Jurnal Communio is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and research integrity. This publication ethics policy is intended to prevent and address unethical practices, including plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate or redundant publication, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, conflicts of interest, and other forms of publication misconduct.

This policy applies to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, peer reviewers, and the publisher. All parties are expected to act with integrity, transparency, fairness, confidentiality, and professional responsibility throughout the submission, review, publication, and post-publication processes.

The publication ethics policy of Jurnal Communio is informed by the principles and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and internationally recognised publishing ethics practices, including those outlined by Elsevier. The journal follows relevant COPE guidance when handling suspected ethical misconduct, authorship disputes, complaints, appeals, corrections, and retractions.

1. Editors' Responsibilities and Ethics

Editors are responsible for maintaining the integrity, quality, and fairness of the editorial process.

1. Editors shall evaluate submitted manuscripts objectively and fairly based on their academic quality, originality, significance, methodological soundness, clarity, and relevance to the journal's scope, regardless of the authors' race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, political affiliation, or institutional affiliation.

2. Editors shall ensure that manuscripts meeting the journal's initial requirements are subjected to an appropriate and impartial peer-review process.

3. Editors shall select qualified and independent reviewers whose expertise is relevant to the manuscript and who have no disqualifying conflicts of interest.

4. Editors shall maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and all information related to the peer-review process, except where disclosure is required for legitimate ethical or legal reasons.

5. Editors shall not use unpublished information, data, or ideas obtained from submitted manuscripts for their own research or personal advantage without the written permission of the authors.

6. Editors shall declare and appropriately manage any competing interests. Editors must not participate in editorial decisions concerning manuscripts in which they have a personal, professional, financial, or other significant conflict of interest.

7. Editors shall not manipulate citations or require authors to cite the journal, editors, reviewers, or particular authors unless such citations are genuinely justified by scholarly relevance.

8. Editors shall respond appropriately to allegations of plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, authorship disputes, and other forms of research or publication misconduct.

9. Where substantial errors or misconduct are identified after publication, editors shall work with the publisher and relevant parties to issue an appropriate correction, expression of concern, or retraction, as warranted.

10. Editors shall provide a transparent mechanism for handling complaints and appeals concerning editorial decisions and publication processes.

2. Reviewers' Responsibilities and Ethics

Peer reviewers play an important role in maintaining the quality and integrity of scholarly publishing.

1. Peer review assists editors in making informed editorial decisions and provides authors with constructive feedback to improve the quality of their manuscripts.

2. Reviewers shall conduct reviews objectively, independently, fairly, and constructively. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate.

3. Reviewers shall assess manuscripts based on scholarly criteria, including originality, theoretical foundation, methodological rigour, analysis, interpretation, clarity, and contribution to the field.

4. Reviewers shall maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and information obtained through the peer-review process and shall not share manuscript content or review materials with others without permission from the editor.

5. Reviewers shall promptly notify the editor if they are unable to provide an appropriate and timely review or if they lack sufficient expertise to assess the manuscript.

6. Reviewers shall disclose any potential competing interests that could affect the objectivity of their assessment and should decline the assignment when a significant conflict exists.

7. Reviewers shall notify the editor of any substantial similarity, suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation, or other potential ethical concerns that they identify.

8. Reviewers shall not use unpublished data, information, arguments, or ideas obtained through peer review for their own research or personal advantage without the authors' written permission.

9. Reviewers should not recommend citations to their own work or the work of others for the purpose of increasing citation counts or journal metrics. Citation recommendations should be made only when they are scientifically relevant and justified.

10. Reviewers shall not use generative AI or other AI-assisted technologies to process or analyse confidential manuscript content unless expressly permitted by the journal and consistent with its confidentiality requirements.

3. Authors' Responsibilities and Ethics

Authors are responsible for ensuring the integrity, originality, and accuracy of their submitted work.

1. Authors shall submit only original work and shall ensure that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another journal.

2. Authors shall present their research accurately and transparently, including an appropriate description of the research methods, results, analysis, and conclusions. Fabricated, falsified, or knowingly misleading information is unacceptable.

