Editorial Policy
Editorial Policy
JBMA is committed to publishing rigorous, original and meaningful scholarship in business management, leadership and accounting, with particular emphasis on research that connects theory, evidence and practice in real organisational contexts.
Reflecting its association with the Management & Leadership Case Study Centre, Universiti Utara Malaysia, JBMA places particular emphasis on case-based, context-rich and practice-relevant scholarship. The journal seeks manuscripts that address significant managerial, leadership, governance, accounting and organisational challenges while making contributions that extend beyond the immediate research setting.
1. Editorial Mission
The Journal of Business Management and Accounting (JBMA) provides a scholarly platform for academics, researchers, practitioners and educators to disseminate research that advances knowledge in business management, leadership and accounting.
The journal seeks work that is theoretically grounded, methodologically rigorous, analytically meaningful and relevant to contemporary organisational challenges. Contributions should either develop new knowledge, extend or refine existing theory, provide compelling empirical evidence, or generate insights that strengthen the relationship between scholarly research and practice.
JBMA welcomes contributions from diverse geographical and institutional settings. Studies from Southeast Asia and other emerging and transforming economies are particularly encouraged where the research uses its context to address questions of wider theoretical, managerial or policy significance.
2. Core Editorial Principles
Manuscripts must make an identifiable contribution and should not merely replicate established relationships without meaningful extension.
Research design, evidence, analysis and interpretation must be appropriate, transparent and academically defensible.
Manuscripts should clearly explain what they add to theory, evidence, practice, policy or management education.
Research should address important organisational or managerial questions and demonstrate significance beyond a narrowly defined setting.
3. Journal Fit and Editorial Priority
Manuscript suitability is determined not simply by whether a paper addresses a topic generally associated with business, management or accounting.
Priority is given to manuscripts that:
- address significant organisational, managerial or accountability challenges;
- demonstrate clear engagement with relevant theory and literature;
- use appropriate and rigorous research methods;
- provide sufficiently rich organisational, institutional or industry context;
- make a clear theoretical, empirical, conceptual, practical or pedagogical contribution;
- generate insights extending beyond the immediate sample, organisation or location;
- connect evidence meaningfully with theory, practice or policy; and
- are relevant to a wider scholarly and professional audience.
JBMA generally does not prioritise manuscripts that are predominantly descriptive, narrowly localised without broader implications, weakly connected to theory, methodologically underdeveloped, or primarily replicate well-established relationships without demonstrating a meaningful contribution.
4. Areas of Scholarly Interest
JBMA concentrates on four interconnected areas of scholarship:
Strategic decision-making, leadership, organisational behaviour, organisational change, human capital, crisis management and organisational resilience.
Artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, digital business, innovation, entrepreneurship, SMEs, family business and organisational transformation.
Sustainability, ESG, corporate governance, ethics, integrity, responsible leadership, stakeholder management and social accountability.
Management accounting, auditing, assurance, internal control, risk management, performance management, accountability and managerial decision-making.
Case-Based Scholarship
Case-based scholarship is an important component of JBMA's evolving editorial identity. The journal particularly welcomes manuscripts that examine authentic organisational phenomena, decisions and challenges through rich and credible evidence.
JBMA considers:
- Research Case Studies using rigorous single, embedded, longitudinal or process-oriented designs;
- Comparative Case Studies involving multiple organisations, sectors, industries or countries;
- Teaching Cases developed around authentic managerial, leadership, governance or accounting dilemmas; and
- research relating to case methodology and case-based management education.
Case-based manuscripts must demonstrate more than rich description. They should provide analytical depth, methodological credibility and a contribution extending beyond the individual case.
5. Manuscript Categories
JBMA considers the following categories of scholarly contributions:
Invited contributions may also be considered where they are commissioned by the Editor and meet the journal's scholarly standards. Invitation does not exempt a manuscript from appropriate editorial evaluation.
6. Editorial Screening and Peer Review
All submissions undergo an initial editorial assessment before being considered for external peer review.
The initial screening considers:
- alignment with the journal's Aims & Scope;
- originality and significance;
- theoretical and scholarly contribution;
- methodological credibility;
- ethical and publication-integrity requirements;
- quality of scholarly communication; and
- overall readiness for external peer review.
Manuscripts that pass editorial screening are normally evaluated through double-blind peer review by at least two suitably qualified independent reviewers.
