Instructions for authors

We are pleased to provide the following essential guidelines for submitting your research papers to journals published by Southern Cross Academic Press. By carefully following these instructions, authors can ensure a smooth process through editorial evaluation, peer review, production, and final publication. Researchers from diverse academic fields are welcome to submit their original work, irrespective of disciplinary boundaries, provided the submission aligns with scholarly research standards.

Author’s role in submitting the article:

Author’s Role in Submitting the Article

Authors are fully responsible for ensuring the originality and integrity of their research. Manuscripts should be novel, not previously published, and must not be under consideration elsewhere. The references cited must be relevant to the research topic, and the methodology used should follow widely accepted academic and scientific practices.

Submissions will be evaluated on their academic merit, significance, and contribution to the field. Each manuscript undergoes review by the editorial team and a panel of expert peer reviewers. Editors and reviewers may suggest revisions to improve the clarity, quality, and rigor of the manuscript. Ethical approval must be obtained where necessary before submission.

Authors are requested to thoroughly review and comply with the following policies and submission components to meet the journal's publishing standards.

Sections Included in This Guide

1. Aim and Scope of the Journal
2. Submission Procedure
3. Ethical Policy
4. Open Access Policy
5. Peer Review Process
6. Data Protection & Privacy Policy
7. Preparing the Submission
8. Authorship Criteria & Position
9. Editorial Office Contact Details
10. Copyright Policy
11. Article Types Accepted
12. Article Publication Workflow
13. Conflict of Interest Disclosure
14. Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement
15. Changes in Authorship After Submission
16. Post-Publication Queries
17. Corrections to Published Articles
18. Article Retraction Policy
19. Fee Structure & Payment Policy
20. Refund Policy

Aim & Scope

EPH – International Journal of Business & Management Science aims to publish high-quality, original research across all areas of business and management. We welcome contributions that advance knowledge in fields such as business education, human resource management, international business, marketing, operations research, corporate governance, decision sciences, and strategic management.

The journal encourages submissions of research articles, review papers, short communications, and case studies that provide practical insights, theoretical advancements, or innovative methodologies in business and management disciplines.

We support interdisciplinary and cross-functional research that contributes to academic scholarship and addresses real-world business challenges.

2. SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

We welcome submissions across all multidisciplinary research areas in the following formats:

Research Papers
Survey Papers
Case Studies
Study Papers
Short Reports
Subjective Papers
Experimental Results
Analytical Studies
Informative Articles
Letters
Comparison Papers
Review Papers
Comparative Studies
Dissertation Chapters
Methodologies
Research Proposals / Synopsis
Working Projects
Innovations / Ideas
Prototypes

Important: Authors must include a Submittal Declaration at the beginning of the manuscript, confirming that the work has not been published or submitted elsewhere.

Manuscript Structure:

Ensure your manuscript follows this order:

Title (boldface, Title Case, font size 14)
Authors' Names (first name followed by last name, no titles/degrees)
Affiliations (postal addresses including PIN code, font size 12, Times New Roman)
Corresponding Author: Use an asterisk (*) with a valid email and "Address for Correspondence" at the bottom of the title page
Short Title (≤ 50 characters, centered)
Abstract (200–250 words)
Keywords (3–5 minimum, to enhance discoverability)
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Findings / Results
Discussion
Acknowledgments
Declaration of Interest
Conclusion
References (alphabetically listed with DOIs where applicable)
Appendices / Tables / Graphs / Images (high resolution only)

Formatting Guidelines:

Use U.S. English spelling consistently
Submit in editable format (including text, tables, figures)
Ensure abstract, keywords, and all required sections are included
References cited in the text must be listed alphabetically in the reference list

3. ETHICAL POLICY

We adhere strictly to the ethical publishing guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Each submission is reviewed for:

Plagiarism
Data integrity
Proper citation
Originality

Authors must respect intellectual property rights, avoid plagiarism, and provide proper attribution to all sources. All manuscripts undergo a peer review process before publication to ensure high ethical and academic standards.

Community Interaction Ethics:

Treat online interactions with the same respect as in-person
Respect differing opinions and maintain confidentiality
Use alumni or contact directories ethically—no unsolicited communications or misuse of personal data

4. OPEN ACCESS POLICY

Our journals follow an Open Access model, making research articles freely available to the global research community immediately after publication.

Benefits of Open Access:

Increased visibility, citations, and impact
Content indexed with Crossref DOIs
Improved online discoverability and academic reach
Enhanced author credibility and contribution to the scientific ecosystem

Publishing with us ensures your work is widely shared, accessible, and easily cited.

5. PEER REVIEW POLICY

Peer review is essential to ensure the quality and integrity of published research.

