Allegations of Research Misconduct
Metta: Jurnal Ilmu Multidisiplin, published by Jayapangus Press, is committed to upholding research integrity, academic honesty, and the credibility of its scholarly publications across the humanities, social sciences, management, and related multidisciplinary fields.
The journal adheres to the principles of transparency, accountability, fairness, editorial independence, confidentiality, and due diligence in addressing alleged violations of research integrity or publication ethics, in accordance with the guidelines and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
This policy serves as the primary framework for handling allegations of research and publication misconduct involving manuscripts under editorial evaluation and articles that have already been published.
The policy applies to all manuscript types accepted by the journal, including Original Research Articles and Review Articles, as well as Case Studies and Literary Studies, which are considered on a limited and selective basis.
Types of Research and Publication Misconduct
Alleged violations of research and publication integrity include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Plagiarism and Intellectual Property Violations
Using another person's ideas, text, research findings, data, theoretical arguments, analytical interpretations, illustrations, or other intellectual contributions without appropriate acknowledgment.
This includes plagiarism in empirical research, literature reviews, historical investigations, philosophical analyses, literary interpretations, religious studies, social science research, and management studies.
2. Data Fabrication or Falsification
Creating fictitious research data, manipulating empirical evidence, falsifying research findings, altering analytical results, or deliberately misrepresenting research procedures.
This includes inappropriate manipulation of statistical data, interview transcripts, historical documents, textual materials, organizational records, financial information, or other research evidence.
3. Duplicate Publication or Simultaneous Submission
Submitting substantially identical manuscripts to multiple journals simultaneously, republishing previously published research without appropriate disclosure, or presenting redundant scholarly findings as original contributions.
Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts represent original scholarly work and are not under consideration elsewhere.
4. Citation and Peer-Review Manipulation
Manipulating citations, fabricating references, using false reviewer identities, submitting fictitious review reports, interfering with reviewer selection, or engaging in activities that compromise the independence and integrity of the peer-review process.
Citation manipulation includes inappropriate self-citation, coercive citation practices, and the inclusion of irrelevant references intended to artificially increase citation counts.
5. Violations of Research Ethics
Conducting research without required ethical approval, violating informed consent requirements, breaching participant confidentiality, misusing personal information, or failing to protect research participants.
For research involving religious traditions, cultural heritage, historical materials, indigenous knowledge, or sensitive community information, violations may also include unauthorized disclosure, inappropriate use of restricted materials, or failure to comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.
6. Authorship Manipulation and Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest
Including individuals who do not meet established authorship criteria, excluding legitimate scholarly contributors, misrepresenting author contributions, or concealing relevant financial or non-financial conflicts of interest.
This includes gift authorship, guest authorship, honorary authorship, ghost authorship, and other practices that compromise transparent scholarly attribution.
7. Misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Using artificial intelligence technologies in ways that compromise research originality, academic integrity, transparency, or the reliability of scholarly findings.
Potential violations include presenting fabricated AI-generated data, inaccurate references, nonexistent scholarly sources, misleading interpretations, or unverified research findings as authentic scholarly evidence.
Failure to disclose substantive AI assistance when required by the journal's policies may also constitute a violation of publication ethics.
Generative AI systems cannot be listed as authors, and human authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, validity, and ethical integrity of their manuscripts.
Differences in scholarly interpretation, legitimate theoretical disagreements, methodological debates, and unintentional errors are not automatically classified as research misconduct.
Each allegation must be evaluated according to its nature, disciplinary context, available evidence, seriousness, and implications for the reliability and integrity of the scholarly work.
Reporting Alleged Misconduct
Any party, including readers, authors, reviewers, editors, researchers, academic institutions, or members of the scholarly community, may report suspected research or publication misconduct through the official editorial contact channels of Metta: Jurnal Ilmu Multidisiplin, as provided on the journal's website.
Reports should include:
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Identification of the manuscript or published article concerned, including its title, author information, and DOI where available.
