Publication Ethics

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

1. Introduction and Commitment to Publication Ethics

Jurnal Fisika Unand (JFU) is committed to maintaining the integrity, credibility, transparency, fairness, and scientific reliability of the scholarly publishing process.

As a peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to classical and modern physics, JFU recognizes that responsible scientific publication is essential to the advancement of knowledge and the maintenance of public trust in research.

JFU publishes original theoretical, computational, experimental, and applied research. The journal expects all participants in the publication process to uphold the principles of honesty, accountability, objectivity, confidentiality, transparency, and respect for intellectual contributions.

These responsibilities apply to authors, co-authors, reviewers, editors, Editorial Board members, journal staff, and other parties involved in manuscript submission, evaluation, publication, and post-publication activities.

JFU maintains its publication ethics framework with reference to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), including its Core Practices and relevant guidance on ethical editorial decision-making and the management of publication misconduct.

Where applicable, JFU also considers recommendations from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), particularly for research involving medical physics, medical imaging, human participants, patients, and health-related information.

The journal's open-access approach is informed by the principles of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).

Reference to these organizations and frameworks does not imply membership, endorsement, accreditation, or formal certification by those organizations.

JFU's binding editorial procedures are defined by its published policies, applicable institutional requirements, relevant Indonesian laws and regulations, and the ethical obligations associated with individual research projects.

2. Fundamental Principles of Ethical Publishing

JFU applies the following principles throughout the publication process:

1. Scientific integrity: Research must be conducted and reported honestly, accurately, and without fabrication, falsification, or deceptive manipulation.

2. Originality: Submitted manuscripts must make an original scholarly contribution and appropriately acknowledge previous work.

3. Transparency: Authors must disclose relevant information concerning research methods, data, funding, competing interests, authorship, ethical approval, and the use of generative AI.

4. Accountability: Authors remain responsible for their research and published claims; editors remain responsible for editorial decisions; reviewers remain responsible for the integrity of their evaluations.

5. Fairness: Manuscripts must be evaluated on scholarly merit, without inappropriate discrimination or external influence.

6. Confidentiality: Unpublished manuscripts, reviewer identities, and confidential editorial information must be protected.

7. Editorial independence: Academic decisions must remain independent of financial, institutional, commercial, or personal pressure.

8. Correction of the scholarly record: Significant errors and established integrity concerns must be addressed through appropriate, transparent post-publication actions.

These principles apply before submission, during peer review, after acceptance, and following publication.

3. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

3.1 Originality and Research Integrity

Authors must submit manuscripts representing genuine, original, and accurately reported research.

All data, observations, calculations, simulations, measurements, images, and analytical results must be presented truthfully and without intentional distortion.

Authors must not engage in:

• Fabrication or falsification of research data or findings.

• Plagiarism or unattributed appropriation of another person's intellectual contributions.

• Misleading manipulation of images, graphs, spectra, experimental results, or statistical analyses.

• Duplicate or redundant publication without appropriate disclosure.

• Simultaneous submission of substantially the same manuscript to multiple journals.

• Selective reporting intended to conceal findings that materially affect the interpretation of results.

• Misrepresentation of research methods, equipment, experimental conditions, software, or computational procedures.

• Authorship, citation, or peer-review manipulation.

Authors must clearly distinguish original findings from previously published evidence, hypotheses, interpretations, and background information.

3.2 Accurate and Complete Reporting

Authors must provide sufficient methodological information to permit appropriate scientific evaluation and, where reasonably possible, replication or independent verification.

Depending on the nature of the research, manuscripts should describe relevant experimental apparatus, calibration procedures, measurement uncertainty, statistical methods, computational algorithms, simulation assumptions, numerical parameters, software, and validation procedures.

Reported conclusions must be supported by the presented evidence.

Uncertainty, limitations, methodological assumptions, and material sources of potential error must be reported transparently.

3.3 Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must reflect genuine scholarly contributions.

Individuals listed as authors must have made substantial intellectual contributions, participated appropriately in preparing or critically revising the manuscript, approved the final submitted version, and accepted responsibility for their contributions and the integrity of the work.

JFU does not permit guest, honorary, gift, or ghost authorship.

Contributors who do not meet the applicable authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately, with their permission where necessary.

