Journal Policy

The Indonesian Education Policy and Justice Review (IEPJR) is committed to maintaining high standards of academic quality, research integrity, publication ethics, editorial independence, transparency, and responsible scholarly communication. The journal's policies are designed to protect the integrity of the scholarly record and to ensure a fair, rigorous, and accountable publication process for authors, reviewers, editors, and readers.

IEPJR follows the principles and relevant guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and considers other internationally recognized standards and best practices in scholarly publishing where applicable.

1. Editorial Policy

IEPJR maintains editorial independence in all publication decisions. Manuscripts are evaluated according to their scholarly quality, originality, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal's scope, ethical integrity, and contribution to international scholarship.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:

  • nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, or political affiliation;

  • institutional status or geographic location;

  • personal relationships;

  • commercial interests;

  • funding sources, where the funding does not affect research integrity; or

  • anticipated citation performance.

The Editorial Board is responsible for maintaining the academic standards, integrity, and strategic direction of the journal.

2. Peer Review Policy

IEPJR applies a double-anonymous peer review process. Manuscripts that pass initial editorial screening are normally reviewed by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise.

Peer reviewers are expected to:

  • provide objective and constructive evaluations;

  • maintain confidentiality;

  • disclose conflicts of interest;

  • assess manuscripts independently;

  • identify methodological, ethical, or research-integrity concerns; and

  • avoid inappropriate citation recommendations or personal criticism.

The final publication decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief or designated editor and is based on the overall scholarly and ethical assessment of the manuscript rather than on a single reviewer's recommendation.

3. Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

IEPJR is committed to preventing and addressing publication and research misconduct, including:

  • plagiarism;

  • fabrication and falsification of data;

  • duplicate or redundant publication;

  • inappropriate authorship;

  • undisclosed conflicts of interest;

  • citation manipulation;

  • manipulation of the peer review process;

  • unethical research involving human participants; and

  • other practices that compromise scholarly integrity.

Suspected misconduct will be assessed fairly and confidentially in accordance with applicable publication-ethics principles and COPE guidance.

4. Anti-Plagiarism Policy

All manuscripts may undergo similarity screening during editorial processing.

IEPJR does not use a similarity percentage as an automatic determination of plagiarism. Editors assess the nature, extent, location, context, and attribution of detected similarities.

Where substantial unattributed overlap is identified, the journal may request clarification, require revision, reject the manuscript, initiate a formal investigation, or refer the matter to the relevant institution or authority.

Serious or systematic plagiarism may result in rejection before publication or retraction after publication.

The detailed procedures are set out in the journal's Anti-Plagiarism Policy.

5. Authorship and Contributorship Policy

Authorship is reserved for individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the research and manuscript and who are willing to take responsibility for their contributions.

IEPJR does not accept:

  • ghost authorship;

  • guest or honorary authorship;

  • fabricated authorship;

  • inappropriate exclusion of qualified contributors; or

  • undisclosed authorship changes.

All authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission and publication.

Changes to authorship after submission require appropriate justification and agreement from all affected authors and may require editorial documentation.

6. Conflict of Interest Policy

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest that could influence the research, review, or publication decision.

Conflicts may be:

  • financial;

  • institutional;

  • professional;

  • personal;

  • academic; or

  • otherwise relevant to the manuscript.

Editors and reviewers with significant conflicts must recuse themselves from the relevant decision or review process.

7. Funding and Financial Disclosure

Authors must disclose relevant sources of financial or institutional support for the research.

Where applicable, authors should describe the role of the funder in:

  • research design;

  • data collection;

  • data analysis;

  • interpretation;

  • manuscript preparation; and

  • the decision to submit the manuscript.

Funding disclosure is intended to promote transparency and enable readers to assess potential sources of influence.

8. Research Ethics and Human Participants

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical, legal, and institutional requirements.

Where applicable, manuscripts should report:

  • ethics committee or institutional review board approval;

  • approval or reference number, where available;

  • informed consent procedures;

  • participant confidentiality and privacy protections; and

  • other relevant ethical safeguards.

IEPJR recognizes internationally established ethical principles, including the Declaration of Helsinki where applicable, while also requiring compliance with relevant national and institutional regulations.

The editors may request evidence of ethical approval or other supporting documentation when necessary.

9. Data Availability and Research Transparency

Authors are expected to report their research methods, data sources, analytical procedures, and findings accurately and transparently.

Where ethically and legally permissible, authors are encouraged to provide access to relevant:

  • datasets;

  • research instruments;

  • analytical code;

  • supplementary materials; and

  • other resources necessary to support research transparency or reproducibility.

Restrictions on data sharing are acceptable when required to protect confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property, contractual obligations, or research participants.

10. Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI Policy

Authors remain fully responsible for the content, originality, accuracy, and integrity of manuscripts regardless of whether AI tools were used during manuscript preparation.

Generative AI tools must not be listed as authors.