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A clear description of the alleged misconduct or publication ethics violation.
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Relevant supporting evidence, documentation, or verifiable information.
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Additional information that may assist the editorial team in assessing the allegations.
Anonymous reports may be considered when they contain sufficiently credible and verifiable evidence to justify an initial editorial assessment.
Metta: Jurnal Ilmu Multidisiplin maintains the confidentiality of the reporting party and other individuals involved, to the extent permitted by applicable regulations and the requirements of a fair investigation.
The journal does not automatically presume misconduct solely on the basis of an allegation.
Procedures for Handling Allegations
Metta: Jurnal Ilmu Multidisiplin follows systematic, objective, and evidence-based procedures when investigating suspected research or publication misconduct.
1. Receipt and Documentation
The editorial team receives and records the allegation, including relevant correspondence, supporting evidence, and information concerning the manuscript or published article.
2. Initial Editorial Assessment
The Editor-in-Chief or a designated editor evaluates the relevance, credibility, seriousness, and sufficiency of the available evidence to determine whether further investigation is necessary.
3. Author Clarification
The author or other relevant parties are given a reasonable opportunity to respond to the allegation, provide explanations, submit supporting documentation, or clarify the circumstances surrounding the reported concern.
4. Further Investigation
When necessary, the editorial team may consult independent academic experts, relevant reviewers, editorial board members, research institutions, or other appropriate parties.
The investigation may include examination of original research data, textual similarities, analytical procedures, authorship contributions, research ethics documentation, publication records, or other relevant evidence.
Investigations must consider the characteristics of research within the humanities, social sciences, management, and related multidisciplinary fields.
5. Editorial Decision
The editorial team determines appropriate actions based on the available evidence, seriousness of the violation, implications for the reliability of the scholarly work, and applicable publication ethics principles.
Decisions must distinguish between honest errors, correctable deficiencies, legitimate scholarly disagreements, and substantiated research misconduct.
6. Follow-Up and Documentation
The editorial team documents the investigation, relevant communications, supporting evidence, final decision, and subsequent corrective actions.
Editorial responses must be proportionate to the nature and severity of the identified problem.
Metta: Jurnal Ilmu Multidisiplin reserves the right to temporarily suspend manuscript processing when necessary to ensure a fair and sufficiently thorough investigation.
Editorial Independence and Conflicts of Interest
Editors, reviewers, and editorial board members who have actual or potential conflicts of interest concerning a manuscript or misconduct allegation must not participate in the relevant evaluation or decision-making process when their impartiality could reasonably be compromised.
When the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict of interest, responsibility for evaluating the allegation and making the editorial decision must be delegated to an appropriately qualified independent editor.
All investigations must remain independent of financial contributions, institutional relationships, academic positions, personal interests, and other inappropriate external influences.
These provisions are implemented in accordance with the journal's Conflict of Interest Policy, Publication Ethics, and Authorship Criteria.
Editorial Actions
The editorial team determines appropriate actions according to the stage of publication, nature of the alleged misconduct, supporting evidence, and implications for research integrity.
a. Manuscripts Under Editorial Evaluation
For manuscripts that have not yet been published, Metta: Jurnal Ilmu Multidisiplin may:
1) Request clarification or additional supporting documentation from the authors.
2) Require revisions to address identified academic or ethical concerns.
3) Temporarily suspend the editorial or peer-review process.
4) Seek further independent academic or ethical evaluation.
5) Reject the manuscript when serious misconduct or violations of publication ethics are substantiated.
6) Take other proportionate editorial measures necessary to protect research integrity.
b. Published Articles
For articles that have already been published, the journal may implement appropriate corrective measures, including:
1) Correction: Issuing a formal correction when identified errors can be addressed without fundamentally undermining the reliability of the published research.
2) Expression of Concern: Publishing a formal notice when credible concerns exist but available evidence is insufficient to justify immediate retraction.
