Publication Ethics

Jurnal Statistika Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. This policy describes the ethical responsibilities of authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher throughout the submission, peer-review, and publication processes. The journal follows recognized publication-ethics practices, including the COPE Core Practices.

Concerns or complaints about a submitted or published manuscript may be sent to the Editor-in-Chief using the contact details provided on the journal website. The journal will assess each concern fairly, confidentially, and without prejudging the parties involved.

Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards

Authors must report their research accurately and present an objective discussion of its significance. Data, methods, analyses, and results must be described truthfully and in sufficient detail to allow readers to understand and assess the work. Fabrication, falsification, or knowingly misleading reporting is unacceptable.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must submit original work that has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal. All sources, ideas, text, data, and materials from others must be properly acknowledged and cited. Plagiarism, unattributed reuse, and duplicate or redundant publication are unacceptable. The journal’s separate Plagiarism Policy explains how similarity screening and suspected cases are handled.

Concurrent and Secondary Publication

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Secondary publication may be considered only in justified circumstances, with the agreement of the relevant editors, clear disclosure, and proper citation of the primary publication.

Authorship

All listed authors must have made a substantial contribution to the research or manuscript, participated in drafting or critical revision, approved the version submitted for publication, and agreed to be accountable for the work. People who do not meet these criteria should not be listed as authors; their contributions may be acknowledged where appropriate. The corresponding author is responsible for confirming that all authors have approved the manuscript and its author order.

Acknowledgment of Sources and Permissions

Authors must cite relevant sources and obtain permission to reuse copyrighted material where required. Information obtained privately or through confidential processes must not be used or disclosed without permission from the relevant person or rights holder.

Ethical Approval and Research Participants

Research involving human participants, identifiable personal data, or animals must comply with applicable ethical requirements. Authors must obtain approval from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board when required and must obtain informed consent where applicable. Relevant information should be reported in the Methodology section of the manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest and Funding

Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived to influence the research. They must also disclose relevant funding and the funder’s role in the research, where applicable. These disclosures may be provided through the submission form or cover letter; the journal template does not require a separate declaration section.

Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision by sending a reasoned response to the Editor-in-Chief through the journal’s contact details. The appeal should identify the decision being challenged and explain the grounds for reconsideration. An editor who was involved in the original decision or has a conflict of interest will not assess the appeal. The journal will review the appeal and inform the author of its decision.

Duties of Editors

Editorial Decisions

Editors are responsible for deciding which manuscripts are suitable for publication. Decisions must be based on the manuscript’s scholarly quality, originality, methodological soundness, clarity, relevance to the journal’s focus and scope, and compliance with publication ethics. Decisions must not be influenced by an author’s nationality, ethnicity, gender, religious belief, political views, or institutional affiliation.

Fair and Independent Assessment

Editors must assess manuscripts fairly and impartially. A manuscript that is outside the journal’s scope, incomplete, or clearly unsuitable may be declined before peer review. Editors must not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for their own research or personal advantage.

Confidentiality

Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, and editorial correspondence. Manuscript content must not be shared except with people involved in the editorial process or where disclosure is required to investigate an ethical concern.

Conflicts of Interest

Editors must disclose any conflict of interest and withdraw from handling a manuscript when a personal, professional, financial, or collaborative relationship could affect—or reasonably appear to affect—their impartiality. The manuscript will then be assigned to another editor.

Complaints and Suspected Misconduct

Concerns or allegations about research or publication misconduct should be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief through the journal’s Contact page. Reports should identify the article or submission concerned, describe the specific concern, and provide supporting information where available.

The Editor-in-Chief will assess whether the concern requires further investigation. The journal may seek information from the authors, reviewers, institutions, or other appropriate parties. The person handling the matter must act impartially and disclose any conflict of interest. Relevant parties will be given an appropriate opportunity to respond.

The journal will handle reports confidentially, as far as possible, while conducting a fair assessment. Depending on the findings and the publication status of the work, the journal may request clarification or correction, reject a submission, publish a correction or expression of concern, or retract an article.

Allegations should be sent directly to the Editor-in-Chief and will not be handled through public post-publication discussion alone.

Corrections and Retractions

If an error or ethical concern is confirmed after publication, the journal will take appropriate action to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record. Depending on the circumstances, this may include publishing a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction. Notices will explain the reason for the action and will be linked to the affected article.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Reviewers assist editors by providing an independent assessment of a manuscript’s originality, methods, analysis, interpretation, and contribution. Reviews should be constructive, evidence-based, and relevant to the manuscript. The editor makes the final editorial decision.

Promptness and Expertise

Reviewers should accept assignments only when they have appropriate expertise and can complete the review within the agreed timeframe. If a reviewer is unable to review the manuscript promptly or competently, they should inform the editor and decline the assignment.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts and review materials are confidential. Reviewers must not share or discuss them with others without the editor’s permission, and must not use unpublished information for personal or professional advantage.

Objectivity and Respectful Feedback

Reviews must be objective and supported by clear reasoning. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate. Reviewers should identify relevant work that has not been cited and alert the editor to substantial similarity, overlap, or possible ethical concerns.

Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must disclose any conflict of interest that could affect their assessment and decline the assignment when impartiality may be compromised. They must not contact authors directly about a manuscript under review unless authorized by the editor.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Requirements for disclosing AI use by authors, limits on AI use by editors, and restrictions for reviewers are described in the journal’s Author Guidelines. Authors, editors, and reviewers must follow that policy. Reviewers must protect manuscript confidentiality and must not enter submitted manuscripts or review materials into AI tools.

Publisher’s Responsibilities

The publisher supports the Editor-in-Chief and editorial team in maintaining the journal’s publication-ethics policies and preserving the integrity of the scholarly record. Editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the journal’s editors and are based on scholarly and ethical considerations.