Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The International Journal of Essential Competencies in Education (IJECE) is a peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal published by Lembaga Penelitian dan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat (LITPAM), Indonesia. IJECE is committed to maintaining the integrity, transparency, fairness, and quality of scholarly publishing. This Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement establishes the ethical responsibilities of authors, editors, peer reviewers, and the publisher throughout the publication process.

The journal's policies are informed by the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and relevant international standards of responsible scholarly publishing. These principles apply to all manuscripts submitted to IJECE, regardless of the authors' institutional affiliations, nationalities, or research methodologies.

1. Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

Editorial Independence and Fairness. The Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and Editorial Board are responsible for maintaining an independent, impartial, and academically rigorous editorial process. Manuscripts are evaluated based on their scholarly merit, originality, methodological soundness, relevance to the journal's aims and scope, ethical compliance, and contribution to knowledge. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by the authors' nationality, gender, ethnicity, religion, institutional affiliation, personal relationships, financial interests, or other irrelevant considerations.

Confidentiality. Editors must treat submitted manuscripts, correspondence, reviewer reports, and unpublished research information as confidential. Such information may be disclosed only to individuals legitimately involved in the editorial evaluation or investigation of publication ethics concerns. Editors must not use unpublished data, findings, arguments, or interpretations for their own research without the authors' explicit written permission.

Editorial Decisions. Editors are responsible for deciding whether manuscripts should be accepted, revised, rejected, or subjected to further assessment. Decisions must be supported by scholarly evaluation, relevant reviewer reports, journal policies, and ethical considerations. The final publication decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately delegated editor.

Conflicts of Interest. Editors must declare any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest concerning a manuscript. An editor with a relevant conflict must withdraw from its evaluation and decision-making. The manuscript must then be assigned to another qualified editor who has no conflicting interests.

Research Integrity. Editors must respond appropriately to credible concerns involving plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, unethical research practices, inappropriate authorship, peer review manipulation, redundant publication, or other forms of misconduct. Concerns must be examined fairly and confidentially, with appropriate documentation and opportunities for the parties involved to respond.

Accountability. Editors must maintain appropriate records of editorial decisions, reviewer assignments, manuscript revisions, ethical concerns, and related correspondence. They are responsible for correcting the scholarly record when significant errors or ethical problems are identified after publication.

2. Peer Review Process and Responsibilities of Reviewers

IJECE applies a double-blind peer review process, in which reviewers and authors are not informed of each other's identities during the review process. Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial screening are evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with relevant scholarly expertise. An additional reviewer may be invited when reviewer assessments are substantially inconsistent or when further specialist evaluation is required.

Peer reviewers are expected to:

Accept review assignments only when they possess appropriate expertise and can complete the assessment within the agreed period.
Evaluate manuscripts objectively, constructively, and without personal bias.
Assess the manuscript's originality, theoretical contribution, research design, methodology, data analysis, interpretation, conclusions, and relevance to the journal's scope.
Provide clear, evidence-based, and sufficiently detailed comments that support editorial decisions and assist authors in improving their manuscripts.
Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and all information obtained during the review process.
Refrain from using unpublished material, research findings, or ideas for personal or professional advantage.
Disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest and decline assignments when impartiality cannot be maintained.
Identify relevant published literature that has been omitted where such omissions materially affect the manuscript's scholarly context.
Report suspected plagiarism, data manipulation, duplicate publication, unethical research practices, or other serious concerns to the handling editor.
Refrain from delegating review assignments to other individuals without prior editorial authorization.

Reviewers must not use confidential manuscripts or reviewer-related information in publicly accessible artificial intelligence systems or other external services unless explicitly authorized by the journal and appropriate confidentiality safeguards are in place.

The editor may discontinue a reviewer's involvement when reports are consistently inadequate, contain inappropriate language, demonstrate bias, or violate the journal's ethical and confidentiality requirements.

3. Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for the originality, accuracy, transparency, and integrity of all submitted work. Manuscripts must present research findings and scholarly arguments honestly and accurately, without fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or misleading representation.

