Publication Ethics and Malpractice

Jurnal Sosial Humaniora dan Pendidikan (EDUCATION) is committed to promoting responsible scholarly publishing, ethical research practices, and respect for human dignity in education, social sciences, and humanities. The journal recognizes that academic research must demonstrate scientific integrity while safeguarding the rights, well-being, privacy, and interests of individuals and communities involved in research.

This statement establishes the ethical principles and responsibilities governing authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher. Its provisions are informed by internationally recognized publication ethics principles, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and ethical considerations applicable to educational and social research.

1. Ethical Principles and Research Responsibilities

Research submitted to EDUCATION must uphold honesty, academic integrity, fairness, respect for participants, and responsible representation of research findings.

Authors are expected to ensure that research activities comply with applicable institutional ethical requirements and legal regulations. Studies involving human participants, including students, teachers, parents, and community members, must be conducted with appropriate consideration of potential risks, participant autonomy, confidentiality, and informed consent.

Where ethics committee approval or institutional authorization is required, authors must obtain it before conducting the relevant research activities and report the approval information in the manuscript.

Research practices involving deception, coercion, exploitation, or unnecessary risks to participants are not acceptable.

2. Protection of Research Participants and Vulnerable Groups

EDUCATION places particular importance on ethical safeguards in research involving children, students, individuals with disabilities, marginalized communities, and other potentially vulnerable populations.

Researchers must:

• Obtain voluntary and informed consent from participants or their legally authorized representatives, as applicable.

• Obtain parental or guardian permission and age-appropriate assent from children when required by applicable ethical and legal standards.

• Respect participants' right to decline participation or withdraw in accordance with the consent arrangements without inappropriate consequences.

• Protect participants from psychological, social, educational, or reputational harm.

• Prevent coercion arising from unequal relationships, particularly between teachers and students or researchers and research participants.

• Protect personal identities and sensitive information through appropriate anonymization, confidentiality, and secure data handling.

Participation in research must not improperly affect students' academic assessment, access to educational services, or institutional treatment.

The publication of identifiable photographs, recordings, personal narratives, or other sensitive participant information requires appropriate consent and authorization.

3. Integrity in Research Design and Reporting

Authors must present research objectives, methodologies, data collection procedures, analyses, and conclusions accurately and transparently.

Fabrication, falsification, selective manipulation of evidence, and misleading presentation of research findings are prohibited.

For quantitative research, authors must report sampling procedures, measurement instruments, analytical techniques, and relevant limitations sufficiently to permit scientific evaluation.

For qualitative research, authors must accurately represent interviews, observations, participant experiences, and cultural contexts without distorting their meaning. Quotations, field notes, and interpretations must respect confidentiality and accurately reflect the supporting evidence.

Authors must distinguish empirical findings from personal interpretations and avoid unsupported generalizations, discriminatory assumptions, or exaggerated claims about educational and social outcomes.

Research data and supporting documentation may be requested for editorial verification, subject to applicable privacy, confidentiality, and ethical restrictions.

4. Originality, Authorship, and Academic Accountability

All manuscripts submitted to EDUCATION must represent original scholarly contributions.

Authors must appropriately cite relevant sources, acknowledge intellectual contributions, and obtain permission when reproducing copyrighted materials.

Plagiarism, unauthorized duplication, redundant publication, citation manipulation, and simultaneous submission of substantially the same manuscript to multiple journals are prohibited.

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made meaningful scholarly contributions and who agree to accept responsibility for the submitted work. Guest authorship, honorary authorship, and the inappropriate exclusion of eligible contributors are unacceptable.

Authors must disclose research funding, institutional support, and potential conflicts of interest that could influence the study or its interpretation.

Any significant errors discovered before or after publication must be promptly communicated to the editorial office.

5. Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence tools may support scholarly activities when used transparently, responsibly, and consistently with academic integrity.

Authors must disclose substantive AI assistance in manuscript preparation, data analysis, translation, or content generation, including the purpose and extent of its use.

AI-generated references, interpretations, and research content must be independently verified. Artificial intelligence tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for scholarly work.

