Modern Finance (MF) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and supporting ethical research practices and adheres to the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers. The journal editors follow the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors and refer reviewers to the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers as appropriate. Misconduct allegations are investigated per the COPE Best Practice Guidelines as far as is practicable.

Duties of the MF Editors

• Fair play. Submitted manuscripts are evaluated for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
• Confidentiality of submissions: The Editor-in-Chief and any editorial staff do not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
• Disclosure and conflicts of interest. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript are not used in Editor's or Reviewers' own research without the explicit written consent of the author(s).
• Publication decisions. The Editor-in-Chief of MF is responsible for deciding which submitted articles should be published. The Editor-in-Chief may be guided by the policies of the journal's Editorial Board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
• Editorial impartiality: Editorial team members who are authors and/or co-authors of a submitted manuscript are excluded from the internal and external review process for that manuscript.

• Scientific integrity: Members of the editorial team are committed to maintaining the highest standards of scientific integrity in published work. In support of this goal, they may make appropriate corrections to published content. In cases of suspected unethical practices—such as plagiarism or data falsification—the editorial team reserves the right to retract the work from publication.

The editorial team is prepared to publish any necessary corrections, explanations, or apologies to maintain accuracy and integrity in the journal’s publications.

Duties of peer reviewers.

• Contribution to editorial decisions. Peer review assists the Editor-in-Chief in making editorial decisions and, through the editorial communication with the author, may also assist the author in improving the manuscript.
• Any invited referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript submitted to MF or knows its timely review will be impossible should immediately notify the Editor-in-Chief so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.
• Any manuscripts received by MF for review are treated as confidential documents. They are not shown or discussed with others except if authorized by the Editor-in-Chief.
• Standards of objectivity. Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is unacceptable. Referees should express their views clearly with appropriate supporting arguments.
• Acknowledgment of sources. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that the authors have not cited. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the MF Editor any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published data they have personal knowledge.
• Disclosure and conflict of interest. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider evaluating manuscripts with conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any authors, companies, or institutions connected to the submission.

Duties of authors

• Reporting standards. Authors reporting results of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the manuscript. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
• Originality and Plagiarism. The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, they are responsible for ensuring that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
• Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publications. An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Parallel submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
• Acknowledgment of sources. Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should also cite publications that have influenced the nature of the reported work.
• Authorship of a manuscript. Authorship should be limited to those who have contributed significantly to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where others have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be named in an Acknowledgement section. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors (according to the above definition) and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the author list of the manuscript and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
• Disclosure and conflicts of interest. All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or their interpretation of the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
• Fundamental errors in published works. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, the author must promptly notify the journal's Editor-in-Chief and cooperate with them to retract the paper or publish an appropriate erratum.
• Data availability and study registration. MF encourages authors to support transparency and reproducibility by including a data availability statement with their submissions. Authors are encouraged to share data in recognized repositories or provide access to data upon request, stating any limitations due to confidentiality or proprietary concerns. Additionally, for study designs where preregistration is feasible and enhances research transparency—such as experimental or survey-based finance studies—authors are encouraged to provide registration details.
• Ethical oversight: Modern Finance is committed to ethical oversight in research and publication. Authors must ensure confidentiality and obtain consent when publishing data that could identify individuals or institutions. Studies involving human subjects, such as surveys or behavioral finance experiments, must follow ethical research protocols, including obtaining informed consent and protecting participant privacy.  

Publisher's duties and confirmation

In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the MF Editor-in-Chief, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum or, in the most severe cases, the complete retraction of the affected work.

The publisher is committed to providing the editorial team with substantive feedback regarding the journal, its editorial practices, and the publisher’s own role. The publisher also agrees to report any instance of ethical misconduct to COPE.

Scientific Misconduct and Breaches of Publication Ethics

Scientific misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism by the authors.

Breaches of publication ethics include failure to reveal financial conflicts of interest; omitting a deserving author or adding a non-contributing author; misrepresenting publication status in the reference list (erroneously claiming that a paper is "in press"); self-plagiarism without attribution; and duplicate or redundant publication.

Editorial action should be expected in breaches of publication ethics and cases of scientific misconduct. MF has adopted the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) principles. Any and all authors submitting a manuscript to MF agree to adhere to the ethical guidelines contained in this website and acknowledge that they are aware of the consequences that may result following breaches of publication ethics. Consequences include notification of the breach in the journal, retraction of published articles, notification of institutional authorities, subsequent institutional investigation, and loss of privileges of publishing in the journal.

A redundant or duplicate publication is a publication of data, tables, figures, or any other content that substantially overlaps with other material published previously or to be published in the future. This includes work published by others or any author of the manuscript submitted to MF. When submitting a paper, the corresponding author must make a full statement to the Editor-in-Chief in the cover letter about all submissions and previous reports (in any language) that could be regarded as redundant or duplicate publications of the same or very similar work. The corresponding author is also responsible for alerting the Editor-in-Chief if the work includes subjects about which a previous report has been published or about a manuscript that is under review by, submitted to, in press at, or to be submitted to, or published in another journal in the future. Any such work must be referred to and referenced in the new paper, and a copy of the material should be included with the submission as a supplemental file. Abstracts presented at scientific meetings (with no press releases and not discussed in detail at a symposium) are not considered pre-published material.

The plagiarism detection in MF is governed by a separate Plagiarism Policy, available here.

Handling allegations of misconduct

Modern Finance is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, whether they occur before or after publication. If you have concerns about potential misconduct, please contact the Editor-in-Chief or the editorial office at contact@mf-journal.com. All reports, including those from whistleblowers, will be treated confidentially and investigated thoroughly. Verified cases of misconduct may lead to retraction, notification of institutional authorities, and loss of privileges of publishing in MF.

By incorporating this section, Modern Finance will provide a transparent and comprehensive process for addressing allegations of misconduct, aligning with COPE's standards.

Editorial complaints

Authors or others with complaints about any aspect of their interaction with Modern Finance—including concerns related to journal staff, the editorial board, or the publisher—should email the Editor-in-Chief adam.zaremba@ue.poznan.pl and/or contact@mf-journal.com. The Editor-in-Chief will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within seven days and will provide a clear outline of the procedure for addressing the issue. Efforts will be made to resolve complaints within 60 days.

If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome, they may request further escalation in line with Modern Finance’s commitment to COPE guidelines. In cases involving significant ethical concerns, an independent review may be arranged to ensure impartiality and fairness.