Editorial Policies & Ethics
Open Access & Copyright
CACTUS – Journal of Tourism Business, Management and Economics is a Diamond Open Access biannual journal (June and December) and provides immediate open access to all published articles. Content is available online free of charge, with no subscription and no registration required. The journal charges no submission fees and no article processing charges (APCs).
Authors retain copyright and moral rights in their work. By publishing in the journal, authors grant CACTUS a non-exclusive license to publish the article as the Version of Record (VoR), identify itself as the original publisher, and disseminate the VoR and associated metadata.
The Version of Record is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license permits any non-commercial user to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, provided appropriate attribution is given and a link to the license is included and changes (if any) are indicated..
Revenue sources: CACTUS operates as a non-commercial, open-access scholarly journal. The journal charges no submission fees and no article processing charges (APCs). The journal is supported through institutional resources and/or non-commercial subsidies.
Advertising policy: The journal does not accept commercial advertising. If the journal displays non-commercial announcements (e.g., academic events, calls for papers, funding opportunities), these are clearly separated from editorial content and have no connection to editorial decisions, peer review, or publication outcomes.
Direct marketing: All direct marketing activities conducted on behalf of the journal, including the solicitation of manuscripts and calls for papers, are carried out in an ethical, well-targeted, and unobtrusive manner. CACTUS does not engage the use of spam or aggressive promotional tactics. We are committed to ensuring that all information provided about the publisher and the journal is accurate, truthful, and transparent, ensuring that authors and readers are never misled.
Ethics Policy
This journal is committed to maintain principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing. Our publication ethics policies are consistent with the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines.
- Editorial decisions based on merit - decisions are based on scope fit, scholarly significance, methodological rigor, clarity, and ethical compliance
- Fair and unbiased handling - manuscripts are evaluated without discrimination based on authors’ nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, ethnicity, political or religious beliefs
- Confidentiality - editors protect manuscript confidentiality and reviewer identities
- Conflicts of interest - editors disclose competing interests and recuse themselves where a conflict could reasonably be perceived
- Research integrity - editors act on suspected misconduct following the journal’s procedures
- Post-publication stewardship - editors correct the record through corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions where warranted
- Contribute constructively with objective, evidence-based feedback
- Be timely - accept reviews only when able to meet deadlines
- Maintain confidentiality - do not share manuscripts or use content for personal advantage
- Declare conflicts of interest - decline reviews where conflicts exist
- Flag integrity concerns - alert editors to suspected misconduct
- No AI tools - reviewers must not upload manuscripts (or substantial parts) to generative AI systems or external tools that could compromise confidentiality
- Ensure originality - submissions must be original, properly cited, and not under consideration elsewhere
- Meet authorship standards - authorship reflects substantial contribution; all authors approve the final manuscript and take responsibility for integrity
- Disclose competing interests and funding - disclose financial and non-financial interests; specify funders’ roles
- Comply with ethical oversight - confirm approvals/consent where relevant and protect privacy and confidential data.
- Support transparency - provide data availability statements where feasible; retain data/materials for verification when ethically possible
- Correct the record - cooperate with editors on corrections or retractions if needed
CACTUS is committed to the highest ethical standards in scientific research. While we do not automatically require an ethics committee opinion for all submissions, the following guidelines apply to ensure academic integrity.
Authors bear full responsibility for adhering to the ethical norms of their respective institutions and fields. By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that their study was conducted ethically, in compliance with academic standards, and any use of copyrighted instruments, datasets, or third-party materials must be appropriately licensed and cited.
Authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained where relevant and that privacy and confidentiality were protected. Where ethical approval is required, authors must provide the name of the approving body and reference number (or a justified explanation if formal approval was not required).
The Editorial Board reserves the right to request supporting documentation, such as ethics committee approvals or declarations of consent, whenever the nature of the research raises specific ethical concerns.
Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal’s scope, and compliance with ethical standards. The publisher and any sponsoring institution do not influence editorial decisions.
The Editor-in-Chief, Co-Editor-in-Chief and delegated editors have full authority over editorial content and publication decisions. Editors and reviewers must disclose conflicts of interest and recuse themselves when appropriate. The publisher may intervene only on matters of legal risk and scholarly record integrity (e.g., defamation, plagiarism, proven misconduct), without directing acceptance outcomes.
Use of inclusive language: Authors should use language that is respectful and inclusive and avoids bias regarding gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, disability, health status, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. Avoid stereotypes and assumptions. Use person-first language where appropriate and choose neutral formulations (e.g., “participants”, “respondents”, “researchers”) unless the research context requires otherwise.
Jurisdictional claims: The journal maintains a neutral position with respect to territorial disputes. Maps, institutional affiliations, and geographic labels must be accurate and reflect the study context. Editors may request revisions to maps or terminology to ensure neutrality and scholarly appropriateness.
Artificial Intelligence Policy
AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the manuscript, including references and factual claims. Authors using AI tools in manuscript preparation must adhere to the following guidelines:
Not permitted: generating or fabricating substantive content, data and/or results; producing deceptive images/figures; creating citations that were not verified; or using AI in ways that obscure authors’ intellectual contribution.
Permitted: basic utilities like language improvement (grammar, spelling, clarity), formatting assistance and limited support that does not generate novel scholarly claims.
Mandatory AI disclosure: If AI tools were used beyond basic utilities, authors must include an AI Use Declaration section before the References, stating tool name and version, what was used for and how outputs were verified.
Confidentiality and peer review
Reviewers and editors must not upload manuscripts (or substantial parts) to external AI tools that could compromise confidentiality or data protection.
Non-compliance may result in rejection, correction, or retraction, depending on severity.
