The Asian Journal of Applied Economics (AJAE) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, and professional responsibility. The journal adheres to the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and applies these principles throughout all stages of the editorial and publication process.

All parties involved in the publication process—including editors, reviewers, and authors—are expected to comply with the ethical standards outlined below.

1. Editorial Responsibilities

Editorial Independence and Fairness

Editorial decisions are based solely on the academic merit of the manuscript, including originality, methodological rigor, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s aims and scope. Decisions are not influenced by authors’ institutional affiliations, funding sources, nationality, gender, or other personal characteristics.

Confidentiality

Editors treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents. Information related to a manuscript is disclosed only to individuals directly involved in the editorial and peer-review process.

Prevention and Handling of Misconduct

Editors take reasonable steps to identify and prevent publication misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, redundant publication, inappropriate authorship practices, and citation manipulation. Suspected cases of misconduct are handled in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Conflicts of Interest

Editors must not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for personal advantage. Editors shall recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

2. Reviewer Responsibilities

Confidentiality

Reviewers must maintain strict confidentiality regarding manuscripts under review and must not share or use information obtained during the peer-review process for personal or professional purposes.

Objectivity and Professional Conduct

Reviews should be conducted objectively, constructively, and in a timely manner. Reviewers are expected to provide reasoned and evidence-based assessments without personal criticism of the authors.

Ethical Vigilance

Reviewers should notify the editors if they identify potential ethical concerns, including plagiarism, data manipulation, redundant publication, or inappropriate authorship.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts if they have conflicts of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, financial, or personal relationships with the authors or affiliated institutions.

3. Author Responsibilities

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are original works. All sources must be properly cited. Plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, and misrepresentation of research findings are strictly prohibited.

Authorship and Acknowledgement

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the research. Ghost authorship, guest authorship, and honorary authorship are not permitted. All contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

Multiple or Concurrent Submission

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously or publish substantially similar work elsewhere without proper disclosure.

Disclosure of Funding and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose all sources of research funding and any financial or personal relationships that could influence the interpretation of the research.

Data Transparency and Reproducibility

Authors are encouraged to ensure transparency and reproducibility by making research data available where appropriate, subject to ethical, legal, and confidentiality constraints.

4. Ethical Oversight: Research Involving Humans and Animals

AJAE requires appropriate ethical oversight for research involving human participants or animals, in line with international standards and Scopus requirements.

Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human subjects must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant national or institutional regulations. Manuscripts must include a statement confirming approval by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or equivalent ethics committee, including the approval or reference number.

Informed Consent

Authors must confirm that voluntary informed consent was obtained from all participants. When manuscripts include identifiable personal information or images, written consent for publication must be obtained and documented.

Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must comply with applicable national and international guidelines on animal welfare. Authors must state that the study was approved by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or an equivalent body and provide the relevant approval number.

5. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools

AJAE recognizes the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in academic research and writing.

AI tools may be used only for language editing, proofreading, or technical assistance. AI tools must not be listed as authors, and their use must not replace scholarly judgment or intellectual contribution by the authors.

Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, and ethical standards of their submitted work. The use of AI tools must not result in plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, or misrepresentation of research findings. The editorial team reserves the right to request clarification regarding the use of AI tools when necessary.

6. Retraction, Correction, and Expression of Concern Policy

AJAE is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record.

• Corrections may be issued when errors that do not invalidate the research findings are identified.
• Expressions of concern may be published when there are serious unresolved questions regarding the integrity of a published article.
• Retractions will be issued in cases of proven research misconduct, plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, redundant publication, or other serious ethical violations.

All post-publication actions are conducted in accordance with COPE guidelines and are clearly linked to the original article.

7. Complaints and Appeals

AJAE provides a transparent mechanism for handling complaints and appeals related to editorial decisions, ethical concerns, or journal policies. All complaints are investigated fairly, objectively, and confidentially.

8. Archiving and Preservation

AJAE ensures long-term preservation of published content through electronic archiving on Thai Journal Online (ThaiJO) and other appropriate preservation mechanisms. This ensures continued access to the scholarly record in the event that the journal ceases publication.