Review Process:

Submissions are reviewed by subject-matter experts
Peers assess the authenticity, originality, and academic value
Reviewers check for plagiarism, structure, and scholarly relevance
Only peer-reviewed articles are accepted for publication

The Editorial Board uses this process to determine the suitability of each article for our indexed journals.

6. DATA PROTECTION / PRIVACY POLICY

We are committed to protecting your personal data in compliance with data privacy regulations.

Data We Collect:

Name, email, contact details
Demographics, affiliation, submission history
Communication history and preferences
Consent records and payment information (if applicable)

Data Usage:

For communication between authors and our team
To facilitate editorial and peer review processes
For publication, archiving, and marketing (only with consent)

Third-Party Tools:

We may use advertising plugins or analytical tools on our website. When interacting with third-party tools, we recommend reviewing their privacy policies.

We may share your data with:

Legal authorities if required
Editorial and peer reviewers for publication purposes
Internal teams and trusted service providers

We do not process sensitive personal data without explicit consent. Authors are advised to review this policy periodically for any updates.

7. Preparing the Submission

Time Investment: Manuscript preparation may take days or months; select the right indexed journal before starting.
Journal Fit: Confirm your research aligns with the journal’s scope, reputation, and target readership.
Submission Process: Use the journal’s online submission system, following all formatting and guideline requirements carefully.
Supporting Materials: You may submit additional materials such as artwork, charts, and tables.
Revision: Editors work with authors to improve the manuscript post-acceptance.
Journal Metrics: Learn about SJR, SNIP, JIF, H-index, CiteScore, etc., to understand journal impact.
Resources: Refer to the journal’s submission procedure link for detailed steps.

8. Authorship

Ethics and COPE: The journal follows COPE guidelines to prevent unethical authorship practices.
Criteria: Only contributors who made significant intellectual contributions should be authors.
Multiple Authors: Multiple authors are allowed after agreement; all contributors must be included.
Corresponding Author: Responsible for ensuring all co-authors approve the manuscript and follow guidelines.
Conflict of Interest: Disclose funding sources and any conflicts of interest.
Authorship Disputes: Avoid by training teams on norms and SOPs; follow COPE guidance if disputes arise.
Open Access: Articles are open-access, enabling free use and distribution by others.

9. Editorial Office Contact Details and Responsibilities

Quality Control: Editors ensure accuracy, quality, and integrity of peer-reviewed articles.
Review Process: Oversee a thorough, legitimate, and timely review.
Compliance: Check manuscripts for formatting, references, and ethical standards.
Communication: Provide constructive feedback to authors.
Conference Engagement: Editors present journal goals at conferences to attract authors.
Confidentiality: Maintain authors’ confidentiality and avoid authorship conflicts.
Final Checks: Editors correct language errors and decide on publication.

10. Copyrights

Author Contracts: Authors must sign an agreement granting the journal publishing rights post-acceptance.
Rights Retention: Open-access authors often retain copyright but grant first publication rights.
Legal Assurance: Corresponding author guarantees no legal infringement and author consent.
Liability: Corresponding author holds the journal harmless against legal issues.

11. Article Types

Types Include: Original research, brief reviews, conference reports, essays, case studies, editorials, commentary.
Original Research: Minimum 5000 words, includes standard sections (Title, Abstract, Methods, Results, Discussion, References).
Brief Reviews: Concise with figures and tables, minimum 2500 words.
Conference Reports: Document meetings/events, minimum 2500 words.
Essays: Analytical pieces supported by facts, minimum 4000 words.
Editor’s Discretion: Final article type and acceptance is decided by the editor.

12. Article Publication Process Features

Since 2013: Trusted by academic, business, and government institutions.
Quality and Analytics: Use of advanced bibliometric data, analytics, and journal impact metrics.
Support to Authors: Help combat predatory publishing, improve research workflows, and optimize budgets.
Expert Editorial Team: International experts with extensive experience.
Impact Tracking: Monitor article influence via citations and global research trends.
Journal Matching: Recommend suitable journals based on research needs and past indexed works.
Conference Integration: Store conference papers in a large bibliometric database.
Metrics Tools: Employ CiteScore, SJR, SNIP, etc., to maintain journal and article impact between 1 and 10.
Real-time Info: Provide authors with up-to-date research insights.

(13) Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest occurs when individuals involved in the publication process—such as authors, reviewers, or editors—have competing interests that may unduly influence their decisions or actions regarding manuscript submission, peer review, editorial judgments, or author-reviewer-editor interactions.

Authors are strongly encouraged to disclose any competing interests or biases related to their manuscript. These conflicts may arise from:

Financial relationships or funding sources
Academic obligations or institutional affiliations
Personal relationships or rivalries
Political or religious beliefs
Any other affiliations that may affect impartiality

Conflicts of interest are not limited to financial matters. Authors, reviewers, and editors must carefully consider all forms of potential bias and disclose them during the submission and review processes.

