Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

Jurnal Ilmiah Ekotrans & Erudisi (JIEE) is committed to maintaining the highest attainable standards of scholarly integrity, academic independence, transparency, accountability, and responsible scientific communication. The journal recognizes that ethical scholarly publishing requires the active participation and shared responsibility of authors, editors, peer reviewers, editorial personnel, and the publisher.

JIEE is a peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal published under the institutional auspices of Universitas Ekasakti, Indonesia. The journal supports the publication of original and scientifically rigorous research in public administration, governance, public policy, organizational and management studies, and related social and political sciences.

This Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement establishes the fundamental ethical principles governing the submission, evaluation, publication, dissemination, and post-publication management of scholarly manuscripts.

The policy is informed by the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing jointly 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).

These international resources provide guidance for responsible scholarly publishing. Reference to such guidance does not constitute a claim of organizational membership or endorsement.

1. Fundamental Principles of Publication Ethics

JIEE adopts the following principles as the foundation of its editorial and publication activities:

  1. Research Integrity: Published research must be based on authentic evidence, transparent methods, responsible analysis, and honest reporting.
  2. Originality: Manuscripts must represent original scholarly contributions and appropriately acknowledge the intellectual work of others.
  3. Academic Independence: Editorial decisions must be determined by scholarly merit rather than personal, institutional, financial, political, or commercial interests.
  4. Fairness and Impartiality: All manuscripts must be assessed according to consistent academic and ethical standards.
  5. Confidentiality: Unpublished manuscripts, peer review communications, confidential research information, and personal data must be protected appropriately.
  6. Accountability: Authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher must accept responsibility for their respective roles in scholarly communication.
  7. Transparency: Editorial policies, authorship responsibilities, competing interests, publication charges, and significant post-publication actions must be communicated clearly.
  8. Responsible Correction: Significant errors and reliability concerns must be addressed through appropriate corrections, editorial notices, or retractions.
  9. Scholarly Respect: Scientific disagreement must be handled professionally through evidence-based discussion and fair editorial procedures.
  10. Continuous Improvement: Editorial policies and procedures should be periodically reviewed to maintain their relevance, effectiveness, and consistency with responsible publishing practices.

2. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors bear primary responsibility for the accuracy, originality, reliability, and ethical integrity of the research they submit to JIEE.

2.1. Originality and Authenticity of Research

Authors must submit original scholarly work that has been conducted, analyzed, and reported honestly.

All research findings must accurately represent the evidence obtained through the reported research procedures. Authors must not fabricate observations, falsify research data, manipulate analytical results, invent research participants, or misrepresent the circumstances under which research was conducted.

Authors must distinguish their original contributions from concepts, theories, methods, data, and findings developed by other researchers.

Appropriate acknowledgment and citation are required whenever previously published or unpublished intellectual contributions are used.

2.2. Accurate and Transparent Reporting

Authors must provide sufficient information to enable readers and reviewers to understand the research questions, theoretical foundations, methods, data sources, analytical procedures, findings, and limitations.

Research reporting must not selectively exclude material findings, distort statistical results, conceal relevant methodological limitations, or exaggerate the implications of the evidence.

Conclusions must remain consistent with the research design, quality of the evidence, and scope of the analyses conducted.

Where applicable, authors should report the study setting, sampling procedures, recruitment methods, research instruments, analytical techniques, validity or trustworthiness procedures, and relevant ethical considerations.

2.3. Originality and Plagiarism

Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. This includes inappropriate copying, unattributed paraphrasing, unauthorized reproduction of figures or tables, misappropriation of ideas, and presentation of another individual's research as one's own.

Authors must cite relevant sources accurately and distinguish direct quotations from paraphrased material.

JIEE uses Turnitin as part of its manuscript similarity screening procedure. Similarity reports support editorial evaluation but do not independently establish plagiarism or guarantee originality.

Editors must interpret similarity findings in context, considering legitimate quotations, cited material, standard terminology, reference lists, and the nature of textual overlap.

The journal may request clarification, revision, additional documentation, or take other appropriate editorial action when significant originality concerns are identified.

2.4. Duplicate Submission and Redundant Publication

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to JIEE and another journal.

Manuscripts must not substantially duplicate previously published work without appropriate disclosure, justification, and acknowledgment.

