Publications Ethics

Contemporary Issues on Indonesian Human Rights Law and Policy is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and scholarly integrity. The journal follows internationally recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing, including the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing developed by COPE, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

The journal also takes into consideration relevant international recommendations and best practices concerning authorship, conflicts of interest, peer review, research integrity, transparency, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence in scholarly publishing.

These principles apply to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, guest editors, and the publisher. The journal applies these standards to both regular issues and Special Issues. 

1. Principles of Publication Ethics

The journal is committed to:

  • Academic integrity and honesty;
  • Originality and responsible scholarship;
  • Transparency and accountability;
  • Editorial independence;
  • Fairness and impartiality;
  • Confidentiality;
  • Rigorous and independent peer review;
  • Appropriate recognition of authorship and contribution;
  • Disclosure of conflicts of interest;
  • Responsible use of research data and sources;
  • Protection of research participants where applicable;
  • Prevention and investigation of publication misconduct;
  • Correction of the scholarly record when necessary; and
  • Respect for diversity, equality, and inclusion.

Editorial decisions shall be based on scholarly merit, originality, methodological rigor, relevance, and contribution to knowledge. Decisions shall not be influenced by an author's nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, political views, institutional affiliation, or other characteristics unrelated to the academic quality of the manuscript. This principle is consistent with the transparency and inclusivity principles promoted by DOAJ and its publishing partners. 

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted manuscripts represent original and honest scholarly work.

Authors must:

  • Ensure that the manuscript is original and has not been published elsewhere in substantially the same form;
  • Ensure that the manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal;
  • Provide an accurate account of the research conducted;
  • Present findings, arguments, interpretations, and supporting evidence honestly;
  • Cite all sources appropriately;
  • Obtain permission for copyrighted materials where necessary;
  • Disclose relevant funding and financial or non-financial relationships;
  • Disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest;
  • Ensure that all listed authors have made a substantive contribution to the work;
  • Obtain approval from all authors for the final submitted manuscript;
  • Ensure that authorship is not attributed to individuals who did not make a qualifying contribution;
  • Cooperate with the journal in responding to questions concerning the integrity of the submitted or published work; and
  • Promptly notify the journal of any significant error discovered after publication.

Authors must not fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or selectively report research findings or supporting evidence.

Where research involves human participants, personal data, interviews, sensitive information, or other potentially identifiable material, authors must comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements and provide appropriate information regarding ethical approval, informed consent, confidentiality, and data protection where applicable.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must reflect genuine intellectual contribution to the research and manuscript.

The journal does not permit:

  • Gift authorship — listing individuals who have not made a qualifying contribution;
  • Guest authorship — adding an individual primarily because of reputation, seniority, position, or institutional status;
  • Ghost authorship — excluding individuals who made substantial contributions to the work;
  • Honorary authorship — granting authorship as a courtesy or institutional practice; or
  • Manipulation of authorship or author order for non-scholarly reasons.

All authors must approve the submitted version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for the integrity of the work.

Changes to authorship after submission require a justified request and the agreement of all affected authors. The Editor may request documentary evidence concerning authorship contributions before approving such changes.

Authorship disputes should ordinarily be resolved by the authors and their institutions. The journal may suspend editorial processing while an authorship dispute is being investigated.

4. Originality, Plagiarism, and Similarity

All manuscripts must be original.

The journal does not tolerate plagiarism, including:

  • Direct copying of text without appropriate quotation and attribution;
  • Appropriation of ideas, arguments, data, or findings without acknowledgment;
  • Self-plagiarism involving substantial reuse of previously published material without appropriate disclosure;
  • Translation plagiarism;
  • Mosaic or patchwork plagiarism; and
  • Unattributed reproduction of tables, figures, images, or other copyrighted material.

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using appropriate similarity-detection tools. A similarity report is considered an investigative aid rather than an automatic determination of plagiarism. The Editor evaluates the context, nature, extent, and source of similarities before making an editorial decision.

Where plagiarism or other forms of inappropriate textual reuse are identified, the journal may reject the manuscript or take appropriate post-publication action.

5. Duplicate, Redundant, and Overlapping Publication

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal.

The journal considers redundant publication, duplicate publication, and substantial undisclosed overlap with previously published work to be serious publication ethics concerns.