Authors are required to:

Submit original scholarly work that has not been published in substantially the same form or submitted simultaneously to another journal.
Present research methods, evidence, analyses, findings, and conclusions accurately and transparently.
Acknowledge and cite relevant sources appropriately, avoiding plagiarism, inappropriate paraphrasing, and misleading attribution.
Obtain necessary permissions for copyrighted or third-party materials included in a manuscript.
Disclose relevant financial, institutional, personal, or professional conflicts of interest.
Identify funding sources and describe the role of funders where applicable.
Provide accurate authorship information and acknowledge contributors who do not qualify for authorship.
Cooperate with the editorial and peer review processes, including responding appropriately to reviewer comments.
Maintain research records and provide supporting information when reasonably requested, subject to ethical, legal, and confidentiality restrictions.
Inform the journal promptly when significant errors, ethical concerns, or inaccuracies are discovered in submitted or published work.

Authors must disclose any relevant previous dissemination of the research, including preprints, conference proceedings, working papers, or institutional repositories. The editorial office will assess whether such dissemination is compatible with the journal's originality and prior-publication policies. Concealment of substantial prior publication or simultaneous journal submission is not permitted.

4. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must accurately reflect substantial intellectual contributions to the research and manuscript. IJECE recognizes the importance of transparent and responsible attribution of scholarly contributions.

Authorship is evaluated with reference to the following principles:

Substantial contribution to the conception or design of the research, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of research data.
Participation in drafting the manuscript or critically reviewing its important intellectual content.
Approval of the final version submitted for publication.
Agreement to be accountable for the integrity and accuracy of the work and to cooperate in resolving questions concerning its validity.

All listed authors must satisfy the journal's authorship requirements. Individuals who have contributed to the research but do not qualify for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately, with their permission where necessary.

Guest authorship, honorary authorship, gift authorship, and ghost authorship are prohibited. Changes to the author list after submission must be justified and approved by all affected authors. The editorial office may request written explanations and supporting documentation before approving such changes.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors are informed about the submission, agree to the submitted and final versions, and understand their responsibilities regarding the published work.

5. Research Ethics and Ethical Oversight

IJECE requires all research involving human participants, educational institutions, personal information, or potentially vulnerable populations to comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements.

Human Participants. Studies involving students, teachers, educational personnel, or other human participants must be conducted with appropriate ethical safeguards. Where required, researchers must obtain approval from a recognized institutional ethics committee or equivalent authority before data collection. If formal ethical approval is not required, authors should explain the applicable institutional or regulatory basis for exemption.

Informed Consent. Participation must be voluntary, and appropriate informed consent must be obtained according to the nature of the research and applicable ethical requirements. Participants should be informed of the study's purpose, procedures, potential risks, confidentiality arrangements, and relevant participation rights.

Research Involving Children. Studies involving children or other vulnerable participants require additional safeguards. Researchers must obtain appropriate parental or guardian permission and, where applicable, assent from the child. Any exceptions must have a valid ethical and legal basis. Research procedures must minimize potential harm and protect the privacy, dignity, and welfare of participants.

Privacy and Data Protection. Personally identifiable information must be protected. Authors must ensure that data collection, storage, analysis, reporting, and sharing comply with applicable confidentiality and data protection requirements. Identifying details must not be published without appropriate permission or another valid legal and ethical basis.

Research Transparency. Authors should provide sufficient methodological detail to support scholarly evaluation and, where appropriate, reproducibility or transferability. Data availability statements and access conditions should be provided when required by the journal or relevant research standards. Ethical and legal restrictions on data sharing must be respected.

6. Allegations of Research Misconduct

IJECE takes allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously, whether they arise before or after publication. Potential misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

Fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation of research data or results.
Plagiarism, substantial unattributed copying, or misappropriation of intellectual contributions.
Duplicate submission, undisclosed redundant publication, or misleading representation of previously published work.
Authorship manipulation, unauthorized authorship changes, or misrepresentation of contributions.
Manipulation of the peer review process, including fraudulent reviewer identities or fabricated reviewer reports.
Failure to disclose relevant conflicts of interest or material funding relationships.
Research conducted without necessary ethical safeguards or required approval.
Manipulation of citations, references, images, or other research evidence in a manner that misrepresents the scholarly record.

Reporting Allegations. Concerns may be reported to the editorial office through the journal's official contact channel. Reports should identify the manuscript or article concerned, describe the suspected problem, and provide supporting information where available. Anonymous reports may be considered when they contain sufficiently specific and credible evidence.

Initial Assessment. The Editor-in-Chief or an independent delegated editor will assess whether the allegation is sufficiently specific and relevant to warrant further examination. The journal will seek to distinguish genuine errors, methodological disagreements, and good-faith differences in scholarly interpretation from possible research misconduct.