Reviewer reports inform editorial decisions but do not determine them automatically. The final responsibility for acceptance, revision or rejection rests with the Editor.
Manuscripts may be declined without external review where they fall outside the journal's scope, demonstrate insufficient originality or contribution, contain major methodological weaknesses, do not meet ethical requirements, or are not sufficiently developed for peer review.
7. Editorial Independence
Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, methodological quality, contribution, relevance and alignment with JBMA's editorial scope.
Decisions must not be influenced by an author's institutional affiliation, nationality, seniority, professional status or other characteristics unrelated to the scholarly quality of the work.
Where an Editor, Section Editor or member of the Editorial Board has an actual or potential conflict of interest with a submission, responsibility for the manuscript will be transferred to another suitably qualified editor who can manage the process independently.
Manuscripts submitted by members of the JBMA editorial team are subject to the same editorial and peer-review standards as other submissions and must be handled independently of the submitting editor.
8. Publication Ethics and Research Integrity
JBMA is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. Authors, reviewers and editors are expected to observe recognised standards of responsible research and scholarly publishing.
The journal does not tolerate:
- plagiarism or substantial unattributed textual overlap;
- fabrication or falsification of data;
- manipulation or fabrication of citations;
- duplicate or redundant publication;
- inappropriate authorship practices;
- undisclosed conflicts of interest;
- manipulation of the peer-review process; or
- other forms of research or publication misconduct.
Where concerns arise, the Editorial Office may request supporting documentation and may suspend editorial processing while the matter is investigated.
9. Research Ethics, Consent and Organisational Permissions
Research involving human participants, confidential organisational information or other ethically sensitive material must comply with applicable institutional and professional ethical requirements.
Where relevant, authors should provide:
- institutional ethics approval information;
- informed consent procedures;
- organisational permission;
- confidentiality arrangements;
- data-access restrictions; and
- other relevant ethical declarations.
Teaching Cases involving identifiable organisations, individuals or non-public information may require appropriate case-release, consent or organisational permission documentation.
10. Authorship, Funding and Conflicts of Interest
Authors listed on a manuscript should have made a meaningful scholarly contribution to the work and should approve the version submitted for publication.
Authors are expected to disclose:
- all relevant sources of funding;
- financial, professional or institutional conflicts of interest;
- relevant author-contribution information where requested; and
- other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.
JBMA encourages authors to provide ORCID iDs and, where appropriate, contributor-role statements.
11. Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence
Generative AI systems cannot be listed as authors.
Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity and appropriate attribution of all submitted content. Substantive use of generative AI in research-related activities or manuscript preparation should be transparently disclosed in accordance with the journal's applicable policy.
Generative AI must not be used to fabricate, falsify or misrepresent data, evidence, citations, references or research findings.
12. Reviewer Responsibilities
Reviewers are expected to provide impartial, constructive, evidence-based and professionally expressed assessments of manuscripts.
Reviewers must:
- maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts under review;
- disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest;
- decline review invitations where independence may reasonably be questioned;
- evaluate manuscripts on scholarly merit rather than personal characteristics of the authors;
- avoid using unpublished information for personal or professional advantage; and
- provide sufficiently clear reasons for their recommendations.
13. Timeliness and Publication
JBMA is committed to managing submissions efficiently while maintaining the integrity and rigour of the editorial and peer-review process.
The Editorial Office seeks to minimise unnecessary delays in screening, review, revision and production. However, review times may vary depending on manuscript complexity, reviewer availability and the extent of revisions required.
Accepted manuscripts proceed through copy-editing, production and publication according to the journal's publication schedule and applicable UUM Press procedures.
Articles are considered formally published when they are made publicly available on the official JBMA journal platform with their final publication metadata.
14. Corrections, Retractions and the Scholarly Record
JBMA is committed to maintaining an accurate and trustworthy scholarly record.
Where material errors, ethical concerns or publication-integrity issues are identified after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, retraction or other appropriate notice in accordance with the seriousness and nature of the matter.
Published records will not normally be altered or removed solely because authors later wish to revise conclusions, affiliations or other information that does not compromise the integrity of the article.
Rigorous Scholarship. Responsible Editorial Practice.
JBMA's editorial policies are designed to support scholarly quality, fair evaluation, research integrity and meaningful contributions to management, leadership and accounting knowledge.
View Aims & Scope Peer Review Process Submission Guidelines →