Advances in Consumer Research is committed to maintaining the highest standards of research integrity, publication ethics, and professional conduct. The journal expects authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers to adhere to internationally recognized ethical principles throughout the submission, review, publication, and post-publication processes.
The journal promotes honesty, transparency, accountability, fairness, and responsible research practices in all aspects of scholarly communication.
Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts represent original work and have not been previously published or simultaneously submitted to another journal.
All sources of information, ideas, data, figures, and tables derived from other works must be properly acknowledged and cited.
Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously. Duplicate publication, redundant publication, or salami publication is considered unethical and may result in rejection or retraction.
Authors must present research findings accurately and honestly.
Fabrication, falsification, selective reporting, manipulation of data, images, tables, or results constitutes serious scientific misconduct and is strictly prohibited.
Authors should retain original research data and provide access to such data when requested by editors or reviewers.
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to:
Study conception and design
Data collection or analysis
Interpretation of findings
Manuscript preparation and revision
All listed authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission.
Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.
Authors must properly acknowledge all publications, datasets, software, funding sources, and other materials used in the research.
Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, professional, or personal relationships that could influence the interpretation or presentation of their work.
Research involving human participants should comply with recognized ethical standards and institutional requirements.
Where applicable, authors should provide information regarding:
Ethics committee approval
Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval
Informed consent from participants
Authors should protect participant privacy and confidentiality.
Authors may use AI-assisted tools for language editing or manuscript preparation; however, authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the submitted work.
AI tools cannot be listed as authors.
The journal maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism.
Plagiarism includes:
Direct copying without citation
Paraphrasing without attribution
Self-plagiarism
Mosaic plagiarism
Improper citation practices
All submissions may be screened using plagiarism detection software.
Manuscripts containing substantial plagiarism may be rejected immediately. Published articles found to contain plagiarism may be corrected, retracted, or removed from the journal record.
Reviewers must treat all manuscripts as confidential documents.
Information obtained through peer review must not be shared or used for personal advantage.
Reviews should be conducted objectively, fairly, and professionally.
Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate.
Reviewers should provide constructive feedback supported by scholarly evidence.
Reviewers should decline review assignments when conflicts of interest may compromise their objectivity.
Reviewers should promptly notify editors if they identify:
Plagiarism
Duplicate publication
Data manipulation
Ethical misconduct
Undisclosed conflicts of interest
Editors evaluate manuscripts solely on their academic merit, originality, significance, and relevance to the journal's scope.
Editorial decisions must not be influenced by commercial interests, personal relationships, nationality, gender, ethnicity, religion, or institutional affiliation.
Editors shall ensure an impartial and unbiased review process for all submissions.
Editors must maintain confidentiality regarding submitted manuscripts and reviewer identities.
Editors should recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist.
Editors are responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct and taking appropriate corrective actions when necessary.
The journal follows a Double-Blind Peer Review process.
Authors remain anonymous to reviewers.
Reviewers remain anonymous to authors.
Review reports are treated as confidential.
Editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly merit.
Any attempt to compromise the integrity of the review process may result in rejection of the manuscript.
The journal considers the following practices to constitute research misconduct:
Plagiarism
Self-plagiarism
Data fabrication
Data falsification
Image manipulation
Citation manipulation
Fake authorship claims
Undisclosed conflicts of interest
Peer-review manipulation
Duplicate publication
Allegations of misconduct will be investigated thoroughly and confidentially.
When significant errors or ethical concerns are identified, the journal may publish:
For honest errors that do not invalidate the study findings.
For serious ethical violations, misconduct, plagiarism, fabricated data, or unreliable findings.
When investigations are ongoing and sufficient evidence is not yet available for a final decision.
Retraction notices will remain permanently linked to the original article to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.
Authors may submit complaints or appeals regarding editorial decisions, peer-review processes, or ethical concerns.
All complaints will be reviewed fairly and independently by the Editorial Board.
The final decision of the Editor-in-Chief shall be considered binding.
Advances in Consumer Research is dedicated to promoting ethical research practices, responsible authorship, rigorous peer review, and transparency in scholarly publishing. The journal encourages all participants in the publication process to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity and professional ethics.