Investigation and Response. Where further investigation is justified, the journal may examine relevant documentation, consult independent specialists, request explanations from authors or other involved parties, and contact the relevant institution or research integrity office when appropriate. Individuals involved in the allegation will be given a reasonable opportunity to respond before an adverse editorial determination is made, except where immediate protective action is necessary.

Confidentiality and Fairness. Allegations must be handled impartially and with appropriate regard for confidentiality, procedural fairness, and the protection of individuals who raise concerns in good faith. Information will be disclosed only to those who reasonably need it for examination or resolution of the concern.

Possible Outcomes. Depending on the evidence and severity of the issue, the journal may reject or suspend a manuscript, request clarification or correction, refer the matter to the relevant institution, publish an expression of concern, issue a correction, or retract an article.

Editorial action will be guided by available evidence, the seriousness of the problem, and relevant COPE recommendations. The journal may cooperate with institutional investigations but does not claim authority to make formal institutional findings of research misconduct.

7. Conflicts of Interest and Competing Interests

IJECE requires authors, editors, reviewers, and other individuals involved in the publication process to disclose actual, potential, or perceived competing interests that could reasonably affect, or be perceived to affect, their professional judgment.

Competing interests may be financial, institutional, professional, academic, or personal. Examples include employment relationships, research collaborations, financial interests, advisory roles, personal relationships, direct supervisory relationships, and involvement in competing research projects.

Authors. Authors must disclose relevant competing interests and financial support during manuscript submission. When no relevant competing interests exist, an appropriate declaration should be provided.

Reviewers. Reviewers must disclose conflicts before accepting an assignment and decline the review when an impartial assessment cannot reasonably be ensured.

Editors. Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts when conflicts may compromise their independence. An alternative qualified editor without a relevant conflict must manage the editorial process.

Publisher. LITPAM must respect editorial independence. Financial arrangements, institutional relationships, advertising, publication fees, or other commercial considerations must not determine manuscript acceptance or rejection.

The existence of a competing interest does not automatically establish misconduct. However, failure to disclose a relevant interest may require further editorial assessment or corrective action.

8. Plagiarism, Originality, and Redundant Publication

IJECE is committed to preventing plagiarism and other forms of inappropriate textual or intellectual reuse. Submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-detection software, including Turnitin, as part of the editorial assessment.

Similarity reports are evaluated in context. Editors consider the nature and location of matched text, the adequacy of attribution, the presence of properly quoted material, and the possibility of legitimate similarities in terminology or methodological descriptions. A numerical similarity score alone does not establish plagiarism or guarantee that a manuscript is free from ethical problems.

Plagiarism, undisclosed redundant publication, misleading text recycling, and inappropriate reuse of previously published material may result in requests for clarification, rejection, or other appropriate editorial action.

Authors must not submit substantially identical manuscripts to multiple journals simultaneously. Prior dissemination through preprint servers or other scholarly platforms must be disclosed and assessed according to the journal's applicable publication policies.

9. Use of Artificial Intelligence in Research and Publication

IJECE recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) tools may support certain research and writing activities. However, their use must not compromise originality, transparency, accountability, confidentiality, or research integrity.

Authors must disclose substantive uses of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in preparing manuscripts, producing research materials, analyzing data, or generating content. Such disclosure should identify the relevant tools and explain their purposes and roles, as appropriate to the research.

AI systems must not be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, and originality of scholarly work. Human authors remain fully accountable for all manuscript content, including material produced or modified with AI assistance.

Authors must verify AI-assisted outputs and ensure that references, quotations, data, images, interpretations, and factual claims are accurate and appropriately attributed. Fabricated citations, invented results, misleading AI-generated materials, and undisclosed manipulation of research evidence are prohibited.

Editors and reviewers must protect confidential manuscript information when considering the use of AI-assisted tools. Unpublished manuscripts must not be uploaded to external AI systems without appropriate authorization and confidentiality safeguards.

10. Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

IJECE is committed to preserving the accuracy and integrity of the published scholarly record. When significant errors or ethical concerns are identified after publication, the journal will determine an appropriate response according to the nature, seriousness, and available evidence.

Corrections. A correction may be issued when an otherwise reliable article contains an error that requires clarification or amendment but does not invalidate its principal findings or conclusions. Corrections should identify the affected publication and explain the nature of the amendment.

Expressions of Concern. An expression of concern may be issued when there are substantial unresolved questions about a publication's reliability or integrity and the available evidence does not yet justify a final determination. Such notices may be updated or superseded when further evidence becomes available.

