Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Indonesian Discourse on Communication, Democracy, and Political Movements (e-ISSN: XXXX-XXXX), published by COLLEGIUM JUSTICIA INDONESIA, is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and research integrity. The journal follows internationally recognized principles of publication ethics, including the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and adopts relevant standards and best practices in scholarly publishing.

The journal expects all authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher to uphold principles of honesty, transparency, fairness, accountability, confidentiality, and respect throughout the publication process.

1. Editorial Independence and Responsibility

The Editor-in-Chief and editorial team are responsible for making independent and objective editorial decisions based on the academic quality, originality, relevance, and significance of submitted manuscripts.

Editorial decisions shall not be influenced by the authors' race, ethnicity, gender, religion, political affiliation, institutional affiliation, nationality, or other personal characteristics.

Editors must avoid conflicts of interest and must not participate in editorial decisions concerning manuscripts in which they have a personal, professional, financial, or academic interest. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by commercial interests, sponsorship, or other external pressures.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

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

Authors must:

  • ensure that the manuscript is original and has not been published previously, except where appropriate disclosure and permission have been obtained;
  • ensure that the manuscript is not simultaneously submitted to another journal;
  • accurately report the research methodology, findings, analysis, and interpretation;
  • provide sufficient information to allow the research to be understood and, where appropriate, reproduced;
  • properly acknowledge and cite all sources, ideas, data, and previous research used in the manuscript;
  • disclose all relevant financial and non-financial conflicts of interest;
  • disclose sources of research funding and the role of funders, where applicable;
  • obtain appropriate ethical approval and informed consent where required by the nature of the research;
  • cooperate with the editorial team in responding to questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of the research; and
  • promptly notify the journal if a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered in a submitted or published article.

Authors are collectively responsible for the integrity of the work and must ensure that all listed authors have approved the final manuscript and agreed to its submission.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must be based on substantial intellectual contributions to the conception or design of the research, acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, as well as significant participation in drafting or critically revising the manuscript and approval of the final version.

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

The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the journal and ensuring that all appropriate authors are included and that all authors have approved the submitted manuscript.

The journal does not permit ghost authorship, guest authorship, honorary authorship, or gift authorship.

Any request to add, remove, or change the order of authors after submission must be supported by a clear justification and written agreement from all affected authors. The Editor-in-Chief may require additional documentation before considering such a request.

4. Originality, Plagiarism, and Duplicate Publication

The journal does not tolerate plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, redundant publication, or other forms of publication misconduct.

All submitted manuscripts may be screened using appropriate similarity-detection or research-integrity tools. A manuscript may be rejected when substantial plagiarism, inappropriate text reuse, manipulated content, or other forms of academic misconduct are identified.

Authors remain responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts appropriately acknowledge the work of others and distinguish their own contributions from previously published material.

Suspected cases of plagiarism or duplicate publication will be investigated in accordance with applicable COPE guidance and the journal's procedures.

5. Data Integrity and Research Misconduct

Authors must ensure the accuracy and integrity of the data presented in their manuscripts.

Fabrication, falsification, manipulation, selective reporting, inappropriate image or data manipulation, and deliberate misrepresentation of research findings constitute serious ethical violations.

Where necessary, authors may be requested to provide supporting data, research materials, ethical approval documentation, or other relevant information to facilitate editorial assessment or investigation.

If credible concerns regarding research or publication misconduct arise, the journal will investigate the matter and may contact the authors' affiliated institutions, funders, or other relevant bodies when appropriate.

6. Peer Review Ethics

The journal uses a peer-review process designed to ensure fair, objective, confidential, and academically rigorous evaluation of manuscripts.

Reviewers must:

  • evaluate manuscripts objectively and constructively;
  • possess appropriate expertise for the subject of the manuscript;
  • maintain confidentiality regarding submitted manuscripts;
  • disclose any potential conflict of interest before accepting an assignment;
  • decline the review if they are unable to provide an impartial assessment;
  • identify relevant published work that has not been appropriately cited;
  • inform the editor of suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated data, or other ethical concerns; and
  • avoid using unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal or professional advantage.

Reviewers must not recommend citations solely to increase their own citation counts, the journal's metrics, or the visibility of particular authors. Citation recommendations must be based on genuine scholarly relevance.

The journal does not tolerate hostile, discriminatory, defamatory, or otherwise unprofessional reviewer comments.

7. Confidentiality

Manuscripts submitted to the journal and information obtained during the editorial and peer-review process must be treated as confidential.

Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not disclose unpublished manuscript information to unauthorized persons or use unpublished material for personal or professional purposes.

Exceptions may be made when disclosure is necessary to investigate suspected ethical or legal misconduct or is otherwise required by applicable law or publication-ethics procedures.

8. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their judgment.

Potential conflicts may include, but are not limited to:

  • employment or institutional relationships;
  • research funding or financial support;
  • consultancies or advisory roles;
  • personal or professional relationships;
  • recent collaboration with authors;
  • intellectual property interests; and
  • other relationships that may create a perceived or actual conflict.

