Internal Policy

IJECE | Internal Policy · Section 00

Policy Scope and Principles

The International Journal of Essential Competencies in Education (IJECE), published by Lembaga Penelitian dan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat (LITPAM), permits editors, editorial board members, peer reviewers, proofreaders, and other editorial staff to submit scholarly manuscripts for publication in the journal. Their affiliation with IJECE does not provide preferential consideration or exemption from the journal's established editorial and publication requirements.

This Internal Policy establishes procedures to prevent, disclose, and manage actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest arising when individuals associated with the journal become authors or co-authors of submitted manuscripts. Its purpose is to safeguard editorial independence, ensure impartial peer review, maintain transparency, and protect the integrity of publication decisions.

All submissions involving journal-affiliated individuals must follow the same scholarly, ethical, and editorial standards applicable to other authors. This policy complements the journal's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement and Peer Review Process and is informed by relevant principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

IJECE | Internal Policy · Section 01

1. Disclosure of Editorial Roles and Conflicts of Interest

Editors, editorial board members, peer reviewers, proofreaders, and other editorial staff who submit manuscripts to IJECE must disclose their journal-related roles at the time of submission. They must also declare any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could affect, or reasonably appear to affect, the independence of manuscript evaluation.

Such disclosures must be communicated to the editorial office before the manuscript undergoes editorial assessment. Relevant conflicts may include personal relationships, institutional affiliations, recent research collaborations, supervisory relationships, financial interests, or other professional circumstances that could compromise impartial judgment.

Disclosure does not automatically disqualify a manuscript from consideration. However, the editorial office must implement appropriate safeguards to ensure that the evaluation and publication decisions remain independent.

IJECE | Internal Policy · Section 02

2. Recusal from Editorial Responsibilities

Any editor, editorial board member, peer reviewer, or editorial staff member who is an author or co-author of a manuscript submitted to IJECE must withdraw from all editorial responsibilities directly related to that manuscript. This restriction begins upon submission and continues throughout editorial assessment, peer review, revision, final decision-making, and, where applicable, publication.

The individual must not participate in initial screening, selection or appointment of reviewers, assessment of reviewer reports, editorial recommendations, acceptance or rejection decisions, or other activities that could influence the outcome of their manuscript.

Where an issue-level editorial decision could create a conflict involving the individual's submitted or accepted article, the individual must also withdraw from that specific decision. Recusal from unrelated editorial responsibilities is not required unless an additional conflict of interest exists.

The journal must ensure that recusal is respected within its editorial management procedures and that the individual does not exercise privileged access or authority over the evaluation of their own manuscript.

IJECE | Internal Policy · Section 03

3. Independent Editorial Handling

Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, peer reviewers, or other editorial staff must be assigned to a qualified independent handling editor who has no relevant conflict of interest with the authors.

The independent handling editor is responsible for supervising the manuscript evaluation, selecting qualified reviewers, assessing reviewer recommendations, coordinating revisions, and making or recommending editorial decisions in accordance with the journal's established procedures.

When the Editor-in-Chief is an author or co-author, an appropriately authorized representative of LITPAM who is not affected by the conflict must appoint a qualified independent handling editor. The publisher's representative may facilitate this appointment but must not interfere with the independent scholarly evaluation or determine the publication outcome.

The submitting individual must not influence the appointment of the handling editor or reviewers. Any additional conflicts identified during the editorial process must be disclosed promptly and managed through reassignment or other appropriate safeguards.

IJECE | Internal Policy · Section 04

4. Independent Peer Review

Manuscripts submitted by individuals affiliated with IJECE must undergo the same double-blind peer-review procedures applied to other manuscripts. Each manuscript that passes the initial editorial screening must be evaluated by at least two qualified and independent peer reviewers with relevant scholarly expertise.

Reviewers must be selected on the basis of their expertise, impartiality, and ability to provide objective scholarly assessments. Individuals with relevant personal, institutional, financial, supervisory, or recent collaborative relationships with the authors must disclose these relationships and must not undertake the review when an impartial assessment cannot reasonably be ensured.