Research derived from a larger project, dissertation, institutional report, conference presentation, or previously disseminated working paper must be evaluated for originality, transparency, and compliance with the journal's applicable submission requirements.

Authors must disclose relevant overlapping manuscripts, preprints, conference publications, and related research outputs when such information is necessary to evaluate the originality of the submission.

Unacceptable redundant publication includes presenting substantially identical findings as separate original contributions without adequate scholarly justification.

2.5. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must reflect genuine and substantial scholarly contributions.

All listed authors must satisfy the journal's adopted authorship criteria, approve the final submitted manuscript, and accept appropriate accountability for their contributions.

Guest authorship, gift authorship, ghost authorship, coercive authorship, and the purchase or sale of authorship positions are prohibited.

The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating author approval, communicating with the editorial office, and ensuring that the author list and contribution statements are accurate.

Changes to the author list after submission require appropriate justification, agreement among the affected authors, and editorial authorization.

JIEE encourages transparent author contribution statements using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) where appropriate.

Further provisions are established in the journal's Authorship Criteria and Contribution Policy.

2.6. Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must acknowledge publications, datasets, intellectual contributions, and other sources that materially inform the research.

References must be relevant, accurate, and verifiable.

Authors must not fabricate bibliographic entries, cite nonexistent publications, misrepresent the conclusions of cited sources, or include references primarily for citation manipulation.

References suggested by reviewers or editors must be evaluated according to their scholarly relevance rather than personal citation interests.

2.7. Disclosure of Funding and Competing Interests

Authors must disclose relevant financial and non-financial interests that could reasonably influence, or appear to influence, research activities, interpretation, or reporting.

All relevant funding sources and material research support must be declared accurately.

Where a funding organization or sponsor has participated in research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication decisions, that involvement must be described transparently.

Authors without relevant competing interests should provide an explicit declaration to that effect.

Further requirements are established in the journal's Conflict of Interest and Competing Interests Policy.

2.8. Cooperation with Editorial Assessment

Authors must respond appropriately to reasonable requests for methodological clarification, supporting documentation, additional analyses, or information relating to research integrity.

Authors must not knowingly provide false information during manuscript submission, peer review, revision, or post-publication assessment.

Where significant errors or ethical concerns are discovered, authors must inform the editorial office promptly and cooperate in appropriate corrective action.

3. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

The Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and other authorized editors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are evaluated fairly, independently, confidentially, and consistently with the journal's stated policies.

3.1. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions must be based on the scholarly relevance, originality, methodological rigor, analytical quality, ethical compliance, and scientific contribution of submitted manuscripts.

Editors must not accept or reject manuscripts primarily because of an author's academic rank, institutional affiliation, nationality, ethnicity, gender, religious belief, political perspective, personal relationship, or financial capacity.

The publisher, institutional authorities, sponsors, and other external parties must not exert inappropriate influence over scientific editorial decisions.

3.2. Fair Evaluation and Editorial Judgment

Editors must apply consistent criteria when assessing manuscripts.

Decisions concerning desk rejection, external peer review, revision, acceptance, or rejection must be based on relevant scholarly and editorial considerations.

Reviewer recommendations inform but do not automatically determine the final editorial decision.

The responsible editor must consider the quality of reviewer assessments, author responses, the available evidence, and the journal's publication requirements before making a decision.

3.3. Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff must treat submitted manuscripts and related editorial communications as confidential.

Manuscript information may be disclosed only to individuals whose participation is reasonably necessary for editorial assessment, peer review, publication administration, or authorized investigation.

Unpublished research findings, data, ideas, and methods must not be used for personal or professional advantage without appropriate authorization.

3.4. Management of Conflicts of Interest

Editors must disclose competing interests that could compromise or reasonably appear to compromise their impartiality.

When an editor has a significant conflict involving a submitted manuscript, editorial responsibility must be assigned to another appropriately authorized and independent editor.

Editors must not manage manuscripts authored by themselves, close family members, direct academic supervisees, or other individuals with whom a relationship creates an unacceptable risk of bias.

Manuscripts submitted by editorial board members or authors affiliated with the publishing institution must undergo appropriate independent evaluation without preferential treatment.

3.5. Responsibility for Publication Integrity

Editors must take credible allegations of research or publication misconduct seriously.