The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating communication with the journal and confirming that all authors have approved the submission, author order, relevant declarations, revisions, and final publication version.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be justified and handled in accordance with JFU's Authorship and Contributorship Policy.

3.4 Acknowledgment and Citation

Authors must appropriately acknowledge the work of others, including relevant publications, datasets, software, methods, figures, and other intellectual contributions.

Citations must be accurate, relevant, and sufficient to support the claims for which they are provided.

Authors must not manipulate citations to artificially increase citation counts, favor particular journals or individuals, or satisfy inappropriate editorial or reviewer demands.

3.5 Multiple, Redundant, and Concurrent Publication

A manuscript submitted to JFU must not be simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

Authors must disclose related manuscripts, preprints, theses, dissertations, conference proceedings, repository deposits, and other prior dissemination where these may be relevant to assessing originality or overlap.

Previous dissemination does not automatically constitute unethical duplicate publication. JFU will assess the nature, extent, transparency, and scholarly significance of the overlap.

Substantial reuse of previously published material without adequate disclosure, attribution, or a legitimate scholarly basis is unacceptable.

3.6 Funding and Competing Interests

Authors must disclose funding sources and financial or non-financial relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, its interpretation, or its publication.

Relevant interests may include research grants, employment, consultancy, patents, intellectual property interests, commercial relationships, personal relationships, or institutional affiliations.

The existence of a competing interest does not automatically disqualify a manuscript, but nondisclosure may constitute a publication ethics concern.

Authors must provide a competing-interest declaration even when there are no relevant interests to disclose.

3.7 Responsibility After Publication

Authors have a continuing responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of their published work.

If an author discovers a significant error, omission, ethical concern, or unreliable result, the author must promptly inform JFU and cooperate in determining the appropriate corrective action.

Authors must also cooperate with reasonable editorial requests for supporting evidence during the assessment of research integrity concerns.

4. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

4.1 Fair and Independent Editorial Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief and designated handling editors are responsible for maintaining the integrity of editorial assessment and publication decisions.

Editorial decisions must be based on:

• Relevance to JFU's aims and scope.

• Originality and significance of the research.

• Scientific and methodological soundness.

• Quality and transparency of reporting.

• Reliability of the evidence and conclusions.

• Compliance with ethical and publication requirements.

• Constructive assessment of relevant peer-review reports.

Decisions must not be influenced by an author's nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, political views, institutional prestige, personal relationships, or ability to pay publication charges.

4.2 Editorial Confidentiality

Editors must treat submitted manuscripts, supporting data, reviewer identities, reviewer reports, and editorial correspondence as confidential information.

Access must be restricted to individuals with legitimate responsibilities in the editorial, technical, administrative, integrity, or legal process.

Unpublished information must not be used for personal research, financial advantage, or professional benefit without appropriate authorization.

4.3 Management of Competing Interests

Editors must disclose actual, potential, or perceived competing interests.

An editor must not handle a manuscript when a relationship or circumstance could compromise independent judgment.

Such manuscripts must be reassigned to a qualified, non-conflicted editor.

Submissions by editors, Editorial Board members, journal staff, or closely associated researchers must undergo independent editorial handling without preferential treatment.

4.4 Responsibility for Editorial Integrity

Editors must take reasonable steps to:

• Select competent and independent reviewers.

• Identify potential peer-review manipulation.

• Evaluate credible concerns about research integrity.

• Protect the confidentiality and fairness of investigations.

• Provide affected parties with reasonable opportunities to respond.

• Maintain appropriate editorial records.

• Initiate corrections or other post-publication actions when justified.

Editorial decisions must not be delegated entirely to automated systems or generative AI.

5. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

JFU recognizes peer review as an essential mechanism for evaluating the quality, validity, originality, and significance of scientific research.

Reviewers are expected to act professionally, impartially, and confidentially.

5.1 Objectivity and Scientific Assessment

Reviewers must provide constructive, evidence-based assessments of manuscripts within their areas of expertise.

Reviews should evaluate the research question, scientific contribution, methodology, analysis, results, interpretation, reporting quality, and reproducibility.

Personal criticism, discriminatory comments, unsupported allegations, and coercive citation requests are prohibited.

