Editorial Policies

NUST Business Review (NBR) abides by certain policies. They are all linked below for your information.

Open Access & Copyright

Authorship

Publication Fees and Funding

Permissions and Consent

Data access and retention

Privacy

Manuscript Processing

Misconduct and Malpractice

Declaration of conflicts of interest

Complaints and appeals

Resubmission

Repository and Digital Archiving Policy

Withdrawal

Ethical Guidelines for Editors, Authors and Reviewers

Open Access & Copyright

Authorship

The list and order of the authors should carefully be considered before submitting it to NBR. No changes in the authorship will be made at any later stage (during or after publication) except where deemed necessary by the editors. Publication Fees and Funding

Publication Fees and Funding

NBR does not charge any fees for manuscript submission or article processing. The publication costs of the journal are covered by the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Islamabad, as well as funds granted by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan.

Permissions and Consent

All authors are requested to take due permission from the authors of any copyrighted work they use in their manuscripts. They are also expected to take informed consent from all the research participants regarding disclosing the interview data or any identifying information. The authors may be requested to share the relevant documents with NBR during or after publication. The Editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts at any stage in the publication process if the authors fail to produce the required documentation.

Data access and retention

The authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review. They should also be prepared to provide public access to such data if practicable. In any event, the authors are also advised and expected to retain such data for a reasonable time even after the publication of their contributions.

Privacy

Collection and Processing of Personal Information

Our contributors may provide us with personal information when they are: accessing the website of NBR, including information provided when registering on the NBR website, reporting any problem with the site, or requesting content or any other information from the editorial team; and corresponding with any member of the NBR team by post, telephone, or email. NBR values its relationship with its contributors (all individuals, including authors, interacting with NBR) and holds in high regard to their personal information. NBR deems the protection of their privacy as one of its primary concerns. However, some information is meant for dissemination through publication. This includes, in addition to the short authors’ biographies provided at the time of manuscript submission, the names, email addresses (of the corresponding author), institutional affiliations, and subject specializations of the authors. We may also collect certain information about the contributing authors from any public domain. This applies to the information not provided by the authors themselves but is deemed necessary for the journal. In any such case, the respective author will immediately be notified by the editorial team. The authors reserve the right to object and withdraw from any further correspondence or processing.

Cookie Policy

The NBR digital portal collects technical information from the computer or any other device someone uses to access this website. For this purpose, cookies (small text files installed on the device) are used to give the users the best possible experience when visiting the website.

Authors’ rights to access their personal information

NBR acknowledges the rights of the authors pertaining to the personal information that the journal holds. These include:

• to obtain access to, and copies of, the personal information that NBR holds;
• to get any corrections or updates made to their personal information;
• to get their personal data erased from the NBR database;
• to transmit their personal information to another data controller upon their request; and
• to object, on grounds relating to their particular situation, to any of NBR's particular processing activities where they feel this has a disproportionate impact on their rights.

Manuscript Processing

Review Process

NBR adheres to meticulous methods of reviewing the submissions it receives in order to disseminate quality literature and discourse within Pakistan and abroad. For this reason, NBR pursues a double-blind peer-review process for each research article received. The authors are informed about the reviews received, and they are expected to make the changes outlined by the referees. The Editorial Team then decides how well the author has incorporated the reviews in the revised manuscripts.

Publication

The time frame for the journal publication process varies. The time taken from submission of a manuscript to acceptance for publication in NBR ranges from 2 months to 8 months. Accepted papers go through an average of two revisions. The average time from submission to publication (including revisions) for reviewed manuscripts is 3 months on average. All authors are notified when the online versions of their accepted manuscripts are published on the journal’s website. Each issue of NBR is initially published online and is freely accessible. Each journal issue is available in print within 4-6 weeks of its online publication. The print copies of the journal are also posted to the authors at the address provided at the time of manuscript submission.

Submission and Article Processing Charges (APC)

NBR does not charge any fee for manuscript submission or Article Processing.

Further information

For any queries regarding the publication process, the Editorial Team can be reached at all times on the principal email ID given in contact NBR.

Misconduct and Malpractice

Plagiarism Policy

NBR highly discourages any form of plagiarism and duplicate submissions. Hence, we strongly recommend that our authors thoroughly check the article content before submitting it to us for publication. It is to be noted here that the manuscripts received by NBR are subjected to a similarity check using Turnitin, the report of which is also shared with the respective authors. NBR will reject any manuscript in which plagiarism is observed by the editorial team or highlighted by the reviewers at any stage before the publication of the article. Plagiarism reported after the article has been published will result in the retraction of that article with immediate notification to the respective author(s).

Policy on data inaccuracies

The NBR shows no tolerance for misconduct such as citation manipulation, data fabrication, or data falsification. Authors are advised to carefully draft the manuscript to avoid any such inaccuracies. The manuscript will be returned to the author(s) for correction if any issue of this sort comes in the knowledge of the editorial team during the publication process. The decision on the acceptance of the manuscript may be subject to change depending upon the extent and gravity of the issue under consideration. Any complaints or allegations received by NBR after the publication of the article can result in a corrigendum or retraction once they have been verified; the author(s) will be notified in any case.

Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publications

The authors are expected not to publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. The concurrent submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and can impact editorial decisions. The author should inform the editorial board — at the time of submission — if the manuscript has already been presented at any platform or has been extracted from any other academic work such as a thesis. Redundant or concurrent submissions can lead to rejection (prior to publication) or retraction (after publication) of the manuscript.

