Publication Ethics

1. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

AL-ISHLAH: Jurnal Pendidikan is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and ethical scholarly publishing.

The journal follows internationally recognized principles of publication ethics and takes reasonable measures to identify and prevent publication malpractice.

a. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are expected to:

  • submit original work;
  • accurately report research methods and findings;
  • appropriately acknowledge and cite previous research;
  • avoid plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, and duplicate publication;
  • ensure that all listed authors have made appropriate contributions;
  • disclose conflicts of interest;
  • disclose research funding;
  • obtain ethical approval where required;
  • obtain informed consent where applicable;
  • disclose the use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies when required by journal policy.

b. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to:

  • evaluate manuscripts objectively and fairly;
  • maintain manuscript confidentiality;
  • declare potential conflicts of interest;
  • provide constructive and evidence-based comments;
  • avoid using unpublished information for personal advantage;
  • inform the editor of suspected ethical misconduct.

c. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for:

  • ensuring fair and independent editorial decisions;
  • maintaining confidentiality;
  • managing conflicts of interest;
  • protecting the integrity of the peer-review process;
  • investigating allegations of publication misconduct;
  • issuing corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern where appropriate.

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, originality, relevance, methodological quality, and contribution to the field.

2. PLAGIARISM AND SIMILARITY SCREENING POLICY

AL-ISHLAH: Jurnal Pendidikan is committed to publishing original scholarly work and does not tolerate plagiarism or other forms of inappropriate text reuse.

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-detection software before or during the editorial review process.

The editorial team evaluates similarity reports carefully and considers the context and nature of any matching text. A similarity percentage alone is not used as the sole criterion for determining plagiarism.

The journal considers the following practices unacceptable:

  • plagiarism;
  • self-plagiarism;
  • inappropriate text recycling;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • unattributed paraphrasing;
  • unauthorized use of data, figures, or intellectual contributions from other sources.

Where potential misconduct is identified, the editorial team may request clarification, reject the manuscript, or take other appropriate action in accordance with publication ethics principles.

 

3. AUTHORSHIP AND CONTRIBUTORSHIP POLICY

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the research and manuscript.

All listed authors should:

  • have contributed substantially to the study;
  • have participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript;
  • approve the final version;
  • accept responsibility for the integrity of the work.

Individuals who contributed to the study but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

The journal does not accept:

  • gift authorship;
  • honorary authorship;
  • guest authorship;
  • ghost authorship.

Changes to authorship after submission must be supported by a clear explanation and agreement from all affected authors.

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to report individual contributions using the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy.

 

4. CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, review, or editorial decision-making process.

Potential conflicts may include:

  • financial relationships;
  • institutional relationships;
  • professional relationships;
  • personal relationships;
  • academic competition;
  • intellectual or ideological conflicts.

Authors should include a conflict-of-interest statement in their manuscript.

 

5. RESEARCH ETHICS AND INFORMED CONSENT

AL-ISHLAH: Jurnal Pendidikan requires all research involving human participants to be conducted in accordance with recognized ethical principles, applicable institutional requirements, and relevant national regulations.

Ethical Approval

Studies involving human participants must obtain approval from an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB), Research Ethics Committee, or equivalent authority when such approval is required. Authors must provide the name of the approving institution or committee and, where available, the approval or reference number in the manuscript.

If ethical approval was not required, authors should provide an appropriate explanation in accordance with the regulations or policies applicable to the research setting.

Informed Consent

Authors must obtain informed consent from research participants before collecting or using their data whenever required. Participation must be voluntary, and participants should be adequately informed about the purpose of the research, research procedures, potential risks and benefits, confidentiality, and their right to withdraw from the study.

Where identifiable information, images, recordings, quotations, or other personal materials are included in a publication, authors must obtain appropriate consent for publication.

Research Involving Children, Minors, and Vulnerable Participants

Research involving children, minors, or vulnerable individuals or groups requires particular ethical consideration. Authors must follow applicable legal and institutional requirements regarding parental or guardian consent and participant assent where appropriate.

Researchers must ensure that participation is voluntary and that appropriate safeguards are implemented to minimize potential harm, coercion, undue influence, or exploitation.

Confidentiality and Participant Data Protection

Authors are responsible for protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and personal data of research participants. Personally identifiable information should be anonymized or de-identified whenever possible and must not be disclosed without appropriate authorization or consent.

Research data must be collected, stored, processed, shared, and reported in accordance with applicable ethical, institutional, and data-protection requirements.

