Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

1. Preface

The Journal of Financial and Economic Dynamics, as a newly founded academic journal aspiring for SSCI indexing, is firmly committed to upholding the highest standards of research integrity and publication ethics. This mechanism adheres to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and applies to all authors, editors, reviewers, and other relevant parties involved in the journal's publishing process. Any form of academic misconduct will be thoroughly investigated, and corresponding penalties will be imposed without tolerance to safeguard the credibility of academic publishing.

2. Definition of Academic Misconduct

The following behaviors are clearly defined as academic misconduct in this journal:

2.1 Plagiarism and Self-plagiarism: Plagiarism refers to presenting others' ideas, texts, research findings, or data as one's own without proper citation, including direct copying and paraphrasing without attribution. Self-plagiarism means reusing substantial parts of one's own previously published works (such as core texts, key data, or analytical frameworks) in new submissions without explicit disclosure and acknowledgment.

2.2 Data Fabrication and Falsification: Deliberately fabricating non-existent research data, experimental results, or survey statistics; arbitrarily altering original data, charts, or analytical conclusions to meet expected research outcomes; or modifying research images and experimental records without legitimate reasons.

2.3 Inappropriate Publication Practices: This includes duplicate submission (submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously without notification), redundant publication (publishing slightly revised versions of previously published papers without significant new contributions), and salami publishing (splitting a single complete research project into multiple fragmented papers to inflate publication counts).

2.4 Misconduct in Authorship and Citations: Adding irrelevant personnel as authors without their participation or consent; excluding core contributors from authorship; reviewers or editors forcing authors to cite specific works to manipulate citation metrics; or fabricating false references.

2.5 Other Misconduct: Unauthorized use of confidential research materials or data without permission; violation of research ethics in studies involving human subjects or animals; and failure to disclose conflicts of interest that may affect research objectivity.

3. Graded Penalty Measures

Penalties are imposed based on the severity of the misconduct (minor, intermediate, and major) and the perpetrator's attitude during the investigation:

3.1 Minor Misconduct

This mainly refers to unintentional and minor violations caused by insufficient understanding of academic norms, such as improper citation formats, accidental reuse of small amounts of one's own text without citation, or minor calculation errors in data that do not affect the core conclusions.

Issue a formal warning letter to the relevant parties, clarifying the problems and requirements for rectification.
Request the author to revise the manuscript within a specified time limit and provide a written explanation for the misconduct.
Record the violation in the journal's internal integrity file without involving third-party institutions.

3.2 Intermediate Misconduct

Including moderate plagiarism (with a similarity rate between 25%-30%), unintentional data errors that affect partial research conclusions, improper authorship adjustments, and first-time duplicate submission.

Reject the manuscript immediately and prohibit the author from submitting to the journal for 1 - 3 years.
For editors or reviewers involved, suspend their editorial or review qualifications for 1 year, and require them to complete academic ethics training before resuming their duties.
Notify the author's affiliated institution of the misconduct in the form of a formal letter to urge internal supervision and education.

3.3 Major Misconduct

Covering severe plagiarism (similarity rate exceeding 30%), intentional data fabrication/falsification, repeated redundant publication, malicious citation manipulation, and refusal to cooperate with the investigation.

For manuscripts under review, reject them permanently; for published articles, formally retract them in accordance with COPE guidelines and issue a retraction notice on the journal's official website and in the printed version, clarifying the reasons for retraction.
Permanently ban the perpetrator from submitting manuscripts to the journal and prohibit them from serving as an editor or reviewer for the journal.
Report the misconduct to relevant institutions such as the author's employer, funding agencies, and academic associations, and share the case with the global academic integrity network.

For cases involving legal issues such as copyright infringement, refer the matter to relevant legal authorities for further handling.

4. Supplementary Provisions

4.1 Performance-related Penalties for Editors/Associate Editors: If editors or associate editors fail to fulfill their duties (e.g., failing to detect obvious misconduct during review), 5%-10% of their annual allowances will be deducted proportionally for each violation. If the misconduct leads to serious negative impacts on the journal, their positions will be revoked, and the case will be made public.

4.2 Incentives for Mitigation: If the perpetrator takes the initiative to report their own misconduct before detection, actively cooperates with the investigation, and takes measures to reduce the impact (such as revising the manuscript or apologizing publicly), the penalty may be reduced by 10%-20% upon approval by the editorial board.

4.3 Dynamic Adjustment of Penalties: If the journal is included in SCOPUS, ESCI, SCIE, or SSCI, the penalty standards will be adjusted with reference to the relevant norms of top international journals. For individuals who have previously received penalties but maintained a sound academic record thereafter, the term of the ban may be appropriately shortened upon application and review.

5. Investigation and Implementation Procedures

5.1 Once suspected misconduct is detected through plagiarism-checking tools or reviewer feedback, the editorial board will set up a special investigation team to collect and sort out relevant evidence confidentially.

5.2 The investigation team will notify the relevant parties of the allegations and provide them with a reasonable period to respond, defend themselves, and submit evidence.

5.3 The team will make a preliminary penalty proposal based on evidence and the parties' responses, which will be finalized after consultation with the editor-in-chief and the editorial board.

5.4 Implement the penalty measures, issue public notices or private notifications as required, and file all investigation materials and penalty records for long-term preservation.