Authors must disclose:

  • Related manuscripts currently under review elsewhere;
  • Previous publications based on the same research project;
  • Conference papers or proceedings containing substantially similar material;
  • Preprints where applicable; and
  • Other publications that could create concerns regarding substantial overlap.

Where previous work is appropriately disclosed and the new manuscript provides a substantial and clearly identified scholarly contribution, the Editor will assess the matter on a case-by-case basis.

6. Data, Evidence, and Research Integrity

Authors must maintain the integrity of research data, documentary evidence, legal materials, interview materials, and other sources supporting their manuscripts.

The following practices are prohibited:

  • Fabrication of data or evidence;
  • Falsification or manipulation of data;
  • Selective alteration of evidence;
  • Misrepresentation of sources;
  • Fabrication of legal authorities, cases, statutes, citations, or references;
  • Misquotation or deliberate misrepresentation of scholarly sources; and
  • Deliberate concealment of material information that would substantially affect interpretation of the findings.

For empirical studies, authors should retain relevant research materials and supporting data for a reasonable period and provide them to the journal where legitimately required for verification, subject to confidentiality, ethical, legal, and privacy restrictions.

7. Research Ethics and Human Participants

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards and relevant national and institutional requirements.

Where applicable, authors should provide information concerning:

  • Ethical approval or institutional review;
  • Informed consent;
  • Confidentiality and anonymity;
  • Protection of vulnerable participants;
  • Handling of sensitive or personal information;
  • Data protection; and
  • Procedures for minimizing potential harm to participants.

For research involving sensitive human rights issues, vulnerable populations, victims of human rights violations, or personal and confidential information, authors must take particular care to protect participants from identification, retaliation, discrimination, or other foreseeable harm.

The journal may request evidence of ethical approval or other relevant documentation where appropriate.

8. Conflicts of Interest

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

Conflicts may include:

  • Financial interests;
  • Employment or consultancy relationships;
  • Personal relationships;
  • Academic competition;
  • Institutional relationships;
  • Political or professional interests;
  • Recent collaboration with an author;
  • Disputes or rivalries that could affect objectivity; or
  • Other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing editorial or scholarly judgment.

Disclosure of a conflict does not necessarily prevent publication or participation in peer review. Rather, transparency allows the Editor to determine whether appropriate safeguards are required.

Authors should provide a clear Conflict of Interest Statement in their submission.

The journal's approach is consistent with international recommendations emphasizing disclosure by authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants in the publication process.

9. Funding and Financial Disclosure

Authors must disclose all funding or financial support directly related to the research.

Where applicable, authors should identify:

  • Funding organization;
  • Grant or project information;
  • Institutional support;
  • Other material financial support; and
  • The role of the funder in research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing, or the decision to submit the manuscript.

Where no specific funding was received, authors should provide an appropriate statement indicating that the research received no specific external funding.

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

10. Peer Review Ethics

The journal applies a double-blind peer review process as described in its Peer Review Policy.

Reviewers must:

  • Treat manuscripts as confidential;
  • Provide objective and constructive evaluations;
  • Identify potential conflicts of interest;
  • Decline review assignments where they cannot provide an impartial assessment;
  • Not use unpublished information for personal or professional advantage;
  • Not disclose manuscript contents to third parties;
  • Identify relevant published work that has not been appropriately cited where necessary;
  • Report suspected plagiarism or other serious ethical concerns to the Editor; and
  • Submit reviews within the agreed timeframe whenever reasonably possible.

Reviewers must not recommend citations merely to increase their own citation counts, the citations of colleagues, or the journal's citation metrics.

Reviewers should evaluate manuscripts based on scholarly quality rather than the authors' identity, nationality, institutional affiliation, political position, gender, religion, or other irrelevant characteristics.

11. Editorial Independence

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for maintaining editorial independence.

Editorial decisions shall not be influenced by:

  • Commercial interests;
  • Advertising;
  • Sponsorship;
  • Institutional pressure;
  • Political influence;
  • Personal relationships;
  • Author reputation; or
  • Expected citation performance.

Editors must recuse themselves from manuscripts where they have an actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest.

Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, or individuals closely associated with the journal shall be handled independently to ensure that the author does not receive preferential treatment.

The ownership or financial interests of the journal must not interfere with editorial decisions.

12. Special Issues and Guest Editors

The same publication ethics standards apply to all Special Issues.

