Journal Policy

The Indonesian Anti-Corruption Studies (IACS) is a peer-reviewed, open access academic journal dedicated to advancing rigorous and interdisciplinary scholarship on corruption, anti-corruption, integrity, transparency, accountability, and governance, with a primary focus on Indonesia and relevant comparative and international contexts.

IACS is committed to maintaining high standards of academic quality, publication ethics, research integrity, editorial independence, transparency, and responsible scholarly communication.

The journal's policies are developed with reference to internationally recognized principles and best practices in scholarly publishing, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and other recognized international standards and organizations.

1. Journal Identity and Scope

IACS publishes scholarly research addressing the causes, forms, consequences, prevention, detection, investigation, enforcement, and institutional responses to corruption.

The journal welcomes research from fields including:

  • law and legal studies;

  • political science;

  • public administration;

  • public policy;

  • economics;

  • sociology;

  • criminology;

  • international relations;

  • information technology;

  • governance and institutional studies; and

  • related interdisciplinary fields.

The journal's geographic focus is primarily Indonesia, while comparative, regional, and international studies are welcomed where they provide meaningful scholarly relevance to corruption and anti-corruption studies.

2. Types of Publications

IACS publishes the following types of scholarly contributions:

2.1 Original Research Articles

Original Research Articles present original theoretical, doctrinal, empirical, socio-legal, comparative, or interdisciplinary research.

These articles should demonstrate a clear research problem or question, appropriate methodology, critical engagement with relevant literature, substantive analysis, and a meaningful scholarly contribution.

2.2 Review Articles

Review Articles provide critical and analytical syntheses of existing scholarship on significant issues in corruption and anti-corruption studies.

A review article should go beyond descriptive summarization by identifying major debates, developments, research gaps, methodological issues, or emerging directions in the field.

2.3 Conceptual and Theoretical Articles

Conceptual and Theoretical Articles develop, refine, or critically examine theories, concepts, analytical frameworks, or approaches relevant to corruption and anti-corruption research.

Such articles should demonstrate clear theoretical significance and contribute to scholarly debate.

2.4 Comparative Research Articles

IACS welcomes comparative research examining anti-corruption laws, policies, institutions, governance systems, and practices across jurisdictions.

Comparative studies should have a clear analytical rationale and demonstrate relevance to the journal's broader field of inquiry.

2.5 Policy and Governance Studies

The journal welcomes rigorous policy-oriented research that evaluates anti-corruption policies, institutional reforms, governance mechanisms, public financial management, transparency, accountability, and integrity systems.

Policy-oriented manuscripts must provide substantive academic analysis and should not be presented solely as advocacy or opinion pieces.

2.6 Special Issue Articles

IACS may publish Special Issues addressing specific themes, emerging developments, or interdisciplinary debates within corruption and anti-corruption studies.

Articles submitted to Special Issues are subject to the same standards of editorial screening, peer review, research integrity, and publication ethics as articles submitted to regular issues.

3. Editorial and Peer Review Policy

IACS uses a double-anonymous peer review process.

Manuscripts normally undergo:

Submission → Initial Editorial Screening → Similarity/Originality Check → Double-Anonymous Peer Review → Revision → Editorial Decision → Copyediting and Production → Publication

Each eligible research manuscript is normally evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise.

Reviewer recommendations are advisory. The final editorial decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief or designated Editor.

4. Publication Frequency

IACS is published quarterly, with regular issues released in:

  • March

  • June

  • September

  • December

The journal may publish Special Issues in addition to its regular quarterly issues.

Special Issues may follow a separate publication schedule determined by the Editorial Team and are subject to the journal's normal editorial and peer review standards.

5. Open Access Policy

IACS is a fully open access journal.

All published articles are made immediately and freely accessible online without subscription or registration requirements.

Readers may access, read, download, share, and reuse published articles in accordance with the applicable Creative Commons license.

6. Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain full copyright of their published articles without restriction.

Copyright is not transferred to IACS as a condition of publication.

All articles published by IACS are distributed under the:

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

The license permits users to share, copy, redistribute, adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the published material, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate attribution is given and the terms of the license are followed.

7. Article Processing Charge

IACS charges an Article Processing Charge (APC) of IDR 5,000,000 (five million Indonesian Rupiah) per accepted article.

