Digibrand Business Journal (DBJ) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against any publication malpractices. This journal adheres strictly to the guidelines and core practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to ensure fairness, transparency, and academic integrity.

1. Duties of Authors

• Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original works. If the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
• Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication: Authors should not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently. Publishing manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal is unethical.
• Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be strictly limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All co-authors must approve the final version of the paper and agree to its submission for publication.
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors must disclose any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
• Fundamental Errors in Published Works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

2. Duties of Reviewers

• Contribution to Editorial Decisions: The double-blind peer review process assists the editor in making editorial decisions and serves to help the author improve the quality of the paper.
• Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor immediately so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.
• Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
• Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
• Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected to the papers.

3. Duties of Editors

• Publication Decisions: The Editor-in-Chief of DBJ is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The editor is guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
• Fair Play: The editor evaluates manuscripts based solely on their intellectual content (importance, originality, study's validity, clarity) without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
• Confidentiality: The editor and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
• Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations: The editor will take responsive measures when ethical complaints are raised regarding a submitted manuscript or published paper. These measures generally include contacting the author and giving due consideration to the respective complaint or claims made.