Retractions. Retraction may be considered when findings or conclusions are unreliable because of serious error or misconduct, when substantial plagiarism or redundant publication is established, or when serious ethical violations undermine the publication's validity or integrity.

Retraction notices must identify the affected article, explain the reason for retraction as clearly as appropriate, and be linked to the original publication. Retracted articles will ordinarily remain accessible as part of the scholarly record and be clearly marked as retracted, except where removal or restricted access is justified by legal, privacy, or safety considerations.

Procedural Fairness. Before issuing a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, the journal will examine the available evidence and seek explanations from the parties concerned where appropriate. The journal may also consult independent experts, the publisher, or relevant research institutions.

Authors are expected to cooperate with legitimate post-publication inquiries. Disagreement by an author does not necessarily prevent the journal from taking corrective action when the available evidence warrants it.

11. Post-Publication Discussion

IJECE welcomes responsible scholarly discussion and evidence-based criticism of published research. Readers, researchers, authors, and other interested parties may submit substantive comments, methodological concerns, requests for clarification, or information relevant to the reliability of published findings through the journal's official contact channel.

The editorial office will evaluate submissions based on their relevance, evidentiary support, scholarly value, and adherence to professional standards. Where appropriate, the journal may invite the original authors to respond, seek independent expert opinions, or facilitate further scholarly exchange.

Constructive post-publication discussion may result in clarification, author responses, formal commentary, editorial notices, corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions, depending on the nature of the issue and editorial assessment.

The journal does not guarantee publication of every comment or response. Decisions about publishing post-publication material must be based on scholarly relevance, ethical considerations, and editorial judgment. Personal attacks, defamatory statements, and unsupported allegations will not be accepted as scholarly contributions.

12. Complaints and Appeals

IJECE recognizes the right of authors, reviewers, readers, and other stakeholders to raise legitimate concerns about editorial procedures, publication decisions, ethical compliance, or the conduct of individuals involved in journal management.

Complaints should be submitted through the journal's official communication channel and should provide a clear explanation of the issue, relevant manuscript or article information, and supporting evidence where available.

Editorial Appeals. Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant procedural error, factual misunderstanding, conflict of interest, or other material issue affected the assessment. Appeals should present a reasoned explanation and supporting evidence rather than merely expressing disagreement with the reviewers' academic judgments.

Independent Assessment. Complaints and appeals will be examined by the Editor-in-Chief or another qualified editor who was not directly involved in the disputed decision, where appropriate. If the complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief, it may be referred to the publisher or an independent editorial representative.

Resolution. The journal may uphold the original decision, request further evaluation, provide clarification, initiate an ethics inquiry, or take other proportionate action. Parties will be informed of the outcome to the extent permitted by confidentiality and applicable requirements.

Complaints and appeals must be considered impartially and without retaliation against individuals raising concerns in good faith.

13. Duties and Responsibilities of the Publisher

As the publisher of IJECE, Lembaga Penelitian dan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat (LITPAM) is responsible for supporting ethical, transparent, and sustainable scholarly publishing practices.

The publisher's responsibilities include:

Supporting editorial independence and preventing inappropriate financial, institutional, or commercial influence over editorial decisions.
Supporting the implementation and periodic review of publication ethics policies.
Facilitating appropriate responses to serious publication ethics concerns and complaints involving journal management.
Supporting the protection and maintenance of the scholarly record, including the publication of necessary corrections and retraction notices.
Ensuring that publication fees, copyright arrangements, licensing information, and other relevant journal policies are communicated transparently.
Supporting appropriate administrative and technical arrangements for the journal's publishing activities and preservation of published scholarly content.

The publisher and editorial leadership share responsibility for maintaining trust in the journal's scholarly processes while respecting the independence of academic editorial decisions.

14. Policy Implementation and Review

This Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement applies to manuscripts under editorial consideration and to relevant ethical concerns arising from articles already published by IJECE.

The editorial team may review and update this statement in response to developments in publication ethics, scholarly communication, applicable regulations, and the operational needs of the journal. Material changes to the policy should be communicated transparently through the journal's official website.

Matters not explicitly addressed in this statement will be considered using relevant publication ethics principles, applicable institutional requirements, and appropriate COPE guidance.

15. References and Ethical Guidance

The following resources inform the journal's ethical principles and may be consulted for further guidance: