Author assurance

By submitting to JEBSS, the corresponding author confirms on behalf of all authors that the work is original, accurately reported, lawfully prepared, not simultaneously submitted elsewhere, and approved by every listed author. These assurances continue after publication.

Originality and source use

• Quote exact words and cite the source; paraphrasing still requires citation.
• Do not reuse substantial text, data, figures or arguments from earlier work without disclosure, citation and permission where required.
• Disclose closely related papers and provide copies if requested.
• Ensure that references exist, support the relevant claim and have not been generated or included without verification.

Authorship and contributions

Authorship is reserved for people who made a substantial intellectual contribution, approved the final submission and agree to accountability. Administrative support, funding alone, senior status or general supervision does not automatically qualify a person as an author. Other support should be acknowledged with permission.

Authors should submit a CRediT contribution statement. The taxonomy describes roles such as conceptualisation, methodology, investigation, data curation, formal analysis, software, visualisation, funding acquisition, supervision, project administration, writing - original draft, and writing - review and editing.

Ethical approval and consent

Research with human participants, identifiable information, sensitive communities, animals or restricted materials must identify the appropriate approval or waiver and explain consent procedures. Authors must not assume that publication consent follows automatically from research participation. Where a person could be identified, specific publication consent may be necessary.

Data and materials

Include a data-availability statement. Deposit data, code, instruments and protocols in a trustworthy repository when lawful and appropriate. If access is restricted, state why and describe any controlled route through which qualified researchers may request access. Do not publicly release material that violates consent, confidentiality, security, ownership or law.

Funding and conflicts

Disclose all funding and material support and describe any funder role in design, collection, analysis, interpretation, writing or the decision to submit. Declare financial and non-financial relationships that a reasonable reader might consider relevant. If there are no conflicts, state: “The authors declare no competing interests.”

Artificial intelligence declaration

AI tools cannot be authors. Authors who use generative AI substantively must identify the tool, version where known, purpose and extent of use in a transparent statement. Authors remain responsible for every sentence, citation, analysis, image and conclusion. Confidential, personal, copyrighted or restricted material must not be entered into a tool without lawful authority and appropriate safeguards.

Errors and cooperation

Authors must respond honestly to editorial questions, preserve relevant records and cooperate with legitimate integrity reviews. A material error discovered during review or after publication must be reported promptly. Corrective action is not automatically evidence of misconduct; transparent correction is part of responsible scholarship.

Required declarations checklist

• Author contributions (CRediT where applicable).
• Funding and funder role.
• Competing interests.
• Ethics approval or waiver and consent.
• Data and materials availability.
• Acknowledgements with consent.
• Preprint or related-work disclosure.
• Generative AI use or a statement that no reportable use occurred.