Declaration of conflicts of interest

At the time of manuscript submission, the authors are to disclose any conflicts of interest and the role of funding agencies (if any) in the research process. The concealment of any such information (revealed to the editors through other sources) can result in the rejection or retraction of the article. The editors are also to reveal any potential conflict of interest pertaining to the received submission. The editors having any conflict of interest with the received submission shall not be involved in the editorial decision-making process concerning that submission. The reviewers should also declare the potential conflicts of interest (if any) when they receive a manuscript for review. The referees, who fail to comply with the policy, may not be considered for peer reviews in the future.

Complaints and appeals

Policy on Appeals

NBR acknowledges the authors’ right to appeal any decision made by the editorial team regarding the acceptance of the manuscript or the action taken on any misconduct reported to the journal. All appeals will be handled with great meticulousness, and the appellant will be notified of the decision maximum within two months.

Policy on Complaints

NBR editorial team can be approached at any time for complaints pertaining to any misconduct on the part of the author, reviewer, or editor. The complaints may be sent to the email ID or postal address given in contact NBR. The identities of the complainant(s) will be treated as strictly confidential. The complainer(s) will be ensured the right to respond to the complaint(s) or allegation(s) received by the journal.

Resubmission

The authors can resubmit the (revised) manuscripts to NBR, the former versions of which have been rejected by the journal with either minor or major changes, or else withdrawn by the authors. However, the authors are requested to declare the (new) submission as a ‘resubmission’ and respond to the (reviewers’ or the editorial team’s) comments received with the decision on the previous version of the manuscript.

Archiving/Data Repository Policy

To preserve all published scholarly content, NBR submits the journals' content to Crossref.org for long-term digital preservation. Additionally, multiple copies of the content published in NBR are also stored in the main database of the National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Withdrawal

Authors can withdraw the manuscripts submitted to NBR without being charged with any withdrawal penalty. It is to note here that the withdrawal request should be placed within seven working days of submission. However, the article cannot be withdrawn — unless inevitable — once it enters the peer-review phase; the editorial board will decide on the withdrawal request. The author may be charged with the withdrawal penalty in these cases. All withdrawal requests will be accommodated only if received from the corresponding author who is expected to have taken on board the co-authors before submitting. The submission should be considered and treated as ‘withdrawn’ only after receiving official notification of withdrawal from NBR. All correspondence in this regard will be made from the principal email ID (eic@nbs.nust.edu.pk)

Ethical Guidelines

For Editors

• The NBR editorial board is solely responsible for the decisions taken regarding the acceptance/rejection of the manuscripts submitted to the journal.
• The editors are obliged to apply the best of their abilities to uphold the integrity of the journal.
• Transparency and timeliness are the core features of the editorial policies and are to be diligently followed by the editorial team.
• It is the editors’ responsibility to ensure that the articles are sent to suitable and credible reviewers (considering their areas of interest) and that timely reviews are received to the journal. In addition to ensuring fairness in reviews, the editors are also expected to assess the (potential) conflicts of interest (disclosed by the authors and reviewers).
• All decisions will be made solely based on the content of the manuscript and completely independent of the (ethnic, racial, religious, political, or socio-economic) background of the authors and their institutional affiliations.
• The rationale behind the editorial decisions shall be communicated to the respective authors, and any appeals against the editorial decisions shall be well-catered to. The editors are to reveal their potential conflict of interest in relation to any submission received by the journal.
• All information and correspondence related to the submitted manuscripts shall be treated as confidential and shall only be shared with the respective authors and (potential) reviewers. Furthermore, the editors are not to use any (unpublished) data for their personal advantage or research.
• It is the responsibility of the editorial team to cater to the issues pertaining to misconduct on the part of any individual involved in the publication process and respond effectively to such complaints.
• The editorial team is also expected to keep the authors updated regarding the reviewing and publication process.

For Reviewers

• The reviewers are expected to assist the editorial team in decision-making on the acceptance/rejection of any manuscript.
• The reviewers who find themselves unable to review the manuscript in the allocated time should inform the editor ahead of time.
• The reviewers should decline to review the manuscripts that they find unrelated to their research interests or out of the domain of their expertise.
• The manuscripts received for review should be treated as confidential documents, and the information should not be disseminated for any purpose. The reviewers are expected to communicate to the editors any ethical issues they (suspect to) find in the articles.
• The reviews should be objective, rationalized – supported by evidence, and inherently to improve the quality of the article.
• Also, the reviewers should disclose any conflict of interest upon receiving the request for review.

For Authors

• The authors must ensure that the submission made to NBR is an original work and has been produced with objectivity as a primary consideration.
• Any conflict of interest on the part of the author(s) should be disclosed at the time of manuscript submission. In addition, the funding agencies and their influences on research (if any) should clearly be stated.
• Informed consent should be obtained from all research participants, and no such information should be revealed that invades the respondents’ privacy.
• The authors should ensure the use of inclusive language that respects diversity and does not intentionally omit any segment of society.
• It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that all the authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and have consented to its submission to NBR.
• It is expected that all the authors notified to NBR at the time of submission have a consensus over the list and order of the authors.
• The authors are responsible for the content submitted to NBR, and all authors (in case of multiple authors) will be held accountable in case of any misconduct.
• Authors are expected to notify the editors in case they find any significant errors in their works, whether during the publication process or post-publication. They should also coordinate with editors if such an issue is reported to them through any other means.
• The manuscripts submitted to NBR should not be published elsewhere or under consideration concurrently for publication in any other academic avenue. However, articles building on or extracted from any published presentation, lecture, or academic thesis can be submitted with an appropriate declaration of prior publication in any (aforementioned) form.
• The authors are expected to acknowledge and refer to the appropriate sources of information. Permissions should be taken (where applicable) before quoting the ideas or words that do not belong to the authors.