The Employee Relations Law Journal (Empl. Relat. Law J.) is committed to maintaining high standards of ethical and responsible research. The journal expects authors to conduct research in accordance with applicable ethical principles, institutional requirements, professional standards, and relevant laws and regulations.

The journal takes into consideration relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), where applicable, in assessing research ethics and publication integrity.

Ethical Conduct of Research

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research has been conducted honestly, responsibly, and in accordance with applicable ethical standards. Research must not involve fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, deception, exploitation, or other practices that compromise the integrity or safety of research participants or the scholarly record.

Authors should provide sufficient information about relevant ethical considerations within the manuscript and should disclose any circumstances that may affect the ethical assessment of their research.

Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants must respect their dignity, rights, privacy, safety, and autonomy. Authors should obtain appropriate ethical approval before commencing research where required by applicable institutional, national, or professional standards.

Where research involves personal or identifiable information, authors must take appropriate measures to protect confidentiality and privacy.

Institutional or Ethics Committee Approval

Where applicable, research should receive approval from an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB), Research Ethics Committee, or equivalent authorized body before the research begins.

Authors should provide the name of the approving institution or committee and the relevant approval or reference number in the manuscript where applicable. The Editorial Office may request supporting documentation to verify ethical approval.

Where formal ethical approval is not required, authors should clearly explain the basis for that determination when appropriate.

Informed Consent

Where applicable, informed consent must be obtained from research participants before their participation in research.

Participants should receive appropriate information concerning the purpose and nature of the research, their involvement, potential risks and benefits, and their rights. Consent procedures should comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

Where identifiable information, photographs, recordings, or other personal material is intended for publication, appropriate consent for publication should be obtained where required.

Research Involving Animals

Where applicable, research involving animals must comply with relevant laws, institutional requirements, and recognized standards for animal welfare. Authors should demonstrate that unnecessary pain, suffering, or distress has been minimized and that appropriate ethical oversight has been obtained.

Data Integrity and Research Transparency

Authors must accurately report their research methods, sources, data, analysis, and findings. Fabrication, falsification, inappropriate manipulation, selective reporting, or misrepresentation of research findings is unacceptable.

Authors should retain appropriate research records and, where ethically and legally permissible, provide supporting information when reasonably requested by the Editor for verification purposes.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence the research, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of their work.

Editors and reviewers must similarly disclose conflicts of interest and should withdraw from the evaluation of a manuscript where their impartiality may reasonably be compromised.

Ethical Review by the Journal

The Editorial Office may request additional information or documentation concerning ethical approval, informed consent, research methods, data sources, or other ethical matters whenever necessary.

Submission of a manuscript does not imply that the journal accepts the ethical validity of the research. Ethical compliance remains the responsibility of the authors.

Right to Reject Manuscripts

The Employee Relations Law Journal reserves the right to reject any manuscript, at any stage of the editorial or publication process, where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the research or manuscript does not comply with applicable ethical standards or involves unethical, unlawful, or seriously questionable conduct.

A manuscript may be rejected for reasons including, but not limited to:

• Failure to obtain required ethical approval
• Failure to obtain required informed consent
• Unethical treatment of human or animal participants
• Fabrication or falsification of research or data
• Plagiarism or other serious forms of academic misconduct
• Unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential or personal information
• Misrepresentation of research methods, results, or sources
• Serious undisclosed conflicts of interest
• Duplicate or fraudulent publication practices
• Any other conduct that compromises the integrity, safety, rights, or dignity of research participants or the scholarly record

Where concerns arise after publication, the journal may take appropriate action, including correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue.

Investigation of Ethical Concerns

When credible ethical concerns are identified, the journal may request clarification or supporting documentation from the authors and, where appropriate, contact relevant institutions, ethics committees, or other responsible bodies.

The journal will handle such concerns as fairly and confidentially as reasonably possible and may follow relevant COPE guidance when investigating suspected research or publication misconduct.

Editorial Responsibility

Editors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are handled in accordance with the journal's ethical and editorial policies. Ethical considerations may be taken into account during initial editorial assessment, peer review, revision, and post-publication evaluation.

The journal's ethical requirements apply independently of the outcome of the peer-review process. Academic merit does not override fundamental ethical requirements.

Commitment to Ethical Publishing

The Employee Relations Law Journal is committed to protecting research participants, supporting responsible scholarly conduct, and maintaining the reliability and integrity of the academic record. All authors, reviewers, Editors, and editorial staff are expected to cooperate in maintaining these standards.

For questions concerning research ethics or ethical approval requirements, please contact the Editorial Office at editor@erljournalonline.com.