Journals rely on authors to make accurate and transparent disclosures, as routine investigation of such matters is impractical. Therefore, it is vital that journals implement clear procedures for identifying and managing conflicts of interest. All parties must also comply with the specific disclosure policies of each journal.

(14) Malpractice Statement

Our ethical standards are rooted in the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. Editors bear the responsibility of evaluating submissions objectively, without discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, citizenship, or political beliefs.

Editorial decisions are based solely on:

The article’s relevance, originality, and academic value
Compliance with the journal’s aims and scope
Proper ethical conduct, including avoidance of plagiarism and copyright infringement

Key malpractice policies include:

Editors must not share manuscript content with anyone outside the editorial and peer-review process.
Unpublished material must not be used for the editor’s or reviewer’s personal benefit.
Reviewers must notify editors of any ethical or academic concerns, including duplication, plagiarism, or potential conflicts of interest.
Review decisions must be justified and evidence-based, with references clearly cited.
All authors must confirm the originality and accuracy of their submission.
Simultaneous or duplicate submissions are strictly prohibited.
Open access will be granted for all published articles, preserving authors’ rights while ensuring long-term accessibility.

Authors are required to:

Submit only original, unpublished work
Disclose all funding sources and competing interests
Acknowledge all contributors and obtain consent from co-authors
Inform the editorial office promptly about any significant errors in published work so that retractions or corrections (erratum) can be issued if necessary

(15) Change in Authorship

A change in authorship involves the addition, deletion, or reordering of authors after submission or publication. Any such change must follow a formal written procedure, with agreement from all co-authors.

Addition of Authors:

Provide a valid justification for the addition.
Obtain written consent from all existing authors.
If consensus is reached, a correction notice will be published.
If no consensus is reached, the matter may be referred to the affiliated institution for resolution.

Removal of Authors:

Provide valid reasons for the removal.
Confirm that the author to be removed has consented or is under investigation for misconduct.
If all authors agree, the article will be corrected.
If there is no agreement, the case may be escalated to the affiliated institution.

In situations involving disagreements or misconduct:

A written explanation should be exchanged among the involved parties.
If the co-authors disagree on publication, both perspectives may be published as letters.
If no resolution is reached, a correction or institutional review may be initiated.

(16) Post-Publication Queries

In the digital era, post-publication issues are addressed swiftly to maintain the integrity and quality of published work.

Editors may delay publication if there are unresolved authorship or ethical concerns.
After publication, any request for changes to the content, authorship, or metadata must be justified and documented.
Editors are authorized to correct errors in author names, credentials, or affiliations, but major content changes require author approval.
Transparency with authors and reviewers will be maintained throughout the correction or retraction process.
If an author discovers a significant error or ethical concern post-publication, they are required to inform the editor promptly so that appropriate corrective actions—such as issuing an erratum or retraction—can be taken.

(17) CORRECTION IN DOCUMENT

If authors identify errors in their published work—particularly those that may affect data interpretation or the accuracy of the presented information—they should contact us immediately. The corresponding author must obtain consent from all listed co-authors before submitting any requests for revisions or retractions. To maintain transparency, all changes will be accompanied by a post-publication notice that is permanently linked to the original article. This may take the form of a Retraction, Correction Notice, Expression of Concern, or, in severe cases, Removal. This system ensures the integrity of the scholarly record through visible and lasting revisions.

All revisions, expressions of concern, and retraction notices will be published and made accessible at the time of posting.

Authors should contact the journal’s production editor or reach out to us via the website or email if they believe their article requires an update or retraction.

Post-publication Notifications to Maintain Scholarly Accuracy

Correction Notice
A correction notice will be issued if an error or omission must be addressed but does not compromise the article’s scholarly integrity or comprehensibility. Examples include mislabeled data, missing funding acknowledgments, or author affiliation errors.

Editors distinguish between major and minor errors. Major errors affect the interpretation of the article without compromising its overall scholarly value. For such errors:

The article will be corrected online.
A correction notice will be published and electronically linked to the revised article.
A footnote will be added to the article referencing the correction notice.
The correction notice will be paginated within the journal’s online issue and made freely available.

Minor errors do not significantly affect the reader’s understanding or the article’s reliability. These may be addressed via footnotes within the article itself. Corrections may also cover errors in metadata (e.g., author name misspellings, incorrect funding details). In some cases, we may replace the original version with a corrected one, accompanied by a detailed correction notice.

GUIDELINES FOR CORRECTIONS

Minor errors in formatting, grammar, or structure often lead to rejection, despite the research’s quality. This is an undesirable practice, as it overlooks the time, effort, and resources invested by researchers. Therefore, such issues should be resolved at the editorial level whenever possible.