The editorial team reserves the right to request supporting documentation regarding ethical approval or informed consent when necessary. Manuscripts that fail to meet appropriate ethical standards may be rejected, and concerns identified after publication may be addressed in accordance with the journal's publication ethics procedures.

 

6. RESEARCH MISCONDUCT

AL-ISHLAH: Jurnal Pendidikan is committed to maintaining the integrity, reliability, and transparency of the scholarly record. The journal does not tolerate research misconduct in any form, including:

  • Fabrication: inventing data, results, participants, observations, or other research information and presenting them as genuine.
  • Falsification: altering, omitting, or misrepresenting research materials, methods, procedures, data, or results in a way that distorts the research findings.
  • Data Manipulation: inappropriate modification, selective reporting, suppression, duplication, or presentation of data intended to produce misleading conclusions.
  • Citation Manipulation: adding irrelevant, excessive, or inappropriate citations for the purpose of artificially increasing citation counts, including coercive or coordinated citation practices.
  • Unethical Research Practices: any conduct that violates recognized research ethics, including failure to obtain required ethical approval or informed consent, misuse of confidential information, misrepresentation of research procedures, or other practices that compromise research integrity.

Any allegation of research misconduct will be assessed by the editorial team and, where necessary, investigated in accordance with recognized publication ethics principles. Authors may be asked to provide supporting documentation, raw data, ethical approval records, or other relevant evidence.

If misconduct is confirmed, appropriate actions may include manuscript rejection, correction, retraction, notification of the authors' institution or relevant authorities, and other measures necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record

 

7. CORRECTIONS, RETRACTIONS, AND EXPRESSIONS OF CONCERNS

AL-ISHLAH: Jurnal Pendidikan is committed to maintaining the accuracy, integrity, and reliability of the scholarly record. When concerns arise regarding a published article, the journal will take appropriate action in accordance with recognized publication ethics principles.

Corrections

A correction may be issued when a published article contains errors or omissions that do not invalidate its main findings, conclusions, or overall integrity. Corrections will clearly identify the original article and explain the nature of the amendment.

Retractions

An article may be retracted when there is clear evidence that its findings are unreliable or when serious publication or research misconduct has occurred, including:

  • fabrication or falsification of data;
  • plagiarism or substantial unattributed material;
  • unethical research;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • serious errors that invalidate the findings;
  • manipulation of the peer-review or publication process.

Retraction notices will remain publicly accessible and will clearly state the reason for the retraction.

Expressions of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be issued when serious concerns have been raised about a published article but the available evidence is inconclusive, an investigation is ongoing, or a final determination cannot yet be made.

The journal may request supporting documentation, research data, ethical approval records, or other relevant information during the investigation. Authors, institutions, and other relevant parties may be contacted when necessary.

All corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern will be handled transparently and linked to the original publication to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

 

8. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

AL-ISHLAH: Jurnal Pendidikan is committed to handling complaints and appeals fairly, transparently, and professionally.

Complaints

Complaints may relate to editorial procedures, peer review, publication ethics, conflicts of interest, or other aspects of the journal’s publishing process. Complaints should be submitted in writing to the editorial office with a clear description of the issue and relevant supporting information.

The journal will review complaints objectively and, where appropriate, assign them to an editor or responsible party who is not directly involved in the matter.

Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant factual error, misunderstanding, procedural issue, or inappropriate interpretation affected the decision.

An appeal should include:

  • the manuscript title and relevant submission information;
  • a clear explanation of the grounds for appeal;
  • specific responses to the issues raised in the editorial decision or peer-review reports;
  • relevant supporting evidence, where applicable.

Appeals must be based on academic or procedural grounds rather than disagreement with the outcome alone. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee that the editorial decision will be changed.

The final decision on complaints and appeals rests with the Editor-in-Chief or an independent designated editor, as appropriate. Where the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict of interest, the matter will be handled by another qualified and independent member of the editorial team.

 

9. HANDLING SUBMISSIONS FROM EDITORS AND EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

AL-ISHLAH: Jurnal Pendidikan applies the same editorial standards and peer-review requirements to manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, or individuals closely associated with the journal.

Editors or editorial board members who are authors or have a potential conflict of interest with a submitted manuscript must not participate in its evaluation, reviewer selection, peer-review process, or final editorial decision.

Such manuscripts will be assigned to an independent editor who has no conflict of interest with the authors or the research. The manuscript will undergo the journal’s standard double-blind peer-review process and will be evaluated solely on its academic quality, originality, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal’s scope, and compliance with publication ethics.

The journal is committed to ensuring that editorial position, institutional affiliation, or professional relationship does not provide any advantage or disadvantage during the review and publication process.