Editorial policy & originality guidelines

Verbatim copying of more than ten per cent (or a significant passage or section of text) of another person's work without acknowledgement, references or the use of quotation marks.

Improper paraphrasing of another person's work is where more than one sentence within a paragraph or section of text has been changed or sentences have been rearranged without appropriate attribution. Significant improper paraphrasing (more than 10 per cent of a work) without appropriate attribution is treated as seriously as verbatim copying.

Re-use of elements of another person's work, for example a figure, table or paragraph without acknowledgement, references or the use of quotation marks. It is incumbent on the author to obtain the necessary permission to reuse elements of another person's work from the copyright holder.

At Emerald we require that all authors sign a copyright form that clearly states that their submitted work has not been published before. If elements of a work have been previously published in another publication, including an Emerald publication, you, as the author, are required to acknowledge the earlier work, and indicate how the subsequent work differs and builds upon the research and conclusions contained in the previous work. Verbatim copying of an author's own work and paraphrasing is not acceptable, and we recommend that research should only be reused to support new conclusions.

We recommend that authors cite all previous stages of publication and presentation of their ideas that have culminated in the final work, including conference papers, workshop presentations and listserv communications. This will ensure that a complete record of all communication relating to the work is documented.

Original work is published in Emerald journals with only a small number of exceptions. These exceptions include conference papers, archival papers that are republished in an anniversary or commemorative issue, papers that are of particular merit and that have received only limited circulation (for example through a company newsletter). These papers are republished at the discretion of the editor. The original work is fully and correctly attributed and permission from the appropriate copyright holder obtained. Attributions will be added to archive content that has been found to have been republished in an Emerald journal in the past.

References to other publications must be in Harvard style for Emerald journals. All references should be carefully checked for completeness, accuracy and consistency. You should include all author names and initials and give any journal title in full.

When referring to ideas or research by another author, you should cite publications in the text using the first author's name in one of two ways:

• The value of individualism emphasises an 'I' orientation (Wheeler, 2002), or
• Wheeler (2002) states that “the value of individualism emphasises an 'I' orientation”

When copying part of a sentence verbatim, always use quotation marks and correctly cite the original author. For example:

• Wheeler (2002) states that "the value of individualism emphasizes an 'I' orientation"

When copying a section of text verbatim, always indent the paragraph. For example:

Wheeler (2002) asserts that:

Masculinity/femininity is another important value that relates to differences between cultures. In strongly masculine societies, the dominant values in society are material success and progress, and men are supposed to be assertive, ambitious, and tough. In feminine societies, the dominant values are caring for others, and people and warm relationships are important.

If no author is given, use 'Anon'.

At the end of the paper a reference list in alphabetical order should be supplied using the structure outlined:

• For books: surname, initials, (year), title of book, publisher, place of publication, e.g. Fallbright, A. and Khan, G. (2001), Competing Strategies, Outhouse Press, Rochester.
• For book chapters: surname, initials, (year), "chapter title", editor's surname, initials, title of book, publisher, place of publication, pages, e.g. Bessley, M. and Wilson, P. (1999), "Marketing for the production manager", in Levicki, J. (Ed.), Taking the Blinkers off Managers, Broom Relm, London, pp.29-33.
• For journals: surname, initials, (year), "title of article", journal name, volume, number, pages, e.g. Greenwald, E. (2000), "Empowered to serve", Management Decision, Vol. 33 No. 5, pp. 6-10.
• For conference proceedings: treat in the same way that you would a journal article, but insert the full conference title and dates where the journal title would normally appear.
• For websites: surname, initials (year), "title of cited work", available at: website link (accessed on date), e.g. Smith, R. (2004), "Managerial roles and coping responses", available at www.managerial.roles.coping.responses (accessed 29th June 2005).

If an author name is not given, begin with the title of the cited work.

We seek to uphold academic integrity and to protect authors' moral rights. We take all cases of plagiarism very seriously. We are also aware of the potential impact an allegation of plagiarism can have on a researcher's career. Therefore, we have procedures in place to deal with alleged cases of plagiarism.

In order for us to take an unbiased approach, we investigate each case thoroughly, seeking clarification from all affected parties. We were one of the first academic publishers to adopt the iParadigms software (iThenticate) to help inform us when an alleged case of plagiarism is brought to our attention.

If we are approached by a third party with an allegation of plagiarism, we would always seek a response from the original author(s) or copyright holder(s) before we decide on a course of action. We will not be influenced by other parties and will form our decisions in an unbiased and objective manner.

Emerald is not obliged to discuss individual cases of alleged plagiarism with third parties. We reserve the right not to proceed with a case if the complainant presents a false name or affiliation or acts in an inappropriate or threatening manner towards Emerald editors and staff.