Publishing a research study is a complex process involving rigorous planning and execution. We inform authors of all correction mechanisms during submission and review.

We classify corrections into two types:

1. Minor Corrections:
These involve small changes such as:

Formatting and structure issues
Poorly defined objectives
Overly wordy or unclear abstracts
Spelling and grammar mistakes
Use of technical jargon and long sentences
Ineffective or inappropriate keywords
Disorganized tables, figures, and graphs
Non-English content or untranslated metadata
Lack of final proofreading

Such errors are typically corrected during the editorial stage to expedite publication.

2. Major Corrections:
These relate to substantial issues, such as:

Data Errors: Content that is inaccurate, outdated, or irrelevant.
Calculation Errors: Incorrect statistical data or formulas without validation.
Technical Issues: Unsupported or flawed technical content.
Plagiarism: Submission of content lacking originality or derived from prior publications without meaningful contribution.
Incomprehensible Language: Poor language quality making peer review impossible.

Only when major issues are addressed in accordance with journal guidelines should the author resubmit the manuscript or contact the editorial team.

(18) ARTICLE RETRACTION POLICY

A retraction notice is issued if a significant error (e.g., in methodology or analysis) invalidates the article’s findings, or if research misconduct is discovered (e.g., fabrication, plagiarism, unethical conduct). The editorial board of Southern Cross Academic Press will investigate such issues before making a retraction decision, in alignment with our policy. Authors or institutions may also request retraction if justified.

Grounds for Retraction:

Evidence of dishonest or erroneous findings (e.g., data falsification or miscalculation).
Duplicate or redundant publication without appropriate acknowledgment.
Confirmed plagiarism.
Authorship fraud.
Manipulated peer review.
Violation of ethical standards in research.

Retraction Guidelines:

Editors should consider retraction if:

Findings are unreliable due to serious error or misconduct.
Plagiarism is detected.
The article includes previously published content without disclosure or permission.
The article violates copyright or presents legal concerns.
It reports unethical or fraudulently reviewed research.
A serious conflict of interest was undisclosed and may have biased peer review.

Retraction Notice Requirements:

Clearly link to the original article.
Be clearly labeled as a retraction (not to be confused with corrections).
Be issued promptly to minimize the spread of misinformation.
Be openly accessible to all readers.
Be factual and free from emotional or accusatory language.

When Retraction Is Not Necessary:

If authorship is disputed but findings are valid.
If key conclusions remain accurate and errors can be corrected.
If evidence for retraction is inconclusive or under investigation.
If a conflict of interest was disclosed post-publication but deemed minor by editors.

THE PURPOSE OF RETRACTION

Retraction serves to correct the academic record when an article contains inaccurate, misleading, or unethical content. This may be due to honest mistakes, poor methodology, or misconduct. Retractions are not meant to punish authors but to preserve the integrity of scholarly publishing. They may also alert readers to:

Plagiarism or self-plagiarism
Unauthorized or unethical content use
Legal violations (e.g., defamation or privacy breaches)
Undisclosed conflicts of interest

WHICH PUBLICATIONS SHOULD BE RETRACTED?

If only a small part of the article contains errors, a correction or amendment is preferable. Full retraction is considered only when the errors significantly compromise the article’s validity.

If an article appears in multiple journals, the version published first should retain precedence.
Journals that publish a duplicate version should retract it and issue an appropriate notice.
If a retraction affects dependent articles, those should also be evaluated for correction or retraction.

(19) Fee Policy

To ensure the maintenance and processing of submitted articles, authors are required to pay an advance publication processing fee to Southern Cross Academic Press. This fee is applicable only after the author receives a Letter of Acceptance from the designated journal.

Per our publication policies and procedures:

An advance processing fee must be paid to initiate the article maintenance process.
The full publication fee is payable only after the article has been accepted for publication by the intended journal.
Authors are expected to comply with the payment timelines and instructions outlined in our formal communications.

These fees support editorial handling, peer review coordination, digital archiving, and publication services in accordance with international publishing standards.

(20) Refund Policy

As per the publication policy of Southern Cross Academic Press:

Processing fees are non-refundable once paid following the acceptance of an article.
The full publication fee becomes applicable and non-refundable once the article is confirmed for publication.
If an article is selected and accepted by the designated journal, the author is responsible for all applicable fees, irrespective of any future withdrawal or removal by the journal.
Southern Cross Academic Press is not liable for any decision made by the journal post-submission, including but not limited to the retraction or removal of published content.
It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that the journal selected aligns with their requirements and that all data, including journal indexing and scope, is verified both on our website and the journal’s official site prior to proceeding.

Southern Cross Academic Press reserves the right to modify these policies at any time, without prior notice to the author. Continued use of our services following any updates signifies acceptance of the revised terms. Authors are advised to regularly review our Terms and Policies to stay informed of any changes.