Publication Ethics

Jurnal Fisika Unand (JFU)
Online ISSN: 2686-2433

Description

Jurnal Fisika Unand (JFU) is committed to maintaining integrity, accountability, fairness, transparency, scientific rigor, and accuracy throughout the scholarly publishing process.

This page provides the ethical framework governing manuscripts submitted to, reviewed by, accepted by, and published in JFU. Detailed requirements and operational procedures are provided in the related policies listed below.

This framework applies to authors, contributors, reviewers, editors, guest editors, Editorial Board members, journal staff, and other persons involved in submission, peer review, editorial decision-making, production, publication, and post-publication activities.

JFU publishes theoretical, computational, experimental, and applied research in classical and modern physics. Ethical requirements are applied according to the nature of the research, including where manuscripts involve human participants, medical images, identifiable clinical information, animals, radiation, hazardous materials, environmental sampling, research data, scientific images, software, computational methods, or artificial intelligence.

Ethical and Publishing Framework

JFU develops and applies its editorial policies with reference to internationally recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing.

JFU uses the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) as its primary professional reference for publication ethics, editorial integrity, peer review, authorship, competing interests, allegations of misconduct, complaints and appeals, and correction of the scholarly record.

For manuscripts involving medical physics, medical imaging, human participants, patients, identifiable clinical information, or health-related data, JFU also refers, where applicable, to relevant recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

JFU’s open-access model is informed by the principles of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI). Specific reuse rights are governed by the copyright statement and Creative Commons license displayed on each article.

Reference to COPE, ICMJE, or BOAI does not constitute a statement of membership, endorsement, accreditation, or certification unless such status is separately confirmed and publicly verifiable.

JFU’s binding responsibilities and procedures are defined by:

  1. the policies published on the JFU website;
  2. applicable requirements of Universitas Andalas;
  3. applicable Indonesian laws and regulations;
  4. relevant ethics approvals, permits, consent conditions, and funding obligations; and
  5. the copyright and licensing terms stated on each article.

Core Principles

JFU applies the following principles throughout the publication process:

  1. Scientific integrity: Research must be conducted and reported honestly and accurately.
  2. Originality: Manuscripts must present an original contribution and appropriately acknowledge previous work.
  3. Transparency: Relevant information concerning methods, data, funding, competing interests, authorship, ethics, consent, prior dissemination, and generative AI must be disclosed.
  4. Accountability: Authors remain responsible for their work, reviewers for their assessments, and editors for editorial decisions.
  5. Fairness: Manuscripts are evaluated on scholarly merit without improper discrimination or external influence.
  6. Confidentiality: Unpublished manuscripts, reviewer identities, editorial records, and personal information must be protected.
  7. Editorial independence: Academic decisions must remain independent of financial, institutional, commercial, political, or personal pressure.
  8. Integrity of the scholarly record: Material errors and established integrity concerns must be addressed through transparent post-publication action.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must submit original, accurately reported, ethically conducted, and appropriately attributed work.

Authors are responsible for:

  1. the integrity of data, methods, images, code, analyses, and conclusions;
  2. valid authorship and contributorship;
  3. accurate funding and competing-interest declarations;
  4. ethics approval, consent, permits, and safety compliance where applicable;
  5. appropriate acknowledgement and citation;
  6. disclosure of prior dissemination and related manuscripts;
  7. compliance with copyright and third-party permissions;
  8. transparent disclosure of substantive generative AI use;
  9. responding honestly to reasonable editorial enquiries; and
  10. notifying JFU promptly of significant errors or integrity concerns.

Authors must not engage in fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, deceptive text recycling, duplicate publication, image manipulation, citation manipulation, authorship manipulation, peer-review manipulation, or other conduct that compromises research or publication integrity.

Detailed requirements are provided in the related JFU policies.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively, constructively, confidentially, and within their areas of competence.

Reviewers must:

  1. disclose relevant competing interests;
  2. decline assignments when impartiality or confidentiality cannot be maintained;
  3. protect confidential manuscript and editorial information;
  4. avoid using unpublished information for personal or professional advantage;
  5. provide evidence-based and respectful assessments;
  6. avoid citation coercion and unsupported requests;
  7. report credible ethical or integrity concerns confidentially to the editor; and
  8. complete reviews within the agreed period or notify the editor promptly.

