Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics

At the Sinergi International Journal of Education, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and integrity. Our editorial policies align with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines to ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability in scholarly publishing. Any form of unethical behavior, including plagiarism, data falsification, or authorship misconduct, is strictly prohibited. Authors, editors, and reviewers must adhere to ethical publishing practices as outlined by COPE Core Practices (https://publicationethics.org/guidance).

Authorship and Contributorship

  1. Authorship Criteria: All listed authors must have made significant contributions to the research, including study design, data collection, analysis, or manuscript writing.
  2. Corresponding Author’s Role: The corresponding author is responsible for managing all communications with the journal, obtaining necessary approvals from co-authors, and ensuring transparency in data usage.
  3. Author Contributions Statement: To ensure transparency, each manuscript must include an authorship contribution statement detailing individual roles.
  4. Affiliation and ORCID ID: Authors should list their primary affiliation at the time of research and are encouraged to include their ORCID ID.
  5. Changes to Authorship: Any modifications to authorship (addition, removal, or order change) after submission require written consent from all authors and editorial approval.
  6. Use of AI in Manuscripts: AI-generated content cannot be considered an independent author. If AI tools are used, their role must be disclosed in the methodology.
  7. Confidentiality: All communication with the journal, including reviewer comments and editorial decisions, is confidential unless explicit permission is granted for disclosure.

Complaints and Appeals

  1. Editorial Decisions: Authors may appeal editorial decisions by providing a detailed explanation addressing reviewers' concerns. Appeals are assessed by the Editor-in-Chief, whose decision is final.
  2. Process-Related Complaints: Complaints regarding peer review delays or publication procedures should be directed to the editorial office and will be resolved per COPE guidelines.
  3. Ethical Concerns: Any complaints regarding ethical misconduct will be reviewed by the editorial board, following COPE’s recommended procedures.

Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests

  1. Disclosure Requirements: Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest, including funding sources, institutional affiliations, or personal relationships that may influence the research.
  2. Editorial and Reviewer Conflicts: Editors and reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling relevant manuscripts.
  3. Transparency: All disclosed conflicts of interest will be published alongside the manuscript to maintain transparency.

Data Sharing and Reproducibility

  1. Data Availability: Authors should provide supporting data and make their datasets publicly available where possible, ensuring reproducibility and verification of research findings.
  2. Supplementary Materials: Any supplementary data, including raw datasets, should be deposited in recognized repositories or included as supplementary files.
  3. Research Transparency: Authors must describe their methodology in detail to allow replication of results.

Ethical Oversight

  1. Human and Animal Research: Studies involving human or animal subjects must comply with ethical guidelines, including obtaining institutional review board (IRB) approval and informed consent.
  2. Research Integrity: Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research adheres to ethical standards, including avoiding data manipulation, fabrication, and plagiarism.
  3. Retractions and Corrections: If ethical concerns or errors are identified post-publication, the journal will issue a correction, retraction, or expression of concern as appropriate.

Intellectual Property

  1. Copyright and Licensing: Authors retain copyright to their work while granting the journal a license to publish under a Creative Commons license.
  2. Plagiarism and Duplication: Submitted manuscripts must be original and should not have been published or under consideration elsewhere. The journal uses plagiarism detection software to screen submissions.
  3. Attribution and Fair Use: Proper citation and acknowledgment of sources are required to prevent academic misconduct.

Process for Identification of and Dealing with Allegations of Research Misconduct

  1. Preventing Research Misconduct: Publishers and editors shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including but not limited to plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others.
  2. No Tolerance for Misconduct: In no case shall a journal or its editors encourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.
  3. Handling Allegations: In the event that a journal’s publisher or editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct relating to a published article in their journal, the publisher or editor shall follow COPE’s guidelines (or equivalent) in dealing with allegations.

Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

  1. Post-Publication Comments: The journal encourages academic discussions and allows post-publication commentary on published articles.
  2. Errata and Retractions: If errors are discovered, the journal will publish corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions following COPE guidelines.
  3. Article Removal: Articles may be removed only under exceptional circumstances, such as legal infringements, ethical violations, or threats to public health

For further guidance, please refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): https://publicationethics.org/guidance.

By adhering to these ethical standards, Sinergi International Journal of Education aims to maintain the integrity and credibility of academic publishing.