They are responsible for evaluating concerns affecting manuscripts or published articles, requesting clarification, consulting appropriate experts, and determining necessary publication-related actions.

Where formal investigation of researcher conduct is required, the journal may refer the matter to the appropriate research institution or authorized body.

Editorial responsibility for the integrity of published content remains distinct from institutional responsibility for investigating research misconduct.

3.6. Protection of the Scholarly Record

Editors must facilitate appropriate correction of significant errors and unreliable publications.

Such actions may include published corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or other editorial notices consistent with applicable publication ethics guidance.

Editors must not silently alter published articles to conceal substantive problems.

4. Ethical Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers play an essential role in ensuring the quality, credibility, relevance, and integrity of scholarly publications.

4.1. Scientific Objectivity

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts according to their scientific merit, theoretical relevance, methodological quality, analytical coherence, originality, and contribution to existing scholarship.

Comments must be constructive, specific, evidence-based, and professionally expressed.

Personal criticism, discriminatory language, intimidation, and unsupported allegations against authors are unacceptable.

4.2. Confidentiality of Manuscripts

Manuscripts received for peer review must be treated as confidential scholarly documents.

Reviewers must not distribute manuscript files, disclose unpublished findings, discuss confidential content with unauthorized individuals, or use the information for personal research or competitive advantage.

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts or review materials to third-party AI systems or other external services without explicit authorization from the journal and appropriate safeguards.

4.3. Competence and Timeliness

Reviewers should accept assignments only when they possess appropriate expertise and have sufficient time to provide a meaningful evaluation.

Individuals who cannot complete a competent or timely review should notify the responsible editor promptly.

When specialist advice is needed, reviewers must seek editorial permission before involving another individual.

4.4. Disclosure of Competing Interests

Reviewers must disclose relevant financial, personal, academic, institutional, or professional relationships that could influence their evaluation.

Reviewers with significant conflicts must decline or withdraw from the assignment unless the editor determines that an appropriate arrangement can preserve impartiality.

4.5. Recognition of Relevant Scholarship

Reviewers should identify relevant publications or theoretical contributions that have been overlooked when their inclusion would materially strengthen the manuscript.

Suggestions for additional citations must be justified by scholarly relevance.

Reviewers must not use their position to demand unnecessary citations to their own work, the journal, or particular research groups.

4.6. Reporting Suspected Misconduct

Reviewers who identify potential plagiarism, fabricated evidence, duplicated publication, data inconsistencies, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other serious integrity concerns should inform the responsible editor confidentially.

Reviewers must distinguish substantiated concerns from speculation and should not independently accuse or contact authors outside the authorized editorial process.

5. Peer Review Ethics and Editorial Procedures

JIEE uses a double-blind peer review model, under which the identities of authors and reviewers are ordinarily concealed from each other during manuscript evaluation.

The purpose of this model is to support independent scholarly assessment and reduce inappropriate influence arising from personal identity or institutional relationships.

The editorial process includes initial screening, reviewer assignment, independent evaluation, author revision where required, and final editorial decision.

Possible reviewer recommendations include acceptance, minor revision, major revision, and rejection, as described in the journal's Peer Review Process.

The editorial team must seek appropriately qualified reviewers and manage potential conflicts of interest throughout the evaluation process.

Reviewers must not be selected or assigned solely to obtain a predetermined outcome.

Reviewer impersonation, fabricated peer review reports, manipulation of reviewer identities, and inappropriate interference with independent assessment are prohibited.

Manuscripts requiring revision must be evaluated according to the adequacy of the authors' responses and the scientific significance of the remaining concerns.

Final publication decisions are made by the responsible editor in accordance with the journal's approved procedures.

6. Research Ethics and Ethical Oversight

JIEE recognizes that research in public administration, governance, policy studies, management, and the social sciences may involve human participants, identifiable personal information, institutional records, sensitive public affairs, or other ethically significant materials.

6.1. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving interviews, surveys, focus groups, experiments, observations, or other forms of human participation must comply with applicable ethical, institutional, and legal requirements.

Where ethics approval is required by the relevant institution or applicable regulations, authors must obtain such approval before conducting the research.

Authors should identify the approving institution or ethics body and provide relevant approval information when appropriate.

Where formal ethical approval is not required, authors should explain the basis for that determination when the ethical status of the research is relevant to editorial assessment.

