Duties / Responsibilities of the Authors

Authors will submit to OJBE only original papers, which are not published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Authors need to correctly cite the sources of other materials used in their articles.

All submissions will be checked for plagiarism by using Plagiarism Detector Pro.

Detected plagiarism will be followed by the rejection of the manuscript. Authors have full responsibility for the authenticity of their paper. In case of multiple authors, the authenticity of the article needs to be ensured by all of them.

Published articles are under the copyright of the journal. Partial or total publication of an article elsewhere is possible only after the consent from the editors.

The corresponding author must maintain the communication with the co-authors and make sure that all listed co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the article and agreed to its publication.

Duties / Responsibilities of the Editors

The editors of OJBE have the final decision for the publication of the submitted manuscript.

The editors have to defend the integrity standards of the journal. They will notice and decide about any misconduct on behalf of authors or reviewers. If editors suspect the authenticity of an article, its publication is delayed until any doubt is clarified.

Each submission is actively checked for plagiarism using specialized software. Positive plagiarism match leads to rejection.

The editorial board may choose to retract or correct a published paper based on observations from authors themselves, readers or the editorial board members. A change in a published paper will be published in the form of errata to the article. A retracted paper will be available in the content list of the volume where it was initially published with the “retraction” observation, while its content will be deleted both from the webpage and from the data bases where the Journal is indexed in.

The journal utilizes a double blind review process. Editors will expose information about a submitted manuscript only to the corresponding author, reviewers and other editorial adviser. Reviewers’ activity will be acknowledged by the Editors, both by their mention in the volume according with their input, as well as through a certificate given to each reviewer stating the name of the reviewed paper and the date when the activity was conducted.

Starting with 2018, the policy of the journal is to strongly encourage the diversity of topics/authors/institutions of affiliation. This refers also to discourage the publication of an author in 2 consecutive issues.

Duties / Responsibilities of the Reviewers

OJBE reviewers perform work for the journal on a volunteer basis. If a reviewer feels that the received manuscript does not suite his/hers field of competence and the reviewing process will suffer, he/she needs to notify the editor. The review process should fit within the time frame given in each case.

Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments that will constructively guide the editorial decision of publication. We encourage reviewers to write complete recommendations, both regarding content as well as formal aspects.

Reviewers keep all information regarding papers confidential and treat them as privileged information. The reviewing process need to be objective, reviewers should argue their statements. Personal criticism is not permitted.

Received manuscripts are confidential documents and reviewers are not allowed to reveal information or discuss about the articles, beside the editor and other persons authorized by the editor. Any suspected conflicts of interests needs to be reported.

Reviewers should complete their reviews within the journal stipulated time frame. They should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the paper.