Editorial Policy

Aims and Scope

 TEC Empresarial is an open access scholarly quarterly journal owned and published by the School of Business Administration at Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC) that publishes scientific research on management and business economics. TEC Empresarial is a double-blinded peer-review journal that includes within its scope areas of management related to entrepreneurship, strategic management, and innovation as well as different aspects of business related to finance, accounting, economics, marketing and operations. We welcome scientific studies at different levels of analysis: individuals, groups of individuals, organizations, and territories. The journal is committed to publishing studies that make use of a diverse range of research methods and we welcome original research using statistical techniques, qualitative data, experiments (field or lab), non-parametric methods, and mathematical models.

 By disseminating scientific studies to a broad audience of academics, researchers, policy makers, and business practitioners, TEC Empresarial seeks to provide a communication forum that contributes to a better understanding of management and business economics. Manuscripts accepted for publication at TEC Empresarial must be original, must meet the high standards of rigor set by the journal, and must offer a relevant contribution to the communities of management and business economics scholars, practitioners, and policy makers.

 We encourage submissions in all areas of management and business economics, including:

•  Accounting
•  Business operations
•  Economics
•  Entrepreneurship
•  Experimental economics
•  Finance
•  Information systems and business applications
•  Innovation
•  Internationalization
•  Knowledge management
•  Marketing
•  Strategic management
•  Talent management

 

Double-blind peer-review process

Manuscripts submitted for eventual publication to TEC Empresarial must be scientific work, original, unpublished and must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. When an article is received, the Editor-in-Chief conducts a first relevance-check in order to ensure that the work meets the format and quality standards of the journal. If the manuscript passes this first filter, the work is sent to two external academic experts for review and to decide anonymously (double blind) if the study should be published in the journal, if the work needs changes or if the manuscript should be rejected. In case of discrepancies between the reviewers, the editorial committee decides. The process can take maximum twelve weeks.

 

Publication and issues per year

TEC Empresarial is a quarterly publication and volume issues are published in January, May and September. Authors can submit their manuscripts through the platform available at the journal’s website.

 

Manuscript formatting and style rules are available at the ‘Instructions for authors’ section. Manuscript can be submitted at anytime, and for studies accepted for publication authors will be informed about the official publication date in the journal.

 

Open Access policy

In line with the objective of the journal of disseminating knowledge by making research openly (and free of charge) available to scholars, practitioners, policy makers and the general public, the electronic version of TEC Empresarial is fully available (Open Access). Authors interested in publishing their work in TEC Empresarial are not asked to pay any submission fee (article processing or publication). The contents are available in full text and without restrictions.

 

Evaluation criteria for articles submitted to TEC Empresarial

Manuscripts submission does not imply that the study is accepted for publication in the journal. The evaluation process includes elements of format, content as well as originality, rigor and relevance. Manuscript submitted to TEC Empresarial should be: a) well written, clear and understandable; b) offer a new contribution within the fields of management or economics by addressing new research questions or existing ones that add value to the literature; and c) present a relevant study to the practice of business management or economics. All manuscript are expected to include high quality sections, typically found in scholarly publications, such as the introduction; a solid theoretical framework supported by existing (relevant) work in the topic; a section that clearly describes the methodological design; a results section; a discussion of the results in line with the objectives of the study; and a concluding section that includes conclusions, pertinent recommendations as well as proposals for future lines of research.

 

The use of AI-assisted technologies in writing for TEC Empresarial

AI authorship

This policy seeks to provide greater transparency and guidance to authors, reviewers, readers, and editors in relation to AI-assisted technologies.

 

Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, do not currently satisfy the authorship criteria of TEC Empresarial. Notably, an attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the work, which cannot be effectively applied to LLMs.

 

Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies and a statement will appear in the published work. Declaring the use of these technologies supports transparency and trust between authors, readers, reviewers, and editors and facilitates compliance with the terms of use of the relevant tool or technology. The use of LLMs should be properly documented in the Methods section of the manuscript or in a suitable alternative section if the document does not include a Methods section.

 

We expect rapid developments in this field in the near future, so we will therefore review this policy regularly and adapt it if necessary.

Generative AI images

The fast developments in generative AI image creation have resulted in novel legal copyright and research integrity issues. TEC Empresarial strictly follows existing copyright law and best practices regarding publication ethics.

 

TEC Empresarial does not permit the use of AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in submitted manuscripts. This includes enhancing, obscuring, moving, removing, or introducing a specific feature within an image or figure. Adjustments of brightness or color balance are acceptable if they do not obscure or eliminate any information in the original image.

 

The only exception is the use of AI or AI-assisted tools as part of the research design or research methods (e.g., use of generative AI imaging tools to produce or interpret the underlying research data, for example in the field of economic geography or biomedicine). If this is done, such use must be described in great detail in the methods section.

Guidelines for Ethical Behavior in Publishing

TEC Empresarial, owned and published by the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (ITCR), is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal committed to publishing original research that makes significant advances within and beyond the fields of management and economics. Manuscripts published in TEC Empresarial are Open Access and contributing authors are not asked to pay any publication fee. All parties involved in publishing an article in this journal (editors, peer reviewers, authors, and publisher) must follow guidelines for ethical behavior. In general, editors and reviewers must maintain objectivity and confidentiality; authors must be honest and disclose their sources and funders. More precisely, to assure high-quality publications, public trust in scientific findings, and proper credit for ideas and results, ethical standards for publication in TEC Empresarial include but are not limited to the following:

 

1) General Responsibilities of Editors

1.1) Appointment of Editors: Department Editors are appointed by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal. Department editors serve at the will of the Editor-in-Chief, and any concerns regarding their conduct should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief.