Ethical approval must not be fabricated, backdated, or represented as having been obtained when no such authorization exists.

6.2. Informed Consent

Where informed consent is required, research participants must receive sufficient information about the research purpose, participation procedures, voluntary nature of participation, reasonably foreseeable risks, and relevant confidentiality arrangements.

Consent procedures may be written, electronic, or verbal where permitted by applicable requirements and justified by the research design.

Authors must accurately describe the informed consent procedures used and retain appropriate evidence in accordance with relevant institutional requirements.

Consent for participation in research must be distinguished from consent to publish identifiable information, quotations, photographs, or other materials where publication could reveal an individual's identity.

6.3. Confidentiality and Participant Privacy

Authors must take appropriate measures to safeguard participants' identities, private information, and confidential institutional data.

Identifiable information should not be disclosed without an appropriate legal or ethical basis and the necessary permissions.

Where anonymization or pseudonymization is used, authors should ensure that published details do not inadvertently identify participants through combinations of demographic, professional, geographic, or contextual information.

6.4. Vulnerable Participants and Sensitive Research

Research involving vulnerable populations, unequal power relationships, sensitive institutional issues, or potentially harmful disclosures requires particular ethical care.

Authors should explain relevant safeguards where participants may face coercion, professional consequences, reputational harm, psychological distress, or other foreseeable risks.

Research involving public officials, employees, students, or individuals whose participation may be influenced by institutional authority should address the voluntary character of participation and relevant confidentiality protections.

6.5. Research Using Institutional and Administrative Data

Authors who use government records, organizational documents, administrative databases, or other restricted institutional materials must comply with relevant access conditions and applicable confidentiality requirements.

Permission to access institutional data does not automatically authorize the public disclosure of personal, confidential, or legally protected information.

Authors must describe data sources accurately and avoid presenting unauthorized or altered institutional records as authentic evidence.

7. Data Availability, Transparency, and Reproducibility

JIEE supports responsible research transparency and encourages authors to make the evidence underlying their findings available where legally, ethically, and practically appropriate.

Authors should maintain relevant research materials, datasets, instruments, coding procedures, analytical documentation, and other evidence necessary to support the accuracy of reported findings.

Where appropriate, authors may deposit research data, supplementary materials, analytical code, or documentation in recognized institutional or disciplinary repositories.

Data sharing must comply with participant consent, privacy obligations, intellectual property rights, institutional agreements, and applicable laws.

Authors are not required to disclose confidential participant information, protected institutional records, or other materials when public disclosure would create an unacceptable ethical or legal risk.

Where data cannot be made publicly available, authors should provide an appropriate explanation of the restrictions and describe whether controlled access is possible.

Editors may request access to relevant supporting information where necessary to evaluate a manuscript, subject to appropriate confidentiality and ethical safeguards.

Authors must not fabricate datasets or misrepresent synthetic, simulated, or illustrative data as authentic observations from human participants or real institutions.

Research involving generated or simulated data must disclose the nature, purpose, and limitations of such data.

8. Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence

JIEE recognizes that artificial intelligence-assisted technologies may support certain research, analytical, editing, and scholarly communication activities. However, their use must not compromise originality, research integrity, accountability, confidentiality, or transparency.

8.1. Author Responsibility

Authors remain fully responsible for all manuscript content, including material developed or revised with AI assistance.

AI systems and large language models cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot assume responsibility for research integrity, approve a manuscript, or respond to scholarly concerns.

8.2. Disclosure of AI Assistance

Authors must disclose substantive AI assistance when it materially contributes to manuscript preparation, research procedures, data processing, analysis, or the development of figures and other scholarly materials.

The disclosure should identify the nature and purpose of the assistance and, where relevant, the tools used.

Routine language assistance may be described according to the journal's approved AI disclosure requirements.

8.3. Verification of AI-Generated Content

Authors must independently verify AI-assisted statements, analytical results, references, quotations, calculations, interpretations, and other research-related content.

Fabricated references, fictional data, manipulated results, or unsupported claims produced using AI tools are not acceptable.

Authors must not use AI systems to invent research participants, create false interview records, fabricate survey responses, or conceal the origin of research evidence.

8.4. Confidentiality in Editorial and Peer Review Processes

Editors and reviewers must not disclose confidential manuscript content through unauthorized AI services or external platforms.