Where AI has been used substantially in the preparation or development of a manuscript, appropriate disclosure is required in accordance with the journal's AI policy.

Authors must verify all AI-assisted content, including:

  • factual claims;

  • citations and references;

  • quotations;

  • statistical or analytical outputs; and

  • interpretations.

AI must not be used to fabricate data, generate false references, manipulate evidence, conceal plagiarism, or compromise confidential information.

11. Copyright and Licensing Policy

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts do not infringe the intellectual property rights of others.

Permission must be obtained where required for copyrighted:

  • figures;

  • photographs;

  • tables;

  • instruments;

  • substantial quotations; or

  • other third-party materials.

Authors should provide appropriate attribution for materials that are reproduced or adapted from other sources.

The journal's copyright and licensing arrangements are stated clearly in the relevant publication and author guidelines.

12. Complaints and Appeals

IEPJR provides mechanisms for authors, reviewers, and readers to raise concerns regarding:

  • editorial decisions;

  • peer review;

  • publication ethics;

  • research integrity;

  • authorship;

  • conflicts of interest; or

  • other aspects of the publication process.

Complaints and appeals must provide sufficient information and, where possible, supporting evidence.

The journal handles complaints confidentially and aims to investigate them fairly and without retaliation.

Appeals against editorial decisions must demonstrate substantive grounds, such as a significant factual error, procedural irregularity, or material misunderstanding of the manuscript.

13. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

IEPJR is committed to maintaining an accurate and reliable scholarly record.

Depending on the nature of an identified problem, the journal may issue:

  • a correction;

  • a clarification;

  • an editorial notice;

  • an Expression of Concern; or

  • a retraction.

Retractions are considered when serious errors, unreliable findings, plagiarism, research misconduct, or other circumstances substantially undermine the integrity of a published article.

Corrective actions will be clearly identified and documented to preserve transparency for readers and indexing services.

14. Post-Publication Discussions

IEPJR supports responsible scholarly discussion after publication.

Readers and researchers may notify the journal of credible concerns regarding published articles. Such concerns should provide specific evidence and sufficient information for editorial assessment.

The journal may request clarification from authors, consult experts, conduct further investigation, or take corrective action where appropriate.

Post-publication disagreement with an interpretation does not, by itself, constitute research misconduct.

15. Reviewer Confidentiality

All manuscripts and review materials are confidential.

Reviewers must not:

  • distribute manuscripts;

  • disclose manuscript contents;

  • use unpublished information for personal benefit;

  • contact authors directly without editorial authorization; or

  • share review materials with unauthorized individuals.

If a reviewer wishes to involve a qualified colleague in the review process, prior permission from the handling editor should be obtained.

16. Editorial Conflicts of Interest

Editors must disclose and appropriately manage conflicts of interest.

An editor should not handle a manuscript where the editor:

  • is an author or co-author;

  • has a significant personal or professional relationship with an author;

  • has a substantial competing interest;

  • is affiliated with the same research project in a manner that compromises independence; or

  • has another circumstance that could reasonably affect impartiality.

Where necessary, the manuscript will be transferred to an independent editor.

17. Special Issues

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

Guest editors may coordinate thematic submissions but do not have unrestricted authority over publication decisions. Final editorial responsibility remains with the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately designated independent editor.

Guest editors and contributors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest.

18. Publication Frequency

IEPJR publishes four regular issues per year, released quarterly in:

  • March

  • June

  • September

  • December

The journal may also publish Special Issues addressing significant emerging or interdisciplinary themes within its scope.

Special Issues may be published in addition to or within the regular publication schedule, subject to editorial capacity and scholarly quality.

19. Editorial and Reviewer Accountability

Editors and reviewers are expected to act professionally, objectively, and responsibly throughout the publication process.

The journal may take appropriate action where an editor or reviewer:

  • breaches confidentiality;

  • misuses unpublished information;

  • fails to disclose a significant conflict of interest;

  • engages in discriminatory or inappropriate conduct;

  • manipulates peer review; or

  • otherwise compromises the integrity of the publication process.

20. Policy Review and Updates

IEPJR periodically reviews its journal policies to ensure that they remain consistent with developments in:

  • publication ethics;

  • research integrity;

  • peer review;

  • open and responsible scholarship;

  • digital publishing;

  • artificial intelligence;

  • data governance; and

  • international standards of scholarly communication.

The Editorial Board may revise these policies when necessary. Significant policy changes will be communicated transparently through the journal's official website and relevant publication documentation.

Commitment to Responsible Scholarly Publishing

IEPJR's policies are founded on the principles of integrity, transparency, fairness, accountability, confidentiality, editorial independence, and respect for scholarly and human rights.

The journal seeks to provide a trusted international platform for research on education policy, law, governance, and justice by ensuring that manuscripts are evaluated and published through processes that meet rigorous academic and ethical standards.

IEPJR is committed to protecting the integrity of the scholarly record while supporting constructive academic dialogue and the responsible dissemination of knowledge from Indonesia and the wider Global South to the international research community.