Taipei Economic Inquiry (TEI hereafter) honors research ethics. All parties involved in the publication process are required to meet the ethical standards set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). This applies to the authors, the editors, the reviewers, and the publisher – Department of Economics, National Taipei University. Allegations of ethical misconduct will be treated seriously in accordance with the COPE’s guidelines.
Duties of the Editors
- Decisions
The editors shall make publication decisions based on the reports of anonymous reviewers and their own professional judgment, without regard for the authors’ gender, nationality, ethnic origins, and religion.
- Invitation to Peer Review
The editors may reject a manuscript without sending it out for peer review if, based on their professional judgments, the topic addressed in the manuscript is not suitable for publication. Should the editors decide to send a manuscript out for peer review, at least two reviewers will be assigned for each manuscript. The editors themselves can also serve as reviewers.
- Fair Judgements
The peer review process will be double-blind. If both reviewers suggest rejection of a manuscript, the manuscript shall be rejected unless the editor in charge of the manuscript disagrees on the rejection. In this case, the editor shall provide their professional opinions in a written report to initiate a new round of review. If one reviewer suggests revision and the other suggests rejection of a manuscript, a third reviewer will be assigned unless the editor finds the reviewers' reports sufficient to make a professional judgment. Otherwise, the authors will be invited to revise and resubmit the manuscript.
- Confidentiality
The editors shall refrain from revealing the content of the manuscripts and the identity of the authors to related persons during the ongoing review process.
- Disclosing a Conflict of Interest
If an editor has collaborations in any way with at least one of the authors of a manuscript, s/he must declare such status and shall be dismissed from handling the manuscript.
- Corrections
When errors are found in a manuscript, the editor in charge is responsible for advising the authors to correct the errors or to retract the article.
- Response to Complaints/Appeals
The editor-in-chief or the executive editors should respond to complaints and appeals from the authors, the reviewers, and the readers promptly and unbiasedly.
Duties of the Reviewers
- Formal Reports
The reviewers shall submit formal reports to the editors with professional comments and suggestions based on their expertise. The reviewers shall also attach a confidential letter to the editor, addressing the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscripts along with their suggestions for publication.
- Prompt Review
The reviewers are encouraged to provide their formal reports and letters to the editors within one month of receiving a manuscript. However, the reviewers are allowed to take up to six months for the review. A new reviewer will be invited should the previous reviewer miss the deadline.
- Confidentiality
The reviewers shall refrain from revealing the content of the manuscripts to related persons, particularly during the ongoing review process.
- Disclosing a Conflict of Interest
If the reviewers have collaborations in any way with the authors, they must declare such status and shall be dismissed from reviewing the manuscript.
Duties of the Authors
- Originality and Research Ethics
The articles submitted to TEI should be original, comply with research ethics, and be under review by TEI only. A manuscript would be rejected immediately if an allegation of plagiarism or/and data falsification/fabrication is found, if the manuscript is found under review elsewhere at the same time, or if the manuscript is found translated from a published article.
- Authorship
Authorship must be clearly stated in the manuscript upon submission. Should a change in authorship be requested at a later date, an agreement signed by all authors must be provided.
- Acknowledgement
Sources of financial support should be clearly specified.
- Corrections
The authors are obligated to correct or clarify any errors found in the manuscript.
- Disclosing a Conflict of Interest
The authors can inform the Editorial Committee upon submission if they reasonably believe that any associate editor may be biased against their work. The authors can appeal upon receiving biased or incorrect comments from the reviewers or the editors.
- Author’s Guidelines
Abstracts in both Chinese and English are required for submission. The authors shall prepare their manuscript following the instructions of TEI, which can be found in the Author’s Guidelines. The authors shall follow the deadlines for proofreading once the manuscript is accepted for publication. Publication can be revoked otherwise.
Duties of the Publisher
- Ensuring Ethics
The publisher will ensure that all involved parties adhere to the publishing ethics of TEI. The publisher shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent redundant publications, including articles that have been previously accepted for publication by any journals and manuscripts that were translated from published articles. The publisher shall also take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of manuscripts containing falsified/fabricated data or plagiarized manuscripts.
- Retractions
In the event that the publisher or the editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct, such as data falsification/fabrication and plagiarism, relating to a published article in TEI, the publisher has the right of retraction and shall follow COPE’s guidelines in dealing with allegations.
- Corrections
The publisher agrees to print all corrections and clarifications of errors that appear in formerly published articles. The publisher has the right to retract any articles that contain uncorrected mistakes.
- Integrity
The publisher will not compromise intellectual and ethical standards for business transactions or financial concerns.