Where reviewer assessments differ substantially or additional specialist evaluation is necessary, the independent handling editor may invite another qualified reviewer in accordance with the journal's Peer Review Process.

Editorial affiliation must not influence reviewer recommendations, manuscript revisions, or publication decisions. The independent handling editor must assess the manuscript according to its originality, methodological rigor, scholarly contribution, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal's aims and scope.

IJECE | Internal Policy · Section 05

5. Equal Treatment and Editorial Decisions

All manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, peer reviewers, proofreaders, or other editorial staff must be evaluated under the same editorial criteria and publication standards as manuscripts submitted by authors without journal affiliations.

No manuscript shall receive guaranteed acceptance, preferential reviewer selection, unjustified priority in editorial processing, expedited publication, reduced scholarly scrutiny, or exemption from standard revision requirements because of an author's editorial position or relationship with the journal.

Editorial outcomes, including acceptance, minor revision, major revision, and rejection, must be determined by the independent scholarly evaluation of the manuscript and the application of established journal policies.

Article processing charges and any applicable exemptions must follow the journal's publicly stated policies. Editorial affiliation alone must not result in a special financial privilege or arrangement that is unavailable under those policies.

All final decisions must be academically justified, appropriately documented, and communicated through the journal's established editorial management procedures.

IJECE | Internal Policy · Section 06

6. Copyediting and Production Independence

Editors, proofreaders, copyeditors, and other production staff who are authors or co-authors of accepted manuscripts must not exercise independent editorial or production quality-control authority over their own articles.

Copyediting, proofreading, formatting verification, metadata checking, and final production approval must be assigned to another qualified individual who has no relevant conflict of interest with the authors.

Authors may review their article proofs in their capacity as authors, subject to the journal's established procedures. However, responsibility for independent quality control and authorization of the final publication version must remain with an appropriately designated member of the editorial or production team.

IJECE | Internal Policy · Section 07

7. Documentation and Transparency

IJECE must maintain appropriate internal records of manuscript submissions involving journal-affiliated individuals, including conflict-of-interest disclosures, independent handling editor assignments, reviewer appointments, peer-review reports, editorial correspondence, revision histories, and publication decisions.

These records must be maintained securely through the journal's editorial management system or other authorized editorial records. Access must be restricted according to legitimate editorial responsibilities and applicable confidentiality requirements.

Where appropriate, a published article involving an editor or editorial board member may include an editorial disclosure indicating that the manuscript was handled independently and that the author had no involvement in the peer-review process or publication decision. Such statements must accurately reflect the procedures followed.

Editorial records may be examined internally when necessary to investigate credible concerns regarding conflicts of interest, inappropriate editorial influence, or possible violations of publication ethics.

IJECE | Internal Policy · Section 08

8. Editorial Oversight and Accountability

The Editor-in-Chief and LITPAM are responsible for supporting the effective implementation of this Internal Policy while maintaining the independence of scholarly editorial decisions.

The Editor-in-Chief must ensure that relevant conflicts of interest are disclosed, independent handling editors are assigned where necessary, and appropriate safeguards are maintained throughout the editorial process. When the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict of interest, oversight of the affected manuscript must be delegated to an appropriately authorized and independent representative.

Suspected violations of this policy must be examined objectively and confidentially. The journal may review editorial records, request explanations from relevant parties, consult independent experts, and take proportionate corrective action when supported by the available evidence.

Complaints concerning an editor's handling of a manuscript must be assessed by an individual who was not involved in the disputed decision. Allegations concerning the Editor-in-Chief may be referred to an independent representative of the publisher.

Any confirmed violation must be addressed in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement and applicable COPE guidance. The journal may periodically review this policy to maintain its relevance, clarity, and effectiveness.

IJECE | Internal Policy · References

Related Policies and References

This Internal Policy should be read in conjunction with the journal's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement, Peer Review Process, Author Guidelines, and other applicable editorial policies.

The following resources provide additional guidance:

• IJECE Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
• COPE Core Practices

Where a matter is not explicitly addressed in this policy, the editorial office will consider the journal's applicable publication ethics policies, principles of editorial independence, and relevant COPE guidance.