3) Retraction: Retracting an article when serious errors, unreliable findings, or substantiated ethical violations fundamentally compromise the integrity of the published work.
4) Institutional Investigation: Referring serious allegations to relevant research institutions or competent authorities when further investigation is necessary.
All post-publication actions must follow the journal's Publication Ethics and Retraction Policy.
Formal corrections, expressions of concern, and retraction notices must be clearly identified, publicly accessible, and electronically linked to the relevant published articles wherever technically feasible.
Necessary scholarly corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions shall not incur additional fees.
In accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics, an additional fee of IDR 1,000,000 per approved request applies exclusively to author-initiated, nonessential administrative modifications after publication that require additional editorial, technical, or production work.
Such administrative modifications must not affect the scientific content, accuracy, authorship integrity, or scholarly validity of the published article.
The administrative modification fee does not apply to corrective actions necessary to preserve research integrity or the reliability of the scholarly record.
Relationship With Other Editorial Policies
This policy is implemented in conjunction with other editorial and publication policies established by Metta: Jurnal Ilmu Multidisiplin.
1. Screening for Plagiarism
Allegations of plagiarism are examined in accordance with the journal's Screening for Plagiarism Policy.
The journal uses Turnitin for initial textual similarity screening, with a 20% similarity threshold serving as an initial screening benchmark rather than an automatic determination of plagiarism.
Similarity reports must be interpreted contextually, considering the sources, attribution, disciplinary characteristics, and substance of the identified similarities.
2. Authorship Criteria
Allegations involving authorship manipulation, inappropriate author attribution, or disputes concerning scholarly contributions are evaluated in accordance with the journal's Authorship Criteria.
Corrections necessary to preserve authorship integrity must not be classified as optional administrative modifications.
3. Conflict of Interest Policy
Potential conflicts of interest involving authors, editors, reviewers, or other relevant parties are addressed according to the journal's Conflict of Interest Policy.
4. Publication Ethics
Allegations concerning originality, data integrity, unethical research practices, publication misconduct, or other violations are evaluated in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics.
5. Retraction Policy
Substantiated misconduct affecting published articles is addressed through appropriate corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions under the journal's Retraction Policy.
6. Post-Publication Discussion
Scholarly critiques, requests for clarification, and academic discussions concerning published articles may be submitted through the journal's applicable post-publication communication procedures.
When such communications contain credible allegations of research misconduct, they will be assessed under this policy rather than treated solely as differences in scholarly interpretation.
Principles of Confidentiality, Fairness, and Accountability
All allegations of research misconduct must be handled objectively, confidentially, transparently, and fairly, without automatically presuming guilt or wrongdoing.
Individuals involved in an investigation must be provided with reasonable opportunities to respond to relevant concerns and submit supporting information.
The editorial team must distinguish between genuine academic disagreements, honest research errors, correctable deficiencies, and serious violations of publication ethics.
Confidential information, unpublished research materials, personal data, and other protected information must be handled responsibly throughout the investigation.
Editorial decisions must be based on credible evidence, disciplinary relevance, research integrity, and applicable publication ethics standards.
Metta: Jurnal Ilmu Multidisiplin does not condone, encourage, or knowingly permit practices that violate research integrity, academic honesty, or responsible scholarly publishing.
The journal recognizes that safeguarding the scholarly record requires proportionate editorial responses, procedural fairness, and appropriate corrective actions.
This policy applies to all parties involved in the submission, evaluation, publication, and post-publication processes of Metta: Jurnal Ilmu Multidisiplin.
The policy will be reviewed periodically to maintain consistency with developments in research ethics, scholarly publishing, and internationally recognized publication integrity standards.
Through this policy, Metta: Jurnal Ilmu Multidisiplin seeks to protect the reliability of published research, uphold the rights and responsibilities of all parties, and maintain public trust in scholarly communication across the humanities, social sciences, management, and related multidisciplinary fields.
