This article employs an integrated methodology that combines quantitative and qualitative research, unifies theory and practice, and reconciles facts with values, to conduct an in-depth analysis of the issues pertaining to journal quality. It investigates the phenomena of ethical misconduct within these quality problems and explores the underlying causes for such ethical lapses among publishing stakeholders. Consequently, it offers reflections on pathways for constructing moral norms for these entities. Journal quality encompasses four key dimensions: content, editing and proofreading, publication format, and printing quality. A deficiency in any of these areas can result in substandard journal quality. Underlying these quality issues are often instances of ethical misconduct by publishing stakeholders. Content quality problems reflect scientific integrity breaches and responsibility shirking; editing and proofreading issues indicate weakened political awareness and responsibility dependency; while problems with publication format and printing quality point to profit-driven motives and the neglect of responsibility. Such ethical misconduct can significantly impact journal quality, potentially leading to the publication of articles containing errors in political direction, public opinion guidance, value orientation, or numerous textual inaccuracies. The publishing stakeholders involved in these ethical issues primarily include authors, peer reviewers, editors-in-chief, editors, proofreaders, designers, and printers. Analyzing the reasons behind these ethical failures is crucial for establishing practical moral norms for publishing stakeholders. The primary causes of ethical misconduct among publishing stakeholders include institutional gaps, external environmental pressures, challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), and conflicts in moral decision-making. Institutional norms that are ambiguous and weakly enforced, the utilitarian orientation and a crisis of trust induced by environmental pressures, and the challenges of emerging AI technologies leading to misuse and blurred ethical boundaries are primarily objective factors. Conversely, subjective factors predominantly involve conflicts in moral decision-making, including the stakeholders' cognitive biases regarding their roles, conflicts in behavioral motivations, and the weakening of moral self-discipline. Establishing comprehensive moral norms for publishing stakeholders and facilitating their internalization into self-regulatory practices are pivotal to enhancing journal quality. The construction of moral norms for publishing stakeholders should, first and foremost, establish a solid ethical foundation by clarifying the core principles and value orientations of these norms. The formulation of such norms must align with the core socialist values, conform to fundamental professional ethics in China, and promote the nation' s fine traditional virtues. Second, institutional support must be strengthened through enhanced heteronomous regulations and external constraints. This requires concerted efforts from various actors within the publishing industry, including national and provincial publishing administration departments, the supervising and sponsoring institutions of journals, publishing units, authors' institutions, and industry associations. Third, it is essential to stimulate endogenous motivation by fostering the self-cultivation of moral autonomy and cultural consciousness among publishing stakeholders. This involves a commitment to continuous learning and self-renewal, enhancement of professional dedication and personal integrity, practice of the unity of knowledge and action, and adherence to the principle that literature should convey truth and morality. Through these approaches, an organic unity of external regulation and internal self-discipline can be achieved, thereby promoting the sustained improvement of journal quality.