Authors must not upload confidential participant information, identifiable student records, unpublished interviews, or protected research materials to external AI platforms without appropriate authorization and safeguards.

Human authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, ethical compliance, and scholarly integrity of their manuscripts.

Further requirements are specified in the journal's AI Usage Policy.

6. Editorial Responsibilities and Independence

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts receive fair, confidential, and scientifically appropriate consideration.

Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly quality, originality, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal's educational, social, and humanistic scope.

Editors must not discriminate against authors based on nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, or other personal characteristics unrelated to scholarly merit.

The editorial team is responsible for selecting qualified reviewers, addressing potential conflicts of interest, maintaining manuscript confidentiality, and ensuring that review recommendations are considered objectively.

Editors must not exploit unpublished manuscripts, confidential findings, or privileged editorial information for personal benefit.

Editorial decisions must remain independent of inappropriate financial, institutional, or personal influence.

7. Ethical Standards for Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers are expected to contribute to the scholarly development of manuscripts through fair, constructive, and evidence-based evaluation.

Reviewers must assess manuscripts within their areas of expertise and provide reasoned comments on research relevance, theoretical foundations, methodological quality, ethical considerations, and the validity of conclusions.

Reviewers are required to:

• Maintain confidentiality throughout the review process.

• Declare potential conflicts of interest before accepting an assignment.

• Avoid personal criticism, discriminatory language, or inappropriate demands for citations.

• Report suspected plagiarism, unethical data collection, fabricated findings, or other research integrity concerns to the editor.

• Refrain from using or disclosing unpublished manuscript content without authorization.

Reviewers should pay particular attention to whether research involving students, children, or vulnerable populations demonstrates appropriate ethical safeguards.

8. Publisher Responsibilities and Institutional Accountability

STIE STEKOM, as the publisher of EDUCATION, provides institutional and administrative support for the journal's publication activities.

The publisher supports transparent editorial governance, responsible scholarly communication, and the implementation of publication ethics policies.

Scientific assessment, reviewer selection, and manuscript acceptance decisions remain under the independent authority of the editorial leadership.

Financial arrangements, including article processing charges where applicable, must not influence manuscript evaluation or editorial outcomes.

The publisher and editorial team share responsibility for responding appropriately to credible publication ethics concerns and preserving the integrity of the journal's scholarly record.

9. Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct

EDUCATION takes allegations of unethical research conduct and publication malpractice seriously, regardless of whether concerns arise before or after publication.

Potential misconduct includes plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, unethical participant recruitment, failure to obtain required consent, breaches of confidentiality, inappropriate authorship practices, and manipulation of the peer review process.

When credible concerns are reported, the editorial team will conduct a preliminary assessment, examine available evidence, and allow relevant parties to provide clarification.

Where appropriate, the journal may request supporting documentation or consult relevant institutional authorities.

Editorial actions will depend on the available evidence and seriousness of the findings. Possible outcomes include requests for clarification or revision, rejection of a manuscript, notification to relevant institutions, publication of a correction, or retraction of a published article.

Investigations must be conducted fairly, with appropriate confidentiality and without presuming misconduct before the evidence has been evaluated.

Further procedures are outlined in the Allegations of Research Misconduct Policy.

10. Post-Publication Corrections, Complaints, and Appeals

EDUCATION recognizes that ethical responsibility continues after an article has been published.

Substantial errors, unreliable findings, undisclosed ethical violations, or concerns regarding published research will be assessed through appropriate editorial procedures.

Depending on the circumstances, the journal may issue a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction. Such actions are intended to preserve the accuracy of the scholarly record rather than serve as automatic disciplinary measures.

Authors, reviewers, readers, and research participants may submit documented complaints or appeals through the journal's official communication channels.

Complaints will be considered objectively, with appropriate confidentiality and attention to potential conflicts of interest. Appeals against editorial decisions must provide substantive academic or procedural grounds.

Detailed provisions are available in the journal's Correction and Retraction Policy and Post-Publication Policy.

Through these commitments, EDUCATION seeks to foster trustworthy research, ethical engagement with research participants, and responsible dissemination of knowledge that benefits education and society.