Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

The Indonesian Journal of International Clinical Legal Education (ICCLE) is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes appropriate measures to prevent publication malpractice. This statement defines the ethical responsibilities of all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, the Editor-in-Chief, the Editorial Board, peer reviewers, and the publisher. The journal's ethical principles are based on the guidance and best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Publication ethics are essential to maintaining the integrity of scholarly communication. All parties are expected to act honestly, fairly, transparently, and responsibly. Manuscripts and published articles must comply with applicable ethical standards. Where misconduct is established, the journal may take appropriate editorial action, including rejection, correction, retraction, or removal in exceptional circumstances.

1. Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publication

Publication in a peer-reviewed journal contributes to the development and dissemination of reliable scholarly knowledge. ICCLE is committed to maintaining the integrity of the publication process and ensuring that editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, originality, relevance, and research integrity.

The journal seeks to ensure that advertising, reprints, sponsorship, or other commercial interests do not improperly influence editorial decisions. Editorial decisions must remain independent and be guided by the journal's policies, applicable legal requirements, and recognized publication ethics standards.

2. Allegations of Research Misconduct

Research misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, plagiarism, inappropriate data manipulation, duplicate publication, and other serious violations of research or publication ethics. These violations may occur during research, manuscript preparation, peer review, or the reporting of research findings.

The Editors and Editorial Board will handle allegations in accordance with relevant COPE guidance. Allegations will be assessed fairly, and the individuals concerned will be given an appropriate opportunity to respond. The journal may consult independent experts or relevant institutions when necessary.

A manuscript found to involve substantiated research misconduct may be rejected. If misconduct is identified after publication, ICCLE may issue a correction, an expression of concern, a retraction, or another appropriate notice to protect the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

Authors are expected to cooperate with investigations and provide supporting information when reasonably requested. Where appropriate, the journal may contact the authors' institutions or other relevant bodies. Editorial action will be proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the findings.

3. Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding which submitted manuscripts should be published. Decisions are based on the manuscript's scholarly quality, originality, relevance to the journal's scope, methodological or analytical rigor, and contribution to the field of clinical legal education and related legal scholarship.

The Editors may consult the Editorial Board and peer reviewers when making publication decisions. They must also comply with applicable legal requirements concerning defamation, copyright infringement, plagiarism, and other relevant matters.

Publication decisions must be based on scholarly merit and ethical compliance, not on personal, commercial, or discriminatory considerations.

4. Complaints and Appeals

ICCLE provides a mechanism for receiving and considering complaints concerning the journal, its editorial staff, the Editorial Board, peer reviewers, or the publisher. Complaints may relate to editorial decisions, alleged citation manipulation, unfair treatment, conflicts of interest, peer-review irregularities, or other concerns about the journal's operations.

Complaints and appeals will be considered fairly, confidentially, and impartially, taking into account the nature of the concern and relevant COPE guidance. Where necessary, the matter may be referred to an appropriate person or body independent of the original decision.

Complaints and appeals should be submitted to the journal's editorial office through the official contact details provided on the ICCLE website.

5. Fair Play and Non-Discrimination

Editors and reviewers must evaluate manuscripts on the basis of their intellectual and scholarly content. Manuscripts must be considered without discrimination based on an author's race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

Editorial decisions and peer-review recommendations must be based on relevant scholarly criteria, the journal's policies, and ethical standards. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate, and reviewers are expected to express their assessments clearly, objectively, and constructively.

6. Confidentiality

Editors, editorial staff, and reviewers must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and all communications related to the editorial process. Information about a submission must not be disclosed to unauthorized persons. Disclosure may be made to the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers, the publisher, or other parties where appropriate and necessary for the editorial process.

Unpublished materials, data, and ideas contained in a submitted manuscript must not be used for personal research or advantage without the author's express written consent. Reviewers must not share or use confidential manuscript information outside the review process.

7. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose financial or non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived to influence their research, analysis, or interpretation. All sources of financial support must be acknowledged, including the role of any sponsor in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit the work for publication.

Editors and reviewers must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could affect their impartiality. Individuals with relevant conflicts must not participate in the evaluation or decision-making process unless the conflict has been appropriately assessed and managed.

Conflicts of interest must be disclosed transparently and managed to protect the fairness and credibility of the publication process.

8. Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submissions are original, accurate, and prepared in accordance with accepted research and publication ethics standards. Authors must report their work honestly and must not fabricate, falsify, or manipulate data or findings.