5.2 Confidentiality

Reviewers must not disclose, distribute, reproduce, or discuss unpublished manuscripts with unauthorized persons.

Unpublished research information must not be used for personal or professional advantage.

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscript content to unauthorized generative-AI platforms or other external systems.

5.3 Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must promptly disclose relevant financial, institutional, personal, academic, or competitive interests.

A reviewer must decline an invitation when impartiality cannot reasonably be maintained.

5.4 Timeliness and Professional Conduct

Reviewers should accept assignments only when they have sufficient expertise and time to complete the review.

If a reviewer cannot meet an agreed deadline, the reviewer should inform the editor promptly.

5.5 Identification of Ethical Concerns

Reviewers should notify the editor when they identify credible indications of plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated data, manipulated images, questionable research methods, inadequate ethical oversight, or other serious concerns.

Reviewers should report concerns confidentially and avoid making unsupported public accusations.

6. Peer-Review Integrity

JFU applies a double-anonymous peer-review model to Original Research Articles.

Under this model, authors and reviewers are not informed of one another's identities during the review process, although complete anonymity cannot be guaranteed in every circumstance.

Manuscripts that pass initial editorial screening are normally evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with relevant subject or methodological expertise.

Peer-review reports inform editorial decisions but do not replace independent editorial judgment.

JFU prohibits reviewer impersonation, fabricated reviewer identities, fraudulent review reports, undisclosed coordinated reviewing, citation coercion, and other attempts to manipulate the peer-review process.

The detailed procedures governing reviewer selection, anonymity, editorial decisions, revisions, and appeals are provided in the JFU Peer Review Policy.

7. Research Data, Scientific Images, Code, and Reproducibility

JFU supports transparent, verifiable, and reproducible scientific research.

Authors are responsible for the reliability of the data, software, calculations, images, and other materials used to support their findings.

Every Original Research Article must include a Data Availability Statement consistent with JFU's Research Data and Reproducibility Policy.

Where ethically, legally, and technically possible, authors should make supporting research materials available through appropriate repositories or other reliable access mechanisms.

For experimental and computational physics, relevant materials may include:

• Raw and processed experimental data.

• Measurement and calibration records.

• Computational code and algorithms.

• Numerical models and simulation parameters.

• Instrument specifications and acquisition settings.

• Image-processing procedures.

• Statistical analysis methods.

• Relevant supplementary documentation.

Data or materials must not be fabricated, selectively altered, or manipulated in ways that misrepresent scientific findings.

Adjustments to scientific images, including microscopy images, medical images, spectra, and instrument outputs, must preserve scientific meaning and be disclosed when relevant.

Where access to data is restricted because of privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, security, or other legitimate constraints, the restriction and available access conditions must be explained.

JFU may request supporting records when necessary to evaluate the integrity or reliability of reported findings.

8. Ethical Oversight of Research

Authors must comply with applicable ethical, legal, institutional, and safety requirements governing their research.

The specific requirements depend on the nature of the study.

8.1 Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants or identifiable personal information must have appropriate prior ethical approval or a documented exemption when required.

Authors must describe relevant ethics approval and informed consent arrangements.

8.2 Medical Physics and Medical Imaging

Research involving patients, medical records, diagnostic images, clinical measurements, or identifiable health information must comply with applicable ethics approval, confidentiality, data protection, and consent requirements.

Identifiable information must not be published without appropriate authorization and consent.

Consent to participate in research does not automatically constitute consent to publish identifiable information.

8.3 Animal Research

Studies involving animals must comply with applicable animal welfare standards, ethical approval requirements, and institutional or legal obligations.

8.4 Radiation and Laboratory Safety

Research involving ionizing or non-ionizing radiation, radioactive materials, hazardous substances, or potentially dangerous experimental procedures must comply with applicable safety, authorization, and regulatory requirements.

Authors must not conceal material safety limitations or misrepresent required approvals.

8.5 Environmental Research and Fieldwork

Research involving environmental sampling, field measurements, protected locations, or regulated materials must comply with applicable permits and legal requirements.

8.6 Sensitive and Dual-Use Research

Research that presents credible safety, security, environmental, or misuse concerns may require additional editorial scrutiny.

JFU will assess such concerns proportionately and may seek appropriate specialist or institutional advice.