3. Authors shall properly acknowledge and cite all sources, ideas, data, quotations, and other materials obtained from other works. Plagiarism and inappropriate appropriation of another person's work are considered unethical publication practices.

4. Authors shall ensure that all individuals listed as authors have made a substantial contribution to the research or manuscript and have approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission.

5. Authors shall not engage in inappropriate authorship practices, including guest, gift, ghost, or honorary authorship.

6. Authors shall disclose any relevant financial, personal, professional, or institutional competing interests that could influence the research or its interpretation.

7. Authors shall disclose all sources of financial support and, where applicable, describe the role of funders in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and preparation of the manuscript.

8. Where research involves human participants, personal data, vulnerable populations, or other ethically sensitive research subjects, authors are responsible for complying with applicable research ethics requirements, including informed consent and approval from an appropriate ethics committee where required.

9. Authors shall cooperate with the editors in responding to questions concerning the accuracy, integrity, or ethical conduct of their research.

10. If authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must promptly notify the editor and cooperate in correcting or, where necessary, retracting the article.

11. Authors should provide supporting data or other relevant research materials when reasonably requested by the editors for the purpose of verifying the integrity of the research, subject to ethical, legal, privacy, and confidentiality considerations.

4. Publisher's Responsibilities and Ethics

The publisher, together with the editorial team, is responsible for supporting the integrity and sustainability of the journal's scholarly record.

1. The publisher shall support the editors in maintaining editorial independence and implementing appropriate publication ethics policies.

2. The publisher shall provide appropriate procedures and support for investigating suspected cases of research and publication misconduct, including plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, authorship disputes, and manipulation of the peer-review process.

3. In cases of confirmed misconduct or significant errors in a published article, the publisher, in cooperation with the editors, shall take appropriate corrective action, which may include the publication of a correction, erratum, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the circumstances.

4. The publisher shall take reasonable measures to prevent the publication of manuscripts involving known research or publication misconduct and shall not knowingly facilitate or encourage unethical publishing practices.

5. The publisher shall support transparent and fair mechanisms for handling complaints, appeals, corrections, and post-publication concerns in accordance with recognised publication ethics standards.

5. Plagiarism and Publication Misconduct

Jurnal Communio does not tolerate plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate or redundant publication, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, or manipulation of the peer-review process.

Submitted manuscripts may be screened for plagiarism or substantial textual similarity using appropriate similarity-detection tools. Where suspected misconduct is identified, the journal will investigate the matter in accordance with applicable editorial procedures and relevant COPE guidance.

6. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Issues

Jurnal Communio is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the published scholarly record. If a significant error, ethical concern, or research misconduct is identified after publication, the journal may publish a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue.

Authors, readers, reviewers, and other relevant parties may report concerns regarding published articles to the editorial team. The journal will assess such concerns fairly and, where appropriate, conduct further investigation in accordance with established publication ethics procedures. COPE identifies post-publication correction and retraction mechanisms as an important component of responsible journal practice.

7. Complaints and Appeals

Jurnal Communio provides a mechanism for authors and other relevant parties to submit complaints or appeals concerning editorial decisions, peer-review procedures, or publication ethics matters.

Complaints and appeals will be handled objectively, confidentially, and as promptly as reasonably possible. Where necessary, the journal may consult independent editors, members of the editorial board, the publisher, or relevant institutions to ensure that complaints and appeals are handled appropriately.

8. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

Authors remain fully responsible for the content, originality, accuracy, and integrity of their submitted manuscripts, including content produced or assisted by generative AI tools.

The use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies must not replace authors' responsibility for scholarly judgement, verification of information, appropriate citation, and accountability for the submitted work. Authors should disclose the use of generative AI when it has materially contributed to the manuscript, in accordance with the journal's applicable author guidelines.

Reviewers and editors must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and should not upload confidential manuscript content into generative AI tools or other external systems that may compromise the confidentiality of the peer-review or editorial process. The use of AI in editorial and peer-review processes must comply with applicable journal policies and recognised publishing-ethics standards.