Publication Ethics and Malpractices

PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

Jurnal Keperawatan Terapan (JKT) is firmly committed to upholding scientific integrity and promoting the highest standards of ethical publication practices. The journal adheres to internationally recognized guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and the principles of open citation supported by the Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC). All editorial and publishing procedures are designed to prevent, identify, and address any potential violations of research or publication ethics.

All research submitted to JKT must comply with both national and international ethical standards and must receive approval from the appropriate ethics committee. Studies involving human participants must adhere to the World Medical Association’s (Declaration of Helsinki), whereas research involving animals must follow applicable ethical guidelines and relevant laboratory regulations.

As a journal dedicated to applied nursing practice, JKT aligns COPE to ensure rigorous standards for authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher. This publication ethics statement outlines the responsibilities of all parties involved in the publishing process. The publisher does not interfere with the scientific content of submitted manuscripts except to ensure that all editorial and publication processes are conducted accurately, objectively, and in a timely manner.

Duties for Editors

1. Editors must ensure that manuscripts sent for peer review are fully anonymized in order to maintain a rigorous double-blind review process.
2. Editors must guide authors in meeting the journal’s submission requirements and ethical standards.
3. Editors and editorial staff must safeguard the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts and must not use unpublished material for personal advantage.
4. Editors may consult associate editors, editorial board members, or qualified reviewers to support fair and well-informed editorial decisions.
5. Editors are responsible for ensuring transparency, consistency, and timeliness throughout the editorial and peer-review process to support high-quality scholarly communication.
6. Editors must evaluate manuscripts objectively and impartially, without influence from authors’ nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, ethnicity, religion, or political views, and must withdraw from handling a manuscript when a conflict of interest exists.
7. Editorial decisions must be communicated clearly to authors, accompanied by constructive reviewer feedback while excluding any remarks that are offensive, unprofessional, or inappropriate.
8. Editors should respect reasonable and well-justified author requests to exclude specific individuals from being assigned as reviewers.
9. Editors must follow COPE principles and recommended procedures when addressing suspected ethical violations, authorship disputes, or concerns regarding data integrity.
10. Editors are responsible for ensuring the scientific quality, accuracy, and integrity of every manuscript published in JKT.

Duties for Reviewers

1. Reviewers must maintain full confidentiality of all manuscript content and are prohibited from using or disclosing any unpublished material for personal benefit or any other purpose.
2. Reviewers are required to provide objective and professional assessments, including identifying potential ethical issues, methodological inconsistencies, or indications of research or publication misconduct.
3. Reviewers must decline review assignments if they have any personal, academic, or financial conflicts of interest that could compromise the neutrality of their evaluation.
4. Reviewers are responsible for submitting their evaluations within the agreed timeline and must promptly inform the editor if additional time is needed or if they are unable to complete the review.
5. Reviewers should assess the relevance and scientific contribution of the manuscript to the field of applied nursing, ensuring that all evaluations are fair, transparent, and free from bias.

Duties for Authors

1. Authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest, including sources of funding, financial support, institutional affiliations, or any professional relationships that may influence the research process or the preparation of the manuscript.
2. The submitted manuscript must be original, not under review by another journal, and not previously published in any form. Authors are fully responsible for ensuring that the work is not duplicated or simultaneously submitted elsewhere.
3. All listed authors must have made a genuine and substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, data analysis, interpretation of findings, or to the drafting and critical revision of the manuscript.
4. Authors must uphold the integrity of the research report, presenting data honestly without manipulation, alteration, omission, fabrication, or falsification. Raw data should be made available to the editorial team upon request for verification.
5. All sources used in the manuscript must be cited accurately, and the reference list must follow the citation format required by Jurnal Keperawatan Terapan.
6. Authors are strictly prohibited from engaging in plagiarism, including copying others’ work without attribution, excessive reuse of their own previously published material, or using substantial portions of earlier work without proper justification.
7. Patient confidentiality must be fully protected, and identifiable information should not appear in the manuscript unless essential for scientific purposes and accompanied by documented written informed consent.
8. For studies involving human participants or animals, authors must state that ethical approval was obtained from the appropriate ethics committee and that all procedures adhered to relevant national and international ethical standards.
9. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and consistency of the entire manuscript, including sections produced with the support of digital tools or analytical software, ensuring that the final work maintains scientific integrity.
10. Authors must avoid unethical publication practices, such as fragmentation of research findings (“salami publication”), and ensure that each submission presents a complete, coherent, and meaningful contribution to applied nursing science.

The Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Technologies

1. Authors must disclose in both the cover letter and the manuscript if they used AI-based technologies such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or similar tools during the preparation of the manuscript.
2. AI technologies cannot be listed as authors, as they cannot take responsibility for the accuracy, originality, or scientific integrity of the content. Full responsibility for the manuscript remains with the authors.
3. Authors must critically review and verify any material produced or assisted by AI technologies to prevent inaccurate, biased, or incomplete information.
4. Authors are required to ensure that the manuscript is free from plagiarism, including text or images generated by AI technologies, and must provide proper citations for all referenced sources.
5. The use of AI technologies must be described transparently, and such technologies should not be cited or acknowledged as authors, in accordance with JKT’s publication ethics.

Procedures for Handling Allegations of Research Misconduct

Maintaining research integrity is an essential part of JKT’s commitment to ethical and responsible scientific publishing. The following procedures are applied when allegations of research misconduct are reported:

1. Submission of Reports: Any party including authors, reviewers, or readers may submit a written report of suspected research misconduct to the editorial office, accompanied by a clear explanation and supporting evidence.
2. Preliminary Assessment: The editorial team will conduct an initial evaluation to determine whether the report meets the criteria for research misconduct, such as fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other unethical practices.
3. Notification to Authors: If the report is considered credible, the relevant authors will be formally notified and given the opportunity to provide a response and supporting documentation.
4. Investigation Process: A formal investigation will be carried out, which may involve independent experts, ethics committees, or the authors affiliated institutions. The objective is to gather sufficient information to reach a fair and balanced conclusion.
5. Editorial Actions: Based on the outcome of the investigation, the editorial board will determine whether misconduct occurred. If confirmed, JKT may issue a correction, retraction, expression of concern, notify the authors’ institutions, or impose submission restrictions on the involved authors.
6. Confidentiality: All reports and investigation processes will be handled confidentially. The identity of the whistleblower will be protected unless disclosure is required for the investigation.
7. Right to Appeal: Authors have the right to submit a written appeal within 30 days of receiving the decision. Appeals will be reviewed by an independent panel not involved in the initial assessment.
8. Policy Updates: JKT will periodically review and revise these procedures to ensure alignment with evolving best practices in scientific publishing.