9. Responsible Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

JFU recognizes that generative AI and AI-assisted technologies may support legitimate research and scholarly communication when used responsibly.

However, the use of these technologies must not undermine research integrity, transparency, confidentiality, or human accountability.

The following principles apply:

1. Generative AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors.

2. Human authors remain responsible for all manuscript content, including AI-assisted material.

3. Authors must disclose relevant uses of generative AI in accordance with JFU's Generative AI Policy.

4. AI-generated references, data, results, analyses, images, and interpretations must be independently verified where relevant.

5. AI use must not be employed to fabricate findings, conceal misconduct, or misrepresent research procedures.

6. Reviewers and editors must protect confidential manuscript information and comply with JFU's restrictions on AI-assisted editorial work.

7. Editorial decisions must remain under meaningful human control.

Detailed disclosure requirements and permitted uses are governed by the JFU Generative AI Policy.

10. Plagiarism and Publication Misconduct

JFU does not tolerate practices that compromise the integrity of scientific research or scholarly publishing.

Potential misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

• Fabrication or falsification of data.

• Plagiarism and deceptive text recycling.

• Misrepresentation of research findings.

• Duplicate or redundant publication.

• Inappropriate manipulation of scientific images.

• Authorship manipulation.

• Citation manipulation.

• Peer-review manipulation.

• Concealment of material competing interests.

• Misuse of confidential information.

• Deliberately misleading ethical or research declarations.

Similarity-checking software may be used to support editorial screening.

A similarity score alone does not establish plagiarism. Editors must assess the nature, extent, attribution, and context of textual overlap before reaching a conclusion.

Honest errors and legitimate differences in scientific interpretation must be distinguished from misconduct.

11. Handling Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct

JFU takes credible concerns about research and publication integrity seriously, whether they arise before or after publication.

Concerns may be raised by authors, reviewers, editors, readers, institutions, or other parties.

The journal will assess sufficiently specific allegations fairly, confidentially, and without presuming wrongdoing.

11.1 Preliminary Assessment

A designated non-conflicted editor will assess the concern to determine whether it is sufficiently specific, relevant, and supported to justify further inquiry.

Anonymous reports may be considered when they contain verifiable information.

11.2 Communication with Relevant Parties

Where appropriate, the journal will contact the authors or other relevant parties, explain the material concerns, and provide a reasonable opportunity to respond.

11.3 Examination of Supporting Evidence

JFU may request original data, laboratory records, research approvals, software, correspondence, or other supporting documentation relevant to the concern.

11.4 Institutional Investigation

JFU recognizes that formal investigations into research misconduct may fall within the authority of universities, research institutions, funders, ethics committees, or competent regulatory bodies.

The journal may refer a matter to an appropriate institution or authority when a formal investigation is necessary.

JFU will not represent an editorial assessment as a formal institutional finding of misconduct.

11.5 Editorial Action

Depending on the evidence and stage of publication, appropriate action may include:

• Requesting clarification or additional documentation.

• Requiring corrections to a manuscript.

• Rejecting a manuscript.

• Suspending editorial consideration pending clarification.

• Issuing a correction or expression of concern.

• Retracting a published article when justified.

• Referring a matter to an appropriate institution or authority.

Any action must be proportionate to the available evidence and consistent with the journal's published policies.

11.6 Confidentiality and Fair Treatment

JFU will protect confidential information to the extent reasonably possible while conducting a fair assessment.

Individuals who raise concerns in good faith must not be subjected to retaliation through the journal's editorial processes.

12. Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

JFU is committed to preserving the accuracy and reliability of the scholarly record.

Post-publication actions are intended to correct the literature and inform readers, rather than to punish authors.

12.1 Corrections

A correction may be issued when an article contains a significant error that does not invalidate its principal findings or conclusions.

12.2 Expressions of Concern

An expression of concern may be published when substantial questions about an article's integrity remain unresolved and readers need to be informed while further assessment is undertaken.

12.3 Retractions

A retraction may be necessary when findings are unreliable because of major error or misconduct, when publication is substantially redundant, or when other serious ethical or publication problems justify withdrawal from the reliable scholarly record.

12.4 Transparency of Notices

Formal notices should clearly identify the affected article, explain the reason for the action to the extent appropriate, and remain linked to the publication record.