Editorial Policies and Publication Ethics
To strengthen transparency and trust, the journal encourages research transparency (e.g., publishing raw data, citing open data sources etc). Authors are encouraged to upload this data to specialized platforms and include links in the article. The journal accepts original and innovative papers. Replication of studies is permitted only to the extent that it makes new methodological or theoretical contributions.
Preprint Policy
CACTUS does not consider manuscripts that have been publicly posted as preprints or otherwise made publicly available online prior to submission. The journal also does not allow posting a submitted manuscript as a preprint while it is under review, as this may compromise the integrity and confidentiality of the peer review process. If a submission is found to have been posted as a preprint at any stage, it will be rejected or, if already published, may be subject to editorial action to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
Originality and Prior Publication
Submission implies that the manuscript is original, has not been previously published (in whole or in substantial part), and is not under consideration by another journal or publisher at the time of submission and will not be submitted elsewhere until a final editorial decision is issued by CACTUS. Authors will not publish the Version of Record or a substantially similar version as a journal article with another publisher/journal. Reuse of parts of the work in future publications is permitted only if it constitutes a substantially new work and properly cites the original article.
Violations may result in immediate rejection and further editorial action in line with publication ethics procedures.
Intellectual Property
The journal screens submitted manuscripts for potential plagiarism and redundant publication using the plagiarism detection system provided by Bucharest University of Economic Studies.
Screening is performed prior to peer review and may also be repeated before acceptance when warranted.
CACTUS preserves the Version of Record and its metadata on institutional servers with regular internal backups. The journal aims to strengthen long-term digital preservation by integrating with established preservation solutions (e.g., LOCKSS/CLOCKSS or equivalent services) as part of its ongoing infrastructure development. If DOIs are assigned, they are maintained to support persistent linking to the Version of Record and associated metadata over time.
By submitting to CACTUS, authors confirm that the manuscript is original, that all sources are properly cited, and that the work has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another journal. Authors also confirm that the research complies with applicable ethical standards and that all listed authors approve the submitted version.
Download the required template: Declaration of Originality.
Other Policies
Authors retain copyright and may share their work in accordance with the CC BY-NC 4.0 license and the journal’s publishing agreement, which supports the reuse of content in teaching, theses, and subsequent research with proper attribution.
The Version of Record (VoR) serves as the definitive, citable source for sharing and archiving. To ensure scholarly accuracy and avoid version confusion, the public posting of Accepted Author Manuscripts (AAM) is discouraged as a general rule. Exceptions are granted only for institutional or funder mandates; in such cases, the AAM may be deposited only after the VoR is published, provided it is clearly labeled and includes a direct link to the final DOI.
To protect the integrity of the scholarly record, the VoR should not be uploaded to services that monetize access or otherwise operate in ways inconsistent with the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, nor should any third party be granted exclusive rights to distribute the work.
CACTUS permits automatic deposit of the Version of Record and associated metadata into institutional repositories and other non-commercial archiving services. Repositories and indexing services may harvest metadata and, where applicable, full text via standard protocols (e.g., OAI-PMH) in accordance with the article license.
The journal encourages institutional archiving to support long-term preservation and accessibility.
CACTUS supports machine readability and text and data mining (TDM) for non-commercial research purposes, consistent with the CC BY-NC 4.0 license..
Non-commercial users may:
crawl article pages and metadata using standard web crawlers and indexing tools,
download and process articles for non-commercial TDM, including computational analysis,
use outputs for research, provided proper attribution is given and any reuse respects the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
Commercial TDM or commercial reuse of the content is not permitted under CC BY-NC 4.0 and requires separate permission from the rights holder(s).
Complaints, Appeals & Corrections
We handle complaints about editorial processes, peer review, publication decisions, and post-publication issues in a fair, confidential, and timely manner. Complaints should be submitted in writing to the editorial office and must include the manuscript title/ID (if applicable), a clear description of the issue, and supporting evidence. Complaints are handled confidentially.
Appeals of editorial decisions are considered when authors provide a reasoned, evidence-based argument (e.g., factual errors in reviews, demonstrable reviewer misunderstanding). Appeals are evaluated by an editor not involved in the original decision. The appeal outcome is final. Authors must not attempt to pressure editors or reviewers.
Complaints should be sent to: cactus.journal@ase.ro
The editorial team is committed to responding within a maximum of 30 working days where feasible, ensuring a fair and confidential process. Complex cases may require more time
Post-publication Discussions and Corrections
Handling allegations of misconduct
CACTUS take allegations of misconduct seriously and investigate concerns including (but not limited to) plagiarism, redundant publication, data manipulation, image manipulation, authorship disputes, peer review manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, unethical research.
We follow a documented triage and investigation process:
Triage: initial assessment, evidence capture, and confidentiality measures
Author contact: request for clarification and supporting documentation
Decision: editorial actions may include rejection, withdrawal, correction, expression of concern, retraction, and/or reporting to relevant bodies
Documentation: case log maintained; outcomes communicated with reasons, respecting due process and confidentiality
We may issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions to protect the scholarly record.
CORRECTION (Erratum/Corrigendum) may be issued when honest errors are discovered that do not invalidate the main conclusions. Corrections describe what changed and why, are linked to the original article. Authors are encouraged to report any errors promptly.
EXPRESSIONS OF CONCERN may be issued when there is substantial reason to doubt the integrity or reliability of a publication, but an investigation is ongoing or inconclusive. The notice is linked to the original article and remains publicly available until resolved.
RETRACTION will be issued when there is an evidence of: data fabrication, data recycling in a purportedly original research article, severe plagiarism, double publication, copyright infringement, unreliable findings, unethical research practices, any other practice or act considered potentially harmful to the scientific community. Retraction notices will be clearly linked to the original article, clearly labeled, and remain publicly accessible, and will state the reason and who is retracting the article. Article PDFs may be marked to indicate the record status while preserving access to the historical record.