There is no submission fee.

The APC is charged only after formal acceptance of a manuscript.

Payment of the APC does not influence peer review or editorial decisions and does not guarantee publication.

Editorial decisions must remain independent from financial considerations, consistent with internationally recognized publication ethics principles concerning author fees and editorial independence.

8. Submission and Originality

Manuscripts submitted to IACS must:

  • be original;

  • not have been previously published in substantially the same form;

  • not be simultaneously under consideration by another journal;

  • comply with the journal's Author Guidelines;

  • appropriately acknowledge all sources;

  • comply with applicable research ethics requirements; and

  • meet the journal's standards of academic integrity.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their submissions.

9. Anti-Plagiarism Policy

IACS has a strict policy against plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabrication, falsification, inappropriate text recycling, citation manipulation, and other forms of research or publication misconduct.

Submitted manuscripts may undergo similarity screening.

A similarity percentage is not treated as an automatic determination of plagiarism. The Editorial Team assesses the nature, context, extent, and attribution of identified similarities.

Serious cases of plagiarism or other misconduct may result in rejection, withdrawal, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or referral to the relevant institution or authority.

10. Publication Ethics

IACS is committed to responsible and ethical scholarly publishing.

The journal follows internationally recognized publication ethics principles, including relevant COPE Core Practices, guidance, and procedures, together with other applicable international standards.

Authors, reviewers, editors, Guest Editors, and editorial staff are expected to maintain:

  • honesty;

  • transparency;

  • confidentiality;

  • accountability;

  • fairness;

  • originality;

  • responsible authorship;

  • appropriate disclosure of conflicts of interest; and

  • protection of the scholarly record.

11. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must reflect substantial intellectual or scholarly contribution to the research and manuscript.

All authors must approve the final manuscript and accept responsibility for the integrity of the work.

Guest, honorary, gift, and ghost authorship are not permitted.

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not qualify for authorship should be appropriately acknowledged.

Changes to authorship after submission require appropriate justification and agreement from all affected authors and the Editorial Team.

12. Research Ethics

Research involving human participants, personal data, vulnerable populations, confidential information, or other ethically sensitive materials must comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

Where required, authors must obtain appropriate ethics approval and informed consent.

Research involving corruption investigations, whistleblowers, victims, informants, public officials, or other sensitive participants must take appropriate measures to protect confidentiality, privacy, dignity, and safety.

13. Conflict of Interest

Authors, reviewers, editors, and Guest Editors must disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest.

Individuals with a significant conflict of interest should not participate in the editorial or peer review decision concerning the relevant manuscript.

Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly merit and must not be influenced by personal, political, institutional, financial, or other inappropriate considerations.

14. Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose financial or other substantive support received for the research.

Where no external funding was received, authors should provide an appropriate declaration.

Funding disclosures should identify the relevant funding organization and, where applicable, describe the funder's role in the research.

15. Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy

IACS recognizes that generative artificial intelligence and other AI-assisted technologies may be used in scholarly research and manuscript preparation. However, their use must not compromise academic integrity, originality, confidentiality, transparency, or human accountability.

15.1 AI Cannot Be an Author

Generative AI systems, chatbots, large language models, image generators, or other AI-assisted technologies cannot be listed as authors or co-authors.

Authorship requires human responsibility and accountability for the accuracy, integrity, originality, and ethical conduct of the published work. This principle is consistent with current international scholarly publishing guidance.

15.2 Permitted Use by Authors

Authors may use AI-assisted tools for limited purposes such as:

  • language and grammar improvement;

  • spelling and proofreading;

  • translation assistance;

  • formatting assistance;

  • brainstorming or ideation; and

  • other legitimate research-support activities.

However, authors remain fully responsible for the final manuscript.

AI-generated content must be critically reviewed, fact-checked, and appropriately revised by the authors.

15.3 Disclosure of AI Use

Authors must disclose material use of AI-assisted technologies in the preparation of a manuscript.

The disclosure should identify:

  • the AI tool or system used;

  • the purpose for which it was used; and

  • the extent or nature of its contribution.

For example, where AI is used for language editing, authors may state:

“The authors used [name of AI tool] for language and grammatical assistance. The authors reviewed and verified all AI-assisted content and remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the manuscript.”