JFU will not silently replace published articles when a formal correction or other notice is required.

Article removal will be considered only in exceptional circumstances involving serious legal, privacy, security, or safety concerns.

Detailed procedures are provided in the Corrections, Retractions and Post-Publication Discussion Policy.

13. Complaints and Appeals

JFU recognizes the right of authors and other affected parties to raise legitimate concerns about editorial procedures and decisions.

Complaints may concern procedural fairness, peer-review conduct, competing interests, editorial handling, or the application of journal policies.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they provide a substantive explanation of a possible procedural error, material misunderstanding, or relevant evidence that was not adequately considered.

An appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original decision.

Complaints and appeals must be assessed by an appropriately qualified person who was not the sole decision-maker in the matter under review.

Where a concern involves the Editor-in-Chief, it should be referred to an independent senior editor or appropriately designated publisher representative.

14. Editorial Independence and Publishing Transparency

JFU's academic decisions must remain independent of inappropriate financial, commercial, political, institutional, or personal influence.

The publisher supports the journal's scholarly operations and must respect the authority of designated editors to make academic decisions in accordance with published editorial policies.

Publication charges, fee waivers, advertising, sponsorship, or other financial arrangements must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected.

Information about publication fees, journal ownership, editorial leadership, copyright, licensing, and relevant publishing arrangements must be communicated transparently through the journal website.

15. Open Access, Copyright, and Intellectual Property

JFU provides open access to its published scholarly articles.

Authors retain copyright ownership of their published work.

Unless otherwise specified for an individual publication, JFU articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

The license permits sharing and adaptation for noncommercial purposes, subject to the applicable attribution and license conditions.

Authors are responsible for obtaining necessary permissions for third-party material and identifying content subject to separate reuse restrictions.

Copyright and licensing information must be presented accurately and consistently in the journal's policies and article-level records.

16. Digital Preservation and Long-Term Accessibility

JFU recognizes that maintaining the scholarly record includes preserving published content beyond the operation of the journal's primary website.

The journal uses the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) and Portico as part of its digital preservation arrangements.

The extent of preserved content and its availability through these services depend on the applicable deposit records, technical requirements, preservation agreements, and access conditions.

JFU seeks to maintain accurate bibliographic records, stable publication identifiers, and appropriate links between original articles and subsequent corrections or retraction notices.

Further information is provided in the Archiving and Digital Preservation Policy.

17. Privacy and Confidentiality

JFU respects the privacy and confidentiality of authors, reviewers, editors, and other individuals participating in scholarly publishing.

Personal information collected through the journal's submission and publication systems must be handled in accordance with applicable privacy requirements and the journal's published privacy policies.

Confidential information must not be disclosed for unauthorized purposes.

The journal will balance confidentiality with its responsibilities to investigate credible integrity concerns, protect research participants, comply with legal obligations, and maintain an accurate scholarly record.

18. Reporting Publication Ethics Concerns

Questions or concerns relating to publication ethics may be submitted to the JFU Editorial Office.

Editorial Contact: jfu@sci.unand.ac.id

Recommended Email Subject: Publication Ethics Concern — [Manuscript ID, Article Title, or DOI]

Reports should identify the manuscript or article concerned, describe the issue, and provide relevant supporting evidence where available.

JFU will evaluate concerns according to their substance and the available evidence.

The journal will seek to manage reports fairly, confidentially, and without retaliation against individuals acting in good faith.

19. Policy Implementation and Periodic Review

The Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board, and authorized journal personnel are responsible for implementing this policy within their respective roles.

JFU will periodically review its publication ethics requirements to reflect relevant developments in scholarly publishing, research practices, editorial technologies, and applicable legal or institutional requirements.

Material changes to this policy should be dated and published transparently.

This statement operates together with JFU's more detailed policies on authorship, peer review, competing interests, plagiarism, research data, ethical oversight, generative AI, misconduct, complaints and appeals, corrections and retractions, copyright, open access, and digital preservation.

Where a specialized JFU policy provides more detailed operational procedures, that policy should be consulted alongside this statement.

20. References and Ethical Frameworks

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
https://publicationethics.org/

Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
https://publicationethics.org/

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
https://www.icmje.org/

Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI)
https://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/