Guest Editors must follow the journal's policies concerning:

  • Peer review;
  • Authorship;
  • Conflicts of interest;
  • Confidentiality;
  • Research integrity;
  • Plagiarism;
  • Editorial independence; and
  • Corrections and retractions.

Guest Editors must not guarantee publication to invited authors.

Manuscripts authored by Guest Editors, members of the Editorial Board, or individuals with whom a Guest Editor has a significant conflict of interest must be handled independently by the Editor-in-Chief or another designated editor.

The creation of a Special Issue must not result in lower peer review or publication standards.

13. Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI

The journal recognizes that artificial intelligence and generative AI tools may assist scholarly writing and research. However, their use must not compromise authorship, originality, accuracy, confidentiality, or research integrity.

13.1 AI Use by Authors

Authors may use AI-assisted tools for appropriate purposes such as language improvement, grammar checking, translation assistance, or other limited forms of editorial support.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scholarly validity of their manuscripts.

AI tools:

  • Cannot be listed as authors;
  • Cannot take responsibility for the manuscript;
  • Cannot be used as a substitute for scholarly judgment;
  • Must not be used to fabricate data, references, quotations, legal authorities, or research findings; and
  • Must not result in plagiarism or unattributed appropriation of copyrighted or scholarly material.

Where AI or generative AI has been used substantively in developing the manuscript, authors should disclose the tool used and its purpose in accordance with the journal's AI disclosure requirements.

The journal follows the principle that AI systems cannot fulfill the responsibilities associated with authorship and that human authors remain accountable for AI-assisted content.

13.2 AI Use by Reviewers and Editors

Reviewers and editors must maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts under review.

Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential manuscripts, reviewer reports, unpublished data, or other protected editorial materials into AI systems where confidentiality cannot be assured, unless explicit authorization has been obtained and the use is consistent with the journal's policy.

Reviewers remain responsible for the content and quality of their reports and must independently verify any AI-assisted output.

The journal follows international guidance emphasizing confidentiality and transparency in the use of AI in peer review and editorial processes. 

14. Citation Ethics

Authors are expected to cite sources accurately, relevantly, and proportionately.

The journal prohibits:

  • Citation manipulation;
  • Excessive self-citation without scholarly justification;
  • Coercive citation;
  • Reciprocal citation arrangements designed primarily to increase metrics;
  • Fabricated references;
  • Misrepresentation of cited sources; and
  • Citation of sources that have not been consulted where such practice creates a misleading scholarly record.

Reviewers and editors must not require authors to add citations merely to increase the citation metrics of the reviewer, editor, institution, or journal.

15. Allegations of Research or Publication Misconduct

The journal takes allegations of misconduct seriously, whether they arise before or after publication.

Potential misconduct may include:

  • Plagiarism;
  • Fabrication;
  • Falsification;
  • Duplicate publication;
  • Undisclosed substantial overlap;
  • Authorship manipulation;
  • Citation manipulation;
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest;
  • Reviewer misconduct;
  • Breach of confidentiality;
  • Misuse of confidential research information;
  • Fabricated or manipulated legal authorities;
  • Misrepresentation of research findings;
  • Unethical research involving human participants; and
  • Other conduct that compromises the integrity of the scholarly record.

Allegations may be raised by authors, reviewers, readers, editors, institutions, or other responsible parties.

The journal will assess allegations fairly and confidentially and may request relevant documentation or explanations from the parties concerned.

Where appropriate, the journal may refer serious allegations to the relevant institution or competent authority. COPE emphasizes that journals should have clear processes for handling allegations of misconduct both before and after publication.

16. Investigation Procedure

Where a credible allegation is received, the Editor may undertake an initial assessment.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the allegation, the journal may:

  1. Request an explanation from the author or relevant party;
  2. Request supporting documentation;
  3. Consult independent experts or reviewers;
  4. Contact the author's institution or relevant research body;
  5. Temporarily suspend editorial processing or publication;
  6. Issue an Expression of Concern where appropriate;
  7. Correct the published record;
  8. Retract the article; or
  9. Take other appropriate action consistent with publication ethics standards.

The journal will seek to ensure procedural fairness and will avoid making public accusations before the relevant matter has been appropriately assessed.

17. Corrections and Retractions

The journal is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the published scholarly record.