Any permitted AI-assisted editorial activity must comply with applicable confidentiality requirements and must not replace independent human editorial judgment.

Further details may be established through a dedicated JIEE AI Usage Policy.

9. Allegations of Research Misconduct

JIEE takes allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously, whether they arise before or after publication.

Potential misconduct may include fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, citation manipulation, inappropriate authorship, unethical research procedures, manipulated peer review, and other serious departures from accepted research integrity standards.

When credible concerns are reported, the editorial team should conduct an initial assessment of the available evidence and determine whether clarification, additional expert evaluation, institutional cooperation, or further editorial action is necessary.

Authors must ordinarily be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to substantive allegations affecting their work.

The editorial team must distinguish unintentional errors, disputed scientific interpretations, unresolved concerns, and substantiated misconduct.

Where formal investigation of researcher conduct is necessary, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution or other appropriately authorized body.

When the reliability of published material is affected, the journal remains responsible for determining appropriate publication-related action.

The detailed procedure is established in the journal's Allegations of Research Misconduct Policy.

10. Conflicts of Interest and Competing Interests

JIEE requires transparent disclosure and appropriate management of actual, potential, and perceived conflicts of interest.

The policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, journal personnel, and the publisher.

Competing interests may involve financial relationships, research funding, employment, consultancy, intellectual property, personal relationships, academic competition, institutional authority, political interests, or other circumstances affecting impartiality.

Disclosure of a competing interest does not automatically establish misconduct. The purpose of disclosure is to permit appropriate assessment and management of potentially relevant relationships.

Editors and reviewers must withdraw from assignments where significant conflicts prevent impartial evaluation.

Undisclosed conflicts identified after publication must be assessed proportionately and may require correction of the published declaration or further editorial action where the integrity of the publication has been affected.

Detailed requirements are established in the journal's Conflict of Interest and Competing Interests Policy.

11. Citation Ethics and Scholarly Attribution

JIEE is committed to responsible citation practices that accurately represent the development of scientific knowledge.

Authors must cite sources that materially inform their research questions, theoretical arguments, methods, findings, and interpretations.

Editors and reviewers must not require citations primarily to increase personal, institutional, or journal-level citation indicators.

Inappropriate citation arrangements, reciprocal citation schemes, citation coercion, and the deliberate inclusion of irrelevant references are prohibited.

Where additional references are recommended during peer review, their inclusion must be based on their relevance to the scholarly argument.

Authors must verify that cited sources exist and that the claims attributed to them accurately represent their content.

12. Image, Figure, Table, and Research Material Integrity

Figures, tables, photographs, diagrams, visualizations, and other research materials must accurately represent the information they are intended to communicate.

Authors must not manipulate research images, selectively alter visual evidence, or modify graphical presentations in a manner that materially misrepresents the findings.

Adjustments made for clarity, accessibility, or presentation must not conceal relevant information or create misleading impressions.

Previously published figures, tables, and other third-party materials must be appropriately attributed and reproduced in accordance with relevant copyright and licensing requirements.

Where visual materials are generated or materially modified using artificial intelligence, appropriate disclosure must be provided.

The editorial team may request original materials or explanations when questions arise regarding the authenticity or presentation of research evidence.

13. Copyright, Licensing, and Intellectual Property

JIEE respects authors' intellectual property rights and promotes transparent communication concerning copyright and reuse conditions.

Under the journal's published Copyright Notice, authors retain copyright and grant JIEE the right of first publication.

The journal's stated licensing arrangement is the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Authors must ensure that their manuscripts do not infringe the intellectual property rights of other individuals or organizations.

Materials reproduced from other sources must be used in accordance with applicable licenses, permissions, and attribution requirements.

Copyright and licensing information must be represented consistently in the journal's website, publication files, and related metadata.

Detailed provisions are available in the journal's Copyright Notice.

14. Publication Charges and Financial Ethics

JIEE recognizes that transparent financial arrangements are essential to responsible scholarly publishing.

All applicable manuscript submission charges, publication fees, and fee waiver arrangements must be disclosed clearly on the journal website.

According to the journal's published Article Processing Charge policy, online submission is free of charge, while an accepted article is subject to a publication fee of IDR 500,000, with fee waiver requests considered under the journal's stated conditions.

