Publication Ethics

This statement clarifies the ethical behavior of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in our journals, including the authors, the editors, the peer-reviewers, and the publisher. This statement is based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Ethical Guideline for Journal Publication
The publication of an article in a double-blind peer-reviewed Integritas Terbuka: Peace and Interfaith Studies is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the authors, the journal editors, the peer reviewers, the publisher, and the society.  
RSCJ Indonesia as the publisher of this Journal takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously and we recognize our ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint, or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. In addition, Editorial Boards will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful and necessary.

Publication Decisions
The editors of the Integritas Terbuka: Peace and Interfaith Studies are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Fair Play
An editor at any time evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual contents without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality
The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.

Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgment of Sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Duties of Authors

Reporting standards
Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention
Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication
An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgment of Sources
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship of the Paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects
If the work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Conflict of Interest / Competing Interests Policy

Integritas Terbuka: Peace and Interfaith Studies (INT) requires all parties involved in the publication process to disclose any competing interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their judgment, interpretation, evaluation, or editorial decision-making.

Competing interests may be financial or non-financial and may include personal, professional, academic, institutional, intellectual, political, religious, or other relationships that could affect impartiality. The existence of a competing interest does not automatically constitute misconduct; however, relevant interests must be disclosed transparently and appropriately managed.

Authors

Authors must disclose all relevant competing interests at the time of manuscript submission. Such interests may include:

1. financial support, grants, employment, consultancy, honoraria, or other financial relationships related to the research;
2. personal or professional relationships that could influence the research or its interpretation;
3. academic, institutional, intellectual, organizational, political, or religious affiliations that are directly relevant to the subject matter of the manuscript; and
4. any other relationship or interest that could reasonably be perceived as affecting the objectivity of the work.

Authors must also disclose all sources of funding or institutional support relevant to the research.

Where no competing interests exist, authors should state:

Competing Interests: The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests relevant to this article.

For a journal focused on religion, interfaith dialogue, and peace studies, affiliation with a religious institution or community does not automatically constitute a competing interest. Disclosure is required where such affiliation has a direct relationship to the research topic and could reasonably be perceived as influencing the study or its interpretation.

Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose any competing interest that could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, their impartiality.

Reviewers should decline a review invitation or inform the Editorial Team when they have:

1. a close personal or professional relationship with an author;
2. recent or substantial collaboration with an author;
3. direct academic or professional competition with an author;
4. financial or institutional interests related to the manuscript;
5. involvement in the research under review; or
6. any other relationship that could affect independent judgment.

Reviewers must not use confidential information obtained through the peer-review process for personal, academic, professional, financial, or institutional advantage.

This is consistent with COPE guidance that reviewers should declare competing interests and decline reviews where competitive, collaborative, or other relationships could compromise impartiality.

Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors must make editorial decisions independently and must disclose any competing interests relevant to a manuscript.

An editor should not handle a manuscript when a significant competing interest exists, including:

1. a close personal or professional relationship with an author;
2. recent research collaboration with an author;
3. direct involvement in the research;
4. a financial or institutional interest in the publication outcome; or
5. any other relationship that could reasonably call the editor’s impartiality into question.

Where a competing interest exists, editorial responsibility must be transferred to another qualified editor who has no relevant conflict.

If an Editor or Editorial Board member submits a manuscript to the journal, that individual must not participate in reviewer selection, editorial deliberation, or the final publication decision concerning the manuscript.

Journal and Publisher

The journal’s institutional affiliation with Program Integritas Terbuka, Kongregasi Hati Kudus Yesus (RSCJ) Indonesia must not influence peer review or editorial decisions.

Institutional ownership, funding, organizational interests, or religious affiliation must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected.

Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly quality, originality, relevance to the journal’s scope, ethical compliance, and the integrity of the peer-review process.

Management of Competing Interests

Disclosure of a competing interest does not automatically result in manuscript rejection or exclusion from the editorial process.

The Editorial Team will assess the nature and relevance of the interest and may:

• request additional disclosure;
• appoint a different reviewer;
• transfer editorial responsibility to another editor;
• publish a competing interests statement;
• seek additional independent review; or
• take other appropriate measures to protect editorial integrity.

COPE specifically recommends that journals have a clear process for competing interests before publication and for interests discovered later. It also recommends that declarations be handled consistently and documented transparently.

Undisclosed Competing Interests

If a significant competing interest is identified before publication, the Editorial Team may request clarification, replace a reviewer or editor, revise the disclosure statement, or suspend editorial processing until the matter is resolved.

If an undisclosed competing interest is identified after publication, the Editorial Team will assess whether the omission affects the integrity, interpretation, or reliability of the published article.

Depending on the seriousness of the case, the journal may issue:

• a correction;
• an updated competing interests statement;
• an Expression of Concern;
• a retraction; or
• another appropriate editorial notice.

Such cases will be handled in accordance with the journal’s Retraction, Withdrawal, and Correction Policy and relevant COPE guidance.

Fundamental errors in published works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.