1.2) Journal Policies: The Editor-in-chief and the Department Editor may be guided by the policies of the journal regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief will continually assess the effects of journal policies on author and reviewer behavior, revising policies as required to encouraging responsible behavior and discouraging misconduct.

1.3) Publication Decisions: Based on the double-blind peer review of a manuscript, the Editor-in-Chief and the Department Editor are responsible for determining which manuscripts are best suited for publication.

1.4) Double-Blind Peer Review: Identifying information will be entirely removed from submitted manuscripts so that reviewers cannot access any information about authors, and vice versa. Reviewer comments to the editors are strictly confidential, and reviewer comments to authors will be made anonymous. The names of the reviewers will be known only to the Editor-in-Chief, Department Editor, and editorial staff and will remain strictly confidential to authors and other reviewers. The names of the authors will be known only to the Editor-in-Chief, Department Editor, and editorial staff and will remain strictly confidential to reviewers.

1.5) Editorial Integrity: Decisions to accept or reject a manuscript for publication are based on importance, originality, clarity, and the study’s validity and relevance to the journal’s editorial statement. TEC Empresarial will never consider an author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

1.6) Confidentiality: The Editor-in-Chief, Department Editor, and editorial staff will not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the authors, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher.

1.7) Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: To ensure accountability and transparency, the Editor-in-Chief will establish systems for managing conflicts of interest for him- or herself, staff, authors, reviewers, and editorial board members.

 

2) General Responsibilities of Reviewers

2.1) Punctuality: Referees who feel unqualified to review an assigned manuscript or unable to provide a review in due time should notify the Editor-in-Chief or Department Editor to be excused from the review process.

2.2) Confidentiality: Private information or ideas obtained through double-blind peer review must be kept strictly confidential. Manuscripts submitted to TEC Empresarial must be treated as confidential documents. Information contained in a submitted manuscript must not be disclosed to or discussed with others without written permission of the Editor-in-Chief or Department Editor.

2.3) Standards of Objectivity: Review reports must not contain personal criticism of authors. Reviewers should clearly express their views with supporting arguments, and review reports should be conducted objectively and constructively.

2.4) Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Reviewers must notify promptly the Editor-in-Chief or Department Editor if any substantial similarity between the submitted manuscript and any other published works is detected. Editors will refer to the journal’s policies regarding plagiarism to react to accusations of plagiarism.

2.5) Conflict of Interest: If a referee detects a conflict of interest with an assigned manuscript, the Editor-in-Chief or Department Editor must be notified promptly to be excused from the review process.

 

3) General Responsibilities of Authors

3.1) Manuscript Standards: Authors submitting their original manuscripts should present an accurate description of the work as well as an objective discussion of its significance to the literature. All data used in the article should be real and authentic and should be presented accurately. A manuscript should contain sufficient detail to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior.

3.2) Authorship: Authorship must be limited to those who have made a contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the study, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

3.3) Corresponding Author: The corresponding author is the author responsible for communicating with the journal. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors are included on the manuscript, and that they have approved the final version of the study and have agreed to its submission for publication.

3.4) Peer Review: Peer review is the foundational building block of the journal publication process. By submitting a manuscript, an author agrees to respond timely and appropriately to the comments raised by the reviewers.

3.5) Originality and Plagiarism: In every case, authors must inform Editors and reviewers when any portion of a manuscript is based heavily on previous work. It is the responsibility of the author both to cite previous work, including his or her own, and to provide an indication of the extent to which a manuscript depends on this work. The Editor-in-Chief will refer to the journal’s policies regarding plagiarism to identify and react to accusations of plagiarism.

3.6) Acknowledgments: Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Also, proper acknowledgment of the work of others must be indicated in the manuscript.

3.7) Manipulation of Citations: Adding citations to a submitted manuscript with the primary objective of increasing the number of citations to a given study or to articles published in a particular journal constitutes unethical behavior.

3.7) Falsification and Fabrication: The fabrication of numerical or experimental data or study results in a submitted manuscript constitutes unethical behavior.

3.8) Acknowledgment of Funding Sources: Authors should acknowledge in the manuscript all funding sources that supported the research. In doing so, authors should follow the publishing guidelines outlined by their funding organizations.

3.9) Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose all sources that supported the study as well as any conflict of interest that can influence the results.

3.10) Fundamental Errors in Published Works: Authors should notify the Editor-in-Chief or Department Editor when a significant error or inaccuracy is detected in a published work so that the journal can correct the paper.

  

4) General Responsibilities of the Publisher

4.1) The Editor-in-chief of TEC Empresarial is responsible for the editorial content and for managing all content-related processes.

4.2) The digital preservation policy of TEC Empresarial ensures the continued accessibility of the journal's digital content by archiving all articles published in the journal in the server managed by the Departamento de Administración de Tecnologías de Información y Comunicaciones (DATIC), Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (ITCR). The DATIC provides backups for the entire network of virtual servers at ITCR. TEC Empresarial is digitally supported by the institutional repository.

4.3) All manuscripts submitted for evaluation within TEC Empresarial will be subject to anti-plagiarism scrutiny using the Turnitin tool in order to ensure that all articles are original contributions that have not been published elsewhere.

4.4) The publisher is responsible for releasing corrections when a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered in a published work.

4.5) General supervision of TEC Empresarial is delegated to the Editor-in-chief with the advice of the journal’s field editors.

 

5) Sanctions

5.1) If documented violations of any of these ethical guidelines are detected, the Editor-in-Chief of TEC Empresarial (acting independently or in consultation with Department Editors) may: a) reject the infringing manuscript immediately, b) prohibit the author(s) from submitting new manuscripts to TEC Empresarial, and c) prohibit the author(s) from serving on the editorial board of TEC Empresarial.

 

Editorial policies and guidelines for ethical publication were updated and approved in September 2021.

 

 

 

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