The payment or prospective payment of publication fees must not influence the scientific assessment, reviewer recommendations, or final editorial decision.

Authors who request a fee waiver must be evaluated according to the same scholarly and ethical criteria as other authors.

Editors must not accept manuscripts for financial reasons or permit commercial considerations to override publication standards.

Detailed information is available in the journal's Article Processing Charge policy.

15. Ethical Responsibilities of the Publisher

Universitas Ekasakti, as the institutional publisher associated with JIEE, has responsibility for supporting ethical, transparent, and sustainable scholarly publishing.

The publisher's responsibilities include supporting appropriate editorial governance, maintaining relevant publication infrastructure, facilitating ethical oversight, and assisting the journal in addressing significant publication integrity concerns.

The publisher must respect the academic independence of editors and must not impose publication decisions based on financial, administrative, reputational, or other inappropriate interests.

Where serious research integrity matters arise, the publisher may facilitate appropriate institutional cooperation without replacing independent editorial judgment.

The publisher and editorial management should maintain accurate information concerning the journal's ownership, management, editorial structure, contact details, publication charges, and other relevant publishing arrangements.

16. Complaints and Appeals

JIEE recognizes the right of authors, reviewers, readers, and other relevant parties to raise legitimate concerns regarding editorial procedures, publication ethics, manuscript handling, or published research.

Complaints may concern perceived procedural irregularities, inappropriate editorial conduct, conflicts of interest, research integrity issues, or other matters relevant to the journal's responsibilities.

Complaints should be submitted through the official JIEE Contact channel and should provide sufficient information to permit meaningful assessment.

Where practicable, the complaint should be considered by an appropriately authorized individual who has no relevant conflict of interest.

Individuals affected by serious allegations should be given a reasonable opportunity to provide clarification before a final determination is made.

Appeals against editorial decisions should identify a substantive procedural concern, relevant factual error, or additional evidence rather than merely expressing disagreement with an unfavorable decision.

The editorial team may consult additional independent experts where necessary.

Requests for reconsideration do not guarantee reversal of an editorial decision.

Complaints and appeals should be documented appropriately and addressed fairly, confidentially where necessary, and without inappropriate retaliation.

17. Post-Publication Discussion

JIEE recognizes that scholarly evaluation continues after publication.

Readers and researchers may raise substantive questions concerning published articles, including their theoretical arguments, research methods, analyses, findings, interpretations, and implications.

Constructive criticism and alternative interpretations are legitimate components of scientific development.

The journal facilitates post-publication discussion through editorial correspondence and, where appropriate, formal scholarly critiques, Letters to the Editor, author responses, or editorial notices.

Authors of the original article should ordinarily be given an opportunity to respond to substantive criticisms considered for formal publication.

Scientific disagreement must be distinguished from allegations of misconduct.

Credible concerns regarding factual errors or research reliability should be evaluated under the relevant correction, retraction, or research misconduct procedures.

The detailed framework is established in the journal's Post-Publication Discussion Policy.

18. Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

JIEE is committed to maintaining an accurate, transparent, and trustworthy scholarly record.

When errors or significant integrity concerns are identified after publication, the journal must determine an appropriate corrective response based on the available evidence.

18.1. Corrections

A correction may be published when an identifiable error requires amendment but does not invalidate the principal findings or overall reliability of the article.

Corrections should identify the original article and explain the nature of the amended information.

18.2. Expressions of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be issued when substantial concerns have been raised about a publication but the available evidence remains inconclusive or an investigation is ongoing.

Such notices must not be presented as definitive findings of misconduct.

18.3. Retractions

Retraction may be appropriate when sufficiently reliable evidence demonstrates that a published article is seriously unreliable or that substantial publication integrity problems require its withdrawal from the accepted scientific record.

Retraction is intended primarily to correct the scholarly literature rather than to punish authors.

Retraction notices should clearly identify the affected article, explain the reasons for the action, and remain publicly accessible.

18.4. Preservation of the Publication Record

Original articles subject to correction or retraction should ordinarily remain accessible with appropriate notices and markings, unless exceptional legal, privacy, or safety considerations require restricting particular content.

Where technically possible, related notices and publication metadata should be linked to the original article and communicated through applicable DOI or indexing services.

Substantive corrections and retractions must not be implemented through undisclosed alteration or silent deletion of published material.

