Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Ethics

Inquietud Empresarial adheres to three primary guidelines in its policy on ethics and scientific integrity:

  1. COPE: The journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on transparency, best practices, and flowcharts for managing and resolving ethical dilemmas in scientific publishing: https://publicationethics.org/.
  2. ICMJE: The journal adheres to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations on the conduct, reporting, editing, and publishing of scientific literature, upholding ethical principles and essential editorial concepts such as authorship: https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/.
  3. Singapore Statement: The Singapore Statement on Research Integrity, which outlines principles and responsibilities that serve as a framework for conducting ethical research: https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2011.557296.

Regarding COPE, the journal applies the 16 principles of transparency and best practices in its daily management and decision-making processes for ethical dilemmas. The principles are outlined as follows:

Journal Content

  1. Journal Name: The journal’s name is distinct, avoiding ambiguities, and has remained consistent over time.
  2. Website: The journal’s website provides comprehensive information on its policies, processes, procedures, and editorial structure, offering a clear and accurate overview of the journal's scope and standards.
  3. Publishing Schedule: The journal’s publication frequency (continuous publishing) and annual issue count are transparently outlined.
  4. Archiving: Efforts are made to ensure the digital preservation of all content and the stability of its technological infrastructure.
  5. Copyright: The journal specifies the type of licensing agreement established with authors for publishing accepted articles.
  6. Licensing: The journal operates under a Creative Commons 4.0 license, as declared within its policies and author guidelines.

Editorial Practices


  1. Publishing Ethics and Related Editorial Policies: The journal outlines its ethics policy references, addressing key ethical considerations including authorship, conflicts of interest, copyright respect, scientific integrity, corrections, and retractions.
    8. Peer Review: A structured peer-review process, using a double-blind system for all submissions, is clearly described in a designated section.
    9. Access: The journal is openly accessible, with immediate availability confirmed in its policy statements.

Organization
10. Editorial and Management: The journal unambiguously states the institution responsible for its publication, including institutional information and its direct affiliation with the university.
11. Scientific Committee: Information on the researchers who serve on the journal’s committees or as editors is complete and transparent, with CVs accessible through their ORCID profiles.
12. Editorial Team: Details regarding the journal’s editorial team are accurate, reliable, and updated promptly upon any changes.

Business Practices
13. Costs for Authors: Following a diamond open-access model, the journal provides a fully free process for authors, as declared on its website.
14. Additional Funding: The journal is publicly funded, with resources from School of Business Administration, the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, UPTC Publishing and the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia.
15. Advertising: As the journal's mission is strictly academic and scientific, no product or service advertising is conducted.
16. Direct Marketing: Occasionally, renowned researchers, guest editors, or reviewers are contacted to support special issue calls and manuscript evaluations on an ad honorem basis. Given that the journal does not charge authors and its processes are entirely free, there is no commercial or monetary interest in such academic engagements.

Authorship
In accordance with ICMJE standards, the journal adopts a clear authorship policy, advising contributors to avoid unethical practices such as “gift authorship” or the unjustified inclusion or exclusion of authors. The concept of authorship, as outlined by ICMJE, requires meeting the following four criteria:

  1. Substantial Contribution: Provides substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or to data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation.
  2. Drafting and Intellectual Content: Drafts or critically revises the work, contributing essential intellectual content.
  3. Final Approval: Approves the final version of the work to be published.
  4. Accountability: Is accountable for all aspects of the work, with the ability to address accuracy, integrity, and any queries concerning any part of the work.

Authors should familiarize themselves with these criteria before submitting a manuscript to ensure the appropriate inclusion of authors, thereby avoiding the addition of ineligible contributors or the exclusion of those who meet these standards.

Author Contributions

To establish each author’s contributions in a manuscript unambiguously, a summary of each author’s specific role must be provided according to the CRediT taxonomy.

The CRediT taxonomy includes fourteen criteria to specify author roles:

  • Conceptualization
  • Data Curation
  • Formal Analysis
  • Funding Acquisition
  • Investigation
  • Methodology
  • Project Administration
  • Resources
  • Software
  • Supervision
  • Validation
  • Visualization
  • Writing – Original Draft
  • Writing – Review & Editing

These contributions should be detailed in a paragraph, listing each author’s name and associated roles as per CRediT. Example:

Author Contributions
Carlos Martínez: conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, resources, supervision, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing; Sandra Pérez: data curation, formal analysis, funding acquisition, investigation, methodology, software, visualization, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing; Laura Sánchez: conceptualization, project administration, resources, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing.

For more information on the CRediT taxonomy, visit https://credit.niso.org/.

Funding (Required)

Any funding received by authors through a research project, or resources allocated for the investigation, writing, or publication of the work must be disclosed. If there is no funding, this should also be explicitly stated.

Conflicts of Interest (Required)

Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest, whether related to professional activities or scientific or academic work that could affect the research or content of the manuscript. Authors must also complete a conflict-of-interest form (provided by ICMJE) included in the submission documentation.

Ethical Implications (Required)

If the research involves handling personal, private, or restricted information, animal experimentation, or any methodology that may present ethical risks or implications, this must be disclosed. Additionally, if the research required ethical committee approval or informed consent, these should be declared, and, if requested by the journal, authors must provide the necessary supporting documentation (e.g., approval certificates, consent forms).

Acknowledgments (Optional)

Authors may briefly acknowledge individuals, institutions, organizations, communities, or others who significantly contributed to the research or facilitated the writing or publication of the manuscript.

Acknowledgments should only be granted to third parties who have played a substantive, direct, or preliminary role in developing the manuscript or research. Personal, incidental, or general acknowledgments will not be accepted or published.

Finally, the journal encourages all authors to review the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity and adhere to its principles regarding honesty, responsibility, professional courtesy, respect, and responsible research conduct. Submitted manuscripts are expected to arise from research conducted with due diligence in upholding these principles and responsibilities associated with research integrity and scientific integrity.

Reporting or Suspecting Misconduct

The journal encourages all contributors, in any role throughout the publication process, to report or express any concerns regarding evidence or suspicions of misconduct in a manuscript or by any parties involved. Likewise, if a reader believes they have identified an issue in a published manuscript, they are invited to notify the journal. All communications, reports, suspicions, or requests related to ethical dilemmas or concerns should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief at the official email: inquietud.empresarial@uptc.edu.co

Procedures or Actions for Addressing Reports of Misconduct or Suspicions

Upon receiving information about an ethical dilemma or potential ethical misconduct, the journal’s Editorial Management will assess the case and follow COPE’s recommendations and flowcharts for investigating misconduct and determining actions regarding those who violate the ethical guidelines upheld by the journal:
https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts/complete-set-english

Corrections and Retractions

Inquietud Empresarial may issue corrections or retractions for manuscripts published in its regular or special issues. Corrections to published manuscripts will be made in cases where minor but significant errors are identified that could mislead readers about the article’s content, author information, or any undisclosed ethical risks or conflicts. The journal will apply these corrections especially if the errors are unintentional or honest mistakes by the authors and could cause confusion or dissemination of inaccurate information. If this is the case, the journal will issue a correction or erratum alongside the article to inform interested parties.

On the other hand, retractions will be issued in cases of severe errors, post-publication ethical concerns (e.g., data fabrication, manipulation, plagiarism) that question the overall reliability of the manuscript and its findings. Depending on the severity of the issue identified in the manuscript (and any legal implications if applicable), the journal will decide whether to restrict access, retract, or completely remove the article from publication.