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscript materials to unauthorized generative AI systems.

Reviewer recommendations are advisory. Final responsibility remains with the designated non-conflicted editor.

Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must make decisions based on scholarly merit, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to JFU’s scope.

Editors must:

  1. conduct editorial processes fairly and confidentially;
  2. disclose and manage competing interests;
  3. recuse themselves where impartiality may be compromised;
  4. select qualified and independent reviewers;
  5. protect confidential information;
  6. prevent manipulation of authorship, peer review, and citation;
  7. provide affected parties with a reasonable opportunity to respond to material concerns;
  8. distinguish honest error and scientific disagreement from misconduct;
  9. maintain appropriate editorial records; and
  10. correct the scholarly record when necessary.

Submissions involving editors, Editorial Board members, guest editors, journal staff, or close institutional colleagues must be handled independently.

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:

  • author status or institutional affiliation;
  • the ability or inability to pay an Article Processing Charge;
  • an APC waiver or discount request;
  • sponsorship or advertising;
  • personal relationships;
  • institutional pressure; or
  • political, promotional, or commercial interests.

APC administration and other financial processes must remain separate from scholarly assessment and editorial decision-making.

Confidentiality and Personal Information

Manuscripts, reviewer identities, review reports, editorial comments, personal information, and unpublished research materials may be accessed only by persons who require them for legitimate editorial, technical, administrative, integrity, or legal purposes.

Personal information is processed under the JFU Privacy Statement and Personal Data Protection Policy.

Editors, reviewers, and journal personnel must not disclose confidential material or upload it to systems that lack adequate confidentiality and data protection.

Integrity of the Scholarly Record

JFU is responsible for maintaining the accuracy, transparency, accessibility, and reliability of its published record.

Where published content contains a material error, unreliable finding, ethical concern, attribution problem, or misleading information, JFU may issue:

  • a dated change note;
  • a formal correction;
  • an expression of concern;
  • a retraction; or
  • an exceptional removal notice.

Post-publication action is intended to protect readers and correct the scholarly record, not to punish authors.

Published content will not be silently replaced when a permanent notice is required.

Reporting Ethical Concerns

Concerns relating to submitted or published content may be reported to the JFU Journal Office.

Email: jfu@sci.unand.ac.id

Recommended subject line:
Publication Ethics Concern: [manuscript ID, article DOI, or article title]

A report should:

  1. identify the manuscript or article;
  2. describe the concern clearly;
  3. identify the affected material or conduct;
  4. include supporting evidence where available; and
  5. disclose any relevant competing interest of the person reporting the concern.

JFU assesses concerns on their substance. Anonymous reports may be considered when they contain specific and verifiable information.

Good-faith complainants, respondents, reviewers, editors, witnesses, and journal staff must not be subjected to retaliation through JFU’s processes.

A concern involving the Editor-in-Chief will be referred to an independent senior editor or a publisher-appointed officer who was not involved in the matter.

Related Policies

Detailed requirements and operational procedures are provided in the following JFU policies:

  1. Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct;
  2. Authorship and Contributorship;
  3. Complaints and Appeals;
  4. Conflicts of Interest and Competing Interests;
  5. Research Data, Code, Materials and Reproducibility;
  6. Ethical Oversight of Research;
  7. Peer Review Policy;
  8. Plagiarism and Text Recycling Policy;
  9. Generative AI Policy;
  10. Corrections, Retractions and Post-Publication Discussion;
  11. Copyright, Licensing and Third-Party Material;
  12. Open Access Policy;
  13. Digital Preservation and Archiving Policy;
  14. Privacy Statement and Personal Data Protection; and
  15. Editorial Governance and Independence.

Contact and Policy Review

Questions concerning publication ethics should be sent to:

Jurnal Fisika Unand Journal Office
Department of Physics
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Universitas Andalas
Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia

Email: jfu@sci.unand.ac.id

This policy is reviewed at least once every two years and earlier whenever a related policy, professional standard, institutional requirement, journal procedure, or applicable law materially changes.