is required to notify the editor and the editorial board of a potential conflict of interest, insufficient competency in the review procedure (familiarity with the area and topic), as well as plagiarism, and all other irregularities related to indirect and direct citations and use of the given citation system.

 

Potential Conflict of Interests

Authors must identify and declare any interests that may be perceived as inappropriate regarding the reported research results. Membership, employment, ownership, honoraria, grants or other funding, paid expert testimonies, patent-licensing arrangements and non-financial interests (e.g. personal or professional relationships and personal beliefs) are examples of potential conflicts of interest.