Detailed procedures should be established in the journal's dedicated Correction and Retraction Policy.

19. Confidentiality, Privacy, and Data Protection

JIEE recognizes the importance of protecting confidential research materials, manuscript submissions, peer review records, editorial correspondence, and personal information.

Access to unpublished manuscripts and related editorial records must be limited to authorized persons involved in manuscript evaluation, publication administration, or appropriate ethical investigation.

Personal data collected through the OJS platform must be handled in accordance with applicable privacy obligations and institutional requirements.

Editorial personnel must not use confidential author information, unpublished research materials, or privileged correspondence for unrelated personal or professional purposes.

Data protection considerations apply throughout the submission, review, production, publication, and post-publication processes.

20. Fairness, Diversity, and Non-Discrimination

JIEE is committed to equitable and respectful scholarly communication.

Manuscript evaluation must be based on scientific merit rather than an author's personal identity, nationality, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, political beliefs, institutional reputation, or other characteristics unrelated to the quality of the research.

The journal encourages participation from researchers across institutions, countries, career stages, and disciplinary backgrounds, subject to its stated objectives and scope.

Editorial appointments and reviewer selections should be based primarily on scholarly expertise, professional integrity, and the ability to contribute meaningfully to the journal's academic mission.

Fairness does not require acceptance of manuscripts that fail to meet the journal's scientific or ethical standards.

21. Documentation, Accountability, and Continuous Improvement

The editorial management should maintain appropriate records of manuscript processing, peer review assignments, editorial decisions, author revisions, relevant conflict of interest disclosures, and significant publication ethics concerns.

Such documentation should be managed confidentially and retained in accordance with applicable institutional requirements.

The journal should periodically evaluate the effectiveness of its editorial policies, including practices relating to research integrity, reviewer independence, authorship transparency, corrections, and ethical oversight.

Where deficiencies are identified, appropriate corrective measures should be developed and implemented.

Formal changes to publication ethics requirements should be communicated transparently through the journal website.

22. Procedures for Reporting Ethical Concerns

Authors, reviewers, readers, researchers, and members of the public may report credible concerns relating to research integrity or publication ethics.

Concerns should be submitted to the editorial office through the journal's official contact channel.

Reports should identify the manuscript or publication concerned and provide a clear explanation of the issue together with relevant supporting evidence where available.

The editorial team should determine whether the matter requires clarification, correction, independent assessment, further investigation, or referral to an appropriate institution.

Anonymous reports may be considered when they provide sufficiently specific and verifiable information.

Good-faith reporting must not be discouraged merely because a concern is subsequently found to be unsubstantiated.

The journal will seek to protect relevant confidential information and avoid premature or unsupported conclusions regarding individual responsibility.

Official Contact: JIEE Editorial Office.

23. Relationship with Other Editorial Policies

This Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement functions as the principal framework connecting the journal's more specific editorial and ethical policies.

Detailed procedures and requirements are provided in the relevant journal documents, including:

  • Objectives and Scope.
  • Author Guidelines and Submission Requirements.
  • Authorship Criteria and Contribution Policy.
  • Manuscript Types.
  • Peer Review Process.
  • Plagiarism Policy.
  • Allegations of Research Misconduct Policy.
  • Conflict of Interest and Competing Interests Policy.
  • Post-Publication Discussion Policy.
  • Correction and Retraction Policy, when formally adopted.
  • Copyright Notice and Licensing Policy.
  • Article Processing Charge Policy.
  • Data Availability and AI Usage Policies, when formally adopted.

The editorial management should ensure that related policies remain consistent and that readers and authors can access the applicable documents through the official journal website.

24. International Ethical Guidance and References

The principles of this policy are informed by the following internationally recognized resources:

25. Policy Adoption, Implementation, and Review

This Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement establishes the journal's integrated framework for responsible scholarly publishing.

The revised policy becomes effective upon formal approval and publication by the responsible JIEE editorial management.

The editorial team should periodically review its provisions in light of developments in research integrity, publication ethics, institutional regulations, scholarly publishing technologies, and relevant international guidance.

Any substantial changes to the policy should be communicated transparently through the journal's official website and implemented consistently across related editorial policies.

All participants in the journal's publication process are expected to understand and comply with the ethical standards applicable to their respective responsibilities.