Corrections

A correction may be issued when an error does not invalidate the overall findings, argument, or scholarly contribution of the article but requires correction to maintain an accurate record.

Retractions

An article may be retracted where there is compelling evidence that:

  • The findings are unreliable;
  • Significant fabrication or falsification has occurred;
  • Substantial plagiarism has been identified;
  • The article constitutes duplicate or redundant publication;
  • Serious ethical violations have occurred;
  • There are major undisclosed conflicts of interest affecting the integrity of the article; or
  • Other circumstances substantially undermine the reliability or integrity of the published work.

Retractions will be clearly identified and linked to the original publication. The original article will generally remain part of the scholarly record with an appropriate retraction notice, unless legal or technical circumstances require otherwise.

18. Expressions of Concern

Where serious concerns exist but an investigation has not yet reached a definitive conclusion, the journal may publish an Expression of Concern.

An Expression of Concern is intended to alert readers to potentially significant issues while allowing the relevant investigation to proceed.

The journal may subsequently publish a correction, retraction, or other notice when the matter has been resolved.

19. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other stakeholders may submit complaints concerning:

  • Editorial decisions;
  • Peer review;
  • Publication ethics;
  • Conflicts of interest;
  • Authorship;
  • Editorial misconduct;
  • Publication errors; or
  • Other matters affecting the integrity of the journal.

Complaints should be supported by specific information and relevant evidence where available.

The journal will investigate complaints fairly and confidentially. Complaints concerning the Editor-in-Chief will, where possible, be handled by an appropriate independent member of the Editorial Board or another designated authority.

Authors may appeal editorial decisions where there are reasonable grounds to believe that a significant procedural error, factual misunderstanding, inappropriate review, or conflict of interest affected the decision.

20. Post-Publication Discussions

The journal welcomes responsible scholarly discussion concerning published articles.

Readers may contact the Editorial Office regarding substantial errors, ethical concerns, methodological issues, or other matters that may affect the interpretation or integrity of a published article.

Where a concern is substantiated, the journal may publish a correction, clarification, editorial note, Expression of Concern, or retraction, depending on the circumstances.

21. Editorial and Reviewer Misconduct

Editors, reviewers, and Guest Editors are expected to maintain the highest standards of professional conduct.

Misconduct may include:

  • Breach of confidentiality;
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest;
  • Misuse of unpublished information;
  • Manipulation of peer review;
  • Coercive citation;
  • Discriminatory or abusive review comments;
  • Appropriation of authors' ideas or research;
  • Unjustified interference with editorial decisions; or
  • Other conduct that compromises the fairness or integrity of publication.

The journal may remove individuals from editorial or reviewer roles where serious misconduct is established.

22. Retention of Editorial Records

The journal maintains appropriate editorial and publication records, including submission, peer review, editorial decision, and publication records, subject to applicable privacy and confidentiality requirements.

Such records may be used for:

  • Editorial quality assurance;
  • Investigation of publication ethics concerns;
  • Verification of editorial processes;
  • Resolution of complaints and appeals; and
  • Compliance with applicable scholarly publishing standards.

23. Editorial Responsibility

The Editor-in-Chief has ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the journal's publication ethics policies are implemented consistently.

The Editorial Board is responsible for supporting the Editor-in-Chief in maintaining:

  • Academic quality;
  • Editorial independence;
  • Ethical publication practices;
  • Fair peer review;
  • Transparency;
  • Accountability; and
  • Integrity of the published scholarly record.

The journal may update this policy when relevant international standards, ethical guidance, or publishing practices develop.

24. Commitment to International Publication Standards

Contemporary Issues on Indonesian Human Rights Law and Policy is committed to continuously improving its publication practices in accordance with internationally recognized standards of scholarly publishing.

The journal's publication ethics framework is informed principally by:

  • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices;
  • Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, developed by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME;
  • Relevant international standards concerning authorship, conflicts of interest, research integrity, peer review, and editorial independence; and
  • Relevant recommendations concerning responsible use of artificial intelligence and scholarly publishing, including current ICMJE recommendations where applicable.

The journal recognizes that publication ethics is a continuing responsibility shared by authors, reviewers, editors, publishers, and the scholarly community. Accordingly, the journal is committed to investigating credible concerns, correcting the scholarly record when necessary, and protecting the integrity, independence, and credibility of published research.