Originality and plagiarism: Submitted manuscripts must be original and must not have been published previously or be under consideration by another journal at the same time. The work and words of others must be properly cited and acknowledged.
Authorship: Authorship must reflect substantial scholarly contributions. All authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission. Contributions that do not qualify for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately.
Data and supporting materials: Authors should retain relevant research data and provide supporting information when reasonably requested for editorial assessment or verification.
Research ethics and consent: Research involving human participants or personal information must comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements. Appropriate approvals, informed consent, permissions, and safeguards for privacy must be obtained where required.
Permissions and acknowledgements: Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to use copyrighted materials and for accurately acknowledging the contributions and sources that informed their work.
Exclusive submission: A manuscript must not be submitted to more than one journal simultaneously. Duplicate, redundant, or concurrent publication is unacceptable.
Correction of errors: Authors who discover a significant error in their published work must promptly notify the Editors and cooperate in issuing a correction or retraction where necessary.

9. Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers should accept assignments only when they have appropriate expertise and can complete the review within the required timeframe.
Reviewers must maintain confidentiality and must not use information obtained through peer review for personal or professional advantage.
Reviews must be objective, constructive, and supported by clear scholarly arguments. Personal criticism or offensive language is inappropriate.
Reviewers must disclose potential conflicts of interest and decline assignments where their impartiality may be compromised.
Reviewers must alert the Editors to suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, research misconduct, or other ethical concerns identified during evaluation.
Reviewers must respect the journal's peer-review process and deadlines and inform the Editors promptly if they are unable to complete an assignment.

10. Editorial Responsibilities

The Editors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are handled fairly, confidentially, and consistently with the journal's editorial policies. The journal's peer-review process must be conducted impartially, and reviewers should be selected based on relevant expertise and the absence of disqualifying conflicts of interest.

Editors must not use their position to manipulate journal metrics or require citations without genuine scholarly justification. Manuscripts authored by an Editor or a person with a close professional or personal relationship to an Editor must be handled independently to avoid conflicts of interest.

When credible evidence of misconduct is identified, the Editors will assess the concern, communicate with the relevant parties as appropriate, and take suitable action to safeguard the scholarly record.

11. Publisher Responsibilities

The publisher is responsible for supporting the integrity of the journal's publication process and ensuring that editorial independence is respected. The publisher must not interfere improperly with editorial decisions and should support the Editors in addressing suspected misconduct and implementing appropriate corrections to the scholarly record.

The publisher also supports the preservation of published content and the application of recognized publication ethics standards. The journal and publisher will cooperate, where appropriate, with relevant institutions and ethical bodies to address serious concerns.

12. Retraction, Withdrawal, and Article Removal

ICCLE seeks to preserve the accuracy, integrity, and permanence of the scholarly record. Published articles will ordinarily remain available in their original form. However, withdrawal, correction, retraction, or removal may be necessary in exceptional circumstances, depending on the nature of the concern and the stage of publication.

Article withdrawal: Before publication, a manuscript may be withdrawn or rejected where serious ethical concerns arise, including duplicate submission, plagiarism, false authorship claims, or fraudulent data. Requests for withdrawal should be submitted to the editorial office with an explanation.

Article retraction: A published article may be retracted where there is reliable evidence of serious misconduct, major errors that invalidate the findings, or other circumstances that undermine the reliability of the work. A retraction notice will identify the article and explain the reason for retraction. The journal may retain the original article with a clear retraction watermark or notice, where appropriate.

Article removal: Removal from the online record may be considered only in exceptional circumstances, such as where the article is clearly defamatory, infringes legal rights, is subject to a valid court order, or presents a serious legal or security concern. Where possible, bibliographic metadata will be retained and a notice will explain the reason for removal.

Article replacement: Where a serious error can be corrected by replacing the original article with a corrected version, the journal may publish a replacement in accordance with its editorial procedures. The correction or replacement history should be clearly documented.

13. Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

ICCLE welcomes responsible scholarly discussion concerning published articles. Readers who identify a substantive error or concern may contact the editorial office and provide a clear explanation with relevant supporting evidence.

After editorial assessment, the journal may publish a correction, an expression of concern, a letter to the editor, a reply, or another appropriate notice. Authors of the article concerned may be invited to respond. All post-publication actions will be handled fairly and with the aim of maintaining the reliability of the scholarly record.

14. Ethical Compliance Checklist

Before submitting a manuscript, authors should ensure that:

All necessary ethical approvals and permissions have been obtained.
Copyrighted materials have been used with appropriate permission where required.
All sources, quotations, data, and contributions from other works have been properly acknowledged.
Informed consent and safeguards for privacy and confidentiality have been addressed where applicable.
All authors have made appropriate contributions, approved the submitted version, and agreed to submission.
The manuscript is not under consideration by another journal and does not contain plagiarized or fabricated material.
All relevant financial support and conflicts of interest have been disclosed.

Publication Ethics Reference

ICCLE refers to the guidance and best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in maintaining publication ethics and addressing suspected misconduct.