Publication Ethics

Tepak Sirih: Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat Madani is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, research and reporting integrity, transparency, and responsible scholarly communication.

All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher, are expected to adhere to recognized principles of ethical scholarly publishing. The journal's editorial practices are guided by the relevant recommendations and flowcharts of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Concerns about integrity are assessed fairly, impartially, and with appropriate confidentiality. The reporting and assessment procedure is described in Section 10: Allegations of Research Misconduct.

1. Author Responsibilities

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must submit original work. Text, ideas, data, figures, photographs, or other material derived from other sources must be appropriately cited, quoted, or acknowledged. Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, misleading manipulation of data or outcomes, and misrepresentation of community service results are unacceptable. Every submission is screened for similarity, with a maximum acceptable similarity index of 25%.

Multiple and Duplicate Submission

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal, and must not submit community service work already published elsewhere unless the circumstances are disclosed and justified.

Authorship

All listed authors must have made a substantive contribution to the community service activity and the manuscript, approved the version to be published, and agreed to be accountable for the work. Contributors who do not meet all authorship criteria should be acknowledged. The full requirements are set out in the journal's Authorship Criteria policy.

Participant Consent and Data Accuracy

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of reported activities and outcomes. Where identifiable individuals, photographs, or community data are included, appropriate consent must be obtained, and the privacy and dignity of participants must be protected.

Correction of Errors

Authors who discover a significant error in submitted or published work must notify the journal promptly and cooperate in correcting the record. Available post-publication actions are explained in Section 11.

2. Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose financial, institutional, professional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the work or its evaluation. Editors and reviewers must also disclose conflicts and withdraw when impartiality could reasonably be questioned. If no competing interests exist, authors should state this explicitly. The full policy is set out in the Conflict of Interest page.

3. Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all sources of financial or material support related to the activity and publication. If no specific funding was received, authors should state this explicitly.

4. Human Participants and Community Consent

Community service work involving community members, participants, or partners must respect applicable ethical standards and local norms. Informed consent must be obtained where required, and authors must protect participant privacy, confidentiality, and dignity. The journal may request documentation of consent or relevant permissions before or after publication.

5. Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors must obtain appropriate consent before publishing identifiable personal information, images, or confidential institutional information. Editors and reviewers must treat submitted manuscripts and associated correspondence as confidential.

6. Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Tools

Generative artificial intelligence cannot be listed as an author. Authors who use AI-assisted tools for language improvement, editing, data processing, analysis, or visualization must disclose such use transparently and remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the content. AI tools must not be used to fabricate data, results, images, or other evidence. The detailed requirements are set out in the journal's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy.

7. Editor Responsibilities

Editors evaluate manuscripts and make decisions based on quality, originality, relevance, soundness of method, ethical compliance, and suitability for the journal's scope, without inappropriate influence. Editors evaluate manuscripts without discrimination, protect confidentiality, manage competing interests, and must not require unnecessary citations to inflate metrics. Editors do not handle manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest.

8. Reviewer Responsibilities

• Accept assignments only with appropriate expertise;
• Review objectively, constructively, and professionally, without personal criticism;
• Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and related information;
• Disclose conflicts of interest and decline when impartiality cannot be assured;
• Do not use unpublished information obtained through review for unauthorized purposes;
• Report suspected integrity problems confidentially to the editor.

9. Publisher Responsibilities

The publisher, LPPM, Universitas Pasir Pengaraian, supports editorial independence and recognizes that decisions on individual manuscripts are the responsibility of the editors. The publisher supports the journal in protecting the scholarly record, implementing ethics policies, assessing integrity concerns, and publishing corrections or other notices when necessary. Archiving and preservation arrangements are described in the journal's Archiving Policy, and commercial considerations must not improperly influence editorial decisions.

10. Allegations of Research Misconduct

The journal considers concerns about integrity before, during, and after publication. An allegation is a concern requiring assessment and does not, by itself, establish that misconduct has occurred. The journal applies relevant COPE guidance according to the nature of the concern, the evidence available, and the stage of publication.

Concerns may be reported to the editorial office through the journal's contact page, using the subject line Research Integrity Concern, with the article title or URL, a clear description of the concern, and any supporting evidence. Anonymous reports are assessed when they contain sufficiently specific and verifiable information. Concerns involving the handling editor are reassigned to an uninvolved editor, and concerns involving the Editor-in-Chief are referred to the publisher. Similarity scores and automated screening results may inform an assessment but do not, on their own, establish misconduct. Where appropriate, authors are informed and given an opportunity to respond, and the journal may seek institutional assistance. The full procedure is set out in the journal's Allegation of Research Misconduct policy.

11. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The journal issues post-publication notices when necessary, following relevant COPE guidance. A correction addresses an error that does not invalidate the principal findings; an expression of concern alerts readers to substantial unresolved concerns; a retraction applies where there is clear evidence of unreliable work, substantial plagiarism, unethical conduct, or a compromised review process. Retraction corrects the record rather than punishes authors. The full procedure is set out in the journal's Withdrawal, Correction, and Retraction policy.

12. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit a reasoned appeal against an editorial decision, identifying the decision, the grounds, and supporting evidence. Complaints about editorial conduct, peer review, or the handling of an integrity concern may be sent to the editorial office through the journal's contact page and are assessed independently of the person whose conduct is challenged where necessary.