Where AI is used for data analysis, data processing, image generation, coding, methodological procedures, or other substantive research activities, the use should be described in the appropriate methodological or disclosure section.

Current international guidance recommends disclosure of AI use and emphasizes that human authors remain responsible for AI-assisted material.

15.4 AI and Plagiarism

Authors are responsible for ensuring that AI-assisted content does not contain plagiarism, unattributed material, fabricated citations, inaccurate quotations, or improperly reproduced copyrighted content.

AI-generated references and legal authorities must be independently verified before submission.

AI output must not be treated as a substitute for consulting and citing the original scholarly or legal source.

15.5 AI and Peer Review

Reviewers must protect the confidentiality of manuscripts under review.

Reviewers must not upload unpublished manuscripts, reviewer reports, or confidential manuscript content into generative AI systems or other external AI tools where confidentiality cannot be assured.

Reviewers who intend to use AI assistance in preparing a review must comply with the journal's instructions and disclose such use to the Editor where required.

This approach reflects current international guidance that treats submitted manuscripts as confidential communications and places strict limits on uploading them to AI systems.

15.6 AI and Editorial Work

Editors and editorial staff must maintain manuscript confidentiality and research integrity when using AI-assisted technologies.

AI tools must not be used in ways that compromise confidential manuscript information, intellectual property, reviewer identities, or editorial decision-making.

Where AI-assisted technologies are used by the journal for editorial or production purposes, the journal will maintain appropriate human oversight and responsibility.

15.7 Undisclosed AI Use

Failure to disclose material AI use may constitute a breach of the journal's publication ethics requirements where disclosure is required.

If undisclosed AI use is discovered, the Editorial Team may request clarification, require a correction or disclosure, or take other appropriate action depending on the circumstances.

16. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Issues

IACS is committed to preserving the integrity of the scholarly record.

Where significant errors or ethical problems are identified after publication, the journal may issue:

  • corrections;

  • errata or corrigenda;

  • expressions of concern; or

  • retractions.

The appropriate action will depend on the nature and seriousness of the issue.

Retractions and corrections will be clearly identified and linked to the affected article whenever possible.

17. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit appeals concerning editorial decisions where there are substantive grounds indicating a significant procedural error, factual misunderstanding, conflict of interest, or breach of the journal's stated procedures.

Complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer review, authorship, plagiarism, research misconduct, or other ethical matters may be submitted to the Editorial Office.

Complaints and appeals will be handled fairly and confidentially.

18. Digital Archiving and Repository Deposit

IACS is committed to the long-term preservation and accessibility of its published scholarly content.

Authors retain copyright and may deposit and share the published Version of Record in appropriate institutional, subject, or other lawful repositories in accordance with the CC BY 4.0 license.

No embargo is imposed by IACS on the self-archiving of published articles.

19. Data and Research Materials

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to make supporting research data, materials, documents, or other relevant resources available in recognized repositories.

Where data cannot be publicly shared because of privacy, confidentiality, ethical, legal, security, or intellectual property restrictions, authors should provide an appropriate explanation.

20. Editorial Independence

IACS maintains editorial independence from financial, political, institutional, or commercial interests.

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly quality, originality, relevance, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, and contribution to the field.

Payment of an APC does not guarantee acceptance or publication.

Editors and reviewers must disclose and appropriately manage conflicts of interest.

21. Policy Review

The Editorial Team periodically reviews the journal's policies to ensure continued alignment with developments in scholarly publishing, research integrity, open access, artificial intelligence, and international publication ethics.

The journal may revise its policies when necessary and will communicate substantive changes transparently to authors, reviewers, editors, and readers.

22. International Standards and Guidance

IACS develops and applies its policies with reference to recognized international standards and guidance, including where relevant:

  • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE);

  • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE);

  • World Association of Medical Editors (WAME);

  • International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM);

  • relevant research integrity principles and standards; and

  • applicable national laws, regulations, and institutional ethical requirements.

The journal does not claim membership in any organization unless such membership has been formally established.

23. Commitment to Responsible Scholarly Publishing

IACS is committed to providing a credible, transparent, and ethically responsible platform for the dissemination of research on corruption and anti-corruption studies.

All participants in the publication process share responsibility for maintaining the quality, integrity, transparency, and reliability of the scholarly record.