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

9. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants, personal data, interviews, surveys, or other sensitive information must comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

Where required, authors must obtain approval from an appropriate research ethics committee or institutional review board before conducting the research.

Where applicable, authors must obtain informed consent from participants and ensure appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, and personal data.

The journal reserves the right to request evidence of ethical approval or informed consent when necessary.

10. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

Authors may use generative artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies responsibly in the preparation of manuscripts, provided that such use does not compromise the originality, accuracy, integrity, confidentiality, or accountability of the work.

AI tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the content, integrity, or accountability of a scholarly publication.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy and originality of all submitted content, including content generated or assisted by AI. Any substantive use of generative AI in manuscript preparation must be disclosed in accordance with the journal's AI policy.

Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential or unpublished manuscripts or other sensitive editorial materials into publicly accessible generative AI systems where confidentiality cannot be assured.

The journal may update its AI policy as responsible-use standards and publishing practices evolve.

11. Citation and Reference Ethics

Authors must provide accurate and appropriate citations for ideas, theories, data, quotations, and previous research.

The journal prohibits citation manipulation, including excessive self-citation, coercive citation, reciprocal citation arrangements, and requests for citations that are not justified by genuine scholarly relevance.

Editors and reviewers must not require authors to cite their own publications or publications from the journal unless there is a legitimate academic reason.

12. Complaints and Appeals

The journal provides mechanisms for authors and other stakeholders to raise concerns regarding editorial decisions, peer review, publication procedures, or ethical matters.

Complaints and appeals will be considered fairly, objectively, and confidentially. The journal will make reasonable efforts to investigate complaints and provide an appropriate response.

Editorial decisions may be appealed when the appellant can provide substantive grounds, such as a significant procedural error, demonstrable misunderstanding of the manuscript, or relevant information that was not previously considered.

13. Allegations of Misconduct

The journal takes allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously, whether identified before or after publication.

Allegations may concern, among other matters:

  • plagiarism;
  • fabrication or falsification of data;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • inappropriate authorship;
  • undisclosed conflicts of interest;
  • peer-review manipulation;
  • citation manipulation;
  • unethical research practices;
  • identity fraud or fraudulent reviewer activity; and
  • other forms of publication or research misconduct.

The journal will assess allegations in accordance with applicable publication-ethics principles and may request explanations or supporting documentation from the relevant parties.

Where appropriate, the journal may involve the authors' institutions, research organizations, funders, or other competent authorities.

14. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The journal is committed to maintaining an accurate and reliable scholarly record.

When errors or misconduct are identified after publication, the journal may publish an appropriate correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other editorial notice, depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue.

Corrections will be issued when a published article contains an error that affects the accuracy or interpretation of the work but does not invalidate the overall findings.

Retraction may be considered when an article contains substantial errors, unreliable findings, plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, serious ethical violations, or other circumstances that significantly compromise the integrity of the published record.

An Expression of Concern may be issued when serious concerns exist but an investigation has not yet reached a definitive conclusion.

Post-publication corrections and retractions will be handled transparently to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

15. Editorial and Peer-Review Manipulation

The journal has a zero-tolerance approach to systematic manipulation of the publication process.

This includes, but is not limited to, manipulation of peer review, fraudulent reviewer identities, fabricated reviewer reports, inappropriate citation practices, coordinated authorship manipulation, falsified affiliations, and other attempts to improperly influence editorial decisions.

Where credible evidence of systematic manipulation exists, the journal may reject manuscripts, suspend editorial processing, retract published articles, or take other appropriate measures. Relevant institutions or organizations may also be notified where necessary.

16. Special Issues and Guest Editors

Special Issues are subject to the same standards of research integrity and publication ethics as regular issues.

Guest editors must disclose potential conflicts of interest and must not influence editorial decisions for manuscripts in which they have a personal, professional, or financial interest.

All manuscripts submitted to a Special Issue must undergo appropriate peer review and meet the journal's standards for originality, academic quality, and ethical conduct.

Being invited to contribute to or participate in a Special Issue does not guarantee acceptance or publication.

17. Duties of the Publisher

COLLEGIUM JUSTICIA INDONESIA supports the editorial team in maintaining the integrity of the journal and the scholarly record.

The publisher will support appropriate investigations of suspected misconduct, facilitate corrections or retractions when necessary, and take reasonable steps to prevent commercial or other external interests from compromising editorial independence.

The publisher also supports the journal in implementing recognized standards and good practices in scholarly publishing.

18. Commitment to Research Integrity

The journal is committed to continuously improving its policies and procedures in accordance with developments in international standards of research and publication ethics.

All authors, editors, reviewers, and other participants in the publication process are expected to contribute to maintaining a trustworthy, transparent, and responsible scholarly record.

This publication ethics policy is informed by the COPE Core Practices and relevant international publishing-ethics standards and may be updated periodically as ethical standards and best practices evolve.