Jurnal Pendidikan UNIGA is committed to maintaining integrity, transparency, fairness, and accountability throughout the scholarly publishing process. This policy establishes the ethical responsibilities of authors, editors, peer reviewers, and the publisher during manuscript submission, evaluation, publication, and post-publication assessment. The journal refers to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices as guidance for responsible publication.

1. Duties of Editors

Editors must assess manuscripts fairly and without discrimination. They are responsible for making publication decisions based on editorial assessment and peer-review reports.

• Maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and review materials.
• Protect unpublished information and ideas from unauthorized use.
• Declare and manage conflicts of interest and appoint an independent editor when necessary.
• Prevent citation manipulation, inappropriate editorial influence, and interference with peer review.
• Maintain appropriate records of editorial decisions and ethical concerns.

2. Duties of Peer Reviewers

Reviewers must provide objective, constructive, evidence-based, and timely assessments of manuscripts within their expertise.

• Decline assignments when they lack the necessary expertise, time, or impartiality.
• Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts, supplementary materials, and review communications.
• Identify relevant literature and alert editors to potential plagiarism, redundant publication, ethical violations, or data irregularities.
• Provide scholarly justifications for recommendations and avoid personal criticism or unjustified citation requests.
• Not delegate reviews or disclose manuscripts to external AI systems without appropriate authorization.

3. Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must submit original, accurate, and ethically conducted research. Manuscripts should present methods, evidence, findings, and limitations honestly.

• Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, misleading reporting, and inappropriate manipulation of data or images are unacceptable.
• All sources and reused materials must be properly cited, with permissions obtained where required.
• Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to multiple journals is prohibited.
• Funding sources, sponsor involvement, and competing interests must be disclosed.
• Authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy of all manuscript content, references, and AI-assisted material.

4. Authorship and Contributions

Authorship must reflect substantial intellectual contributions, participation in drafting or critically revising the manuscript, approval of the final version, and accountability for the work.

• Guest, gift, and ghost authorship are not permitted.
• All authors must approve the submitted manuscript and author order.
• Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged with their permission.
• Changes to authorship after submission require a documented explanation and written agreement from all affected authors.
• Disputes may result in suspension of editorial processing until an appropriate resolution is reached.

5. Research Ethics and Protection of Participants

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards, institutional requirements, and relevant regulations.

• Authors must report ethics committee approval, an approval identifier where available, or a justified exemption when approval is not required.
• Informed consent must be obtained where required. Consent for publication of identifiable information is separate where applicable.
• Research involving children, students, or vulnerable populations must address consent, privacy, voluntariness, and power imbalances.
• Sensitive data must be collected, stored, and reported responsibly to reduce privacy and re-identification risks.
• Editors may request supporting ethical documentation when necessary.

6. Data Availability and Research Transparency

Authors should preserve research data, protocols, and supporting records for a reasonable period, subject to applicable law, consent, confidentiality, and institutional requirements.

• Research articles should include a data availability statement.
• The statement should explain whether data are publicly available, available upon reasonable request, or restricted, including the reason for any restrictions.
• Open data sharing is encouraged when legally and ethically appropriate.
• Authors are encouraged to use relevant reporting guidelines and provide sufficient methodological detail for critical appraisal and reproducibility.

7. Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

Jurnal Pendidikan UNIGA shall provide clear information about its peer-review model, initial screening, reviewer selection, review stages, possible editorial decisions, and appeal procedures.

• Reviewers must be selected according to expertise and independence.
• Conflicts of interest must be disclosed and managed.
• Editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the editor and must not be determined solely by similarity scores, citation counts, numerical ratings, or AI-generated recommendations.
• Review reports and reviewer identities shall be handled according to the journal's stated review model.

8. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other stakeholders may submit documented complaints regarding editorial conduct, peer review, discrimination, procedural irregularities, or publication ethics.

• Complaints should identify the relevant manuscript or article, explain the concern, and provide supporting evidence where available.
• The editor-in-chief or an independent designated editor shall examine the complaint fairly and confidentially.
• Complaints involving the editor-in-chief should be handled by an independent party where practicable.
• Authors may appeal editorial decisions by identifying a material procedural error, conflict of interest, or substantive misunderstanding.
• An appeal does not guarantee acceptance or another round of review.

9. Research and Publication Misconduct

The journal takes credible allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously, whether raised before or after publication.

Examples include plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, unethical research, citation manipulation, compromised peer review, undisclosed competing interests, and inappropriate duplicate publication.

• Concerns shall be documented and assessed fairly, with appropriate opportunities for affected parties to respond.
• The journal may consult experts, institutions, research integrity officers, or the publisher when necessary.
• Submissions may be rejected or editorial processing suspended when justified.
• Published articles may be corrected, flagged with an expression of concern, or retracted according to the evidence and applicable guidance.
• Unsubstantiated allegations shall not be presented as proven misconduct.

10. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Discussion

The journal is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

• Corrections: May be issued when a material error can be amended transparently without undermining the main findings.
• Expressions of Concern: May be issued when serious questions remain unresolved and readers need to be informed while an investigation continues.
• Retractions: May be warranted when findings are unreliable, serious ethical violations occur, substantial plagiarism is identified, or peer review has been compromised.
• Notices should be dated, accessible, objectively worded, and linked to the affected article where technically feasible.
• Retracted articles should normally remain available with clear labeling to preserve the scholarly record, subject to exceptional legal or safety considerations.
• Evidence-based post-publication comments may be considered through the journal's editorial process.

11. Copyright, Licensing, and Publication Charges

Authors must respect copyright and third-party rights and obtain permission for materials where required. The journal shall clearly state its copyright arrangements, applicable license, reuse permissions, and repository or preprint policies.

All publication-related charges, submission fees, and applicable waiver arrangements—or the absence of such fees—must be disclosed transparently before submission. Editorial evaluation and acceptance must not depend on an author's ability to pay.

12. Use of Artificial Intelligence

AI tools may assist with language editing, searching, coding, or analysis, but they cannot be listed as authors or assume responsibility for a manuscript.

• Authors remain accountable for accuracy, originality, references, confidentiality, and the integrity of AI-assisted content.
• Material AI assistance should be disclosed according to the journal's applicable instructions.
• Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts, participant data, or unpublished findings to external AI systems unless expressly permitted under journal policy and appropriate safeguards.
• AI tools may support but must not replace accountable editorial judgment.

13. Journal Governance and Policy Implementation

The publisher and editorial leadership shall maintain transparent editorial governance, publicly accessible policies, appropriate contact information, and procedures for managing complaints, corrections, records, and reviewer or editor responsibilities.

Policies should be reviewed periodically to reflect developments in research practices, technology, publication ethics, and applicable law. This policy should be read together with the journal's author guidelines, peer-review policy, data and privacy policies, copyright and licensing terms, and publication fee information.

Jurnal Pendidikan UNIGA is responsible for applying this policy consistently and transparently. Any questions regarding publication ethics may be directed to the journal's editorial office through the contact information provided on the journal website.