Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Standards for authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher in protecting research integrity and the scholarly record.

1. Scope and Editorial Independence

FUADUNA: Jurnal Kajian Keagamaan dan Kemasyarakatan is a peer-reviewed open-access journal published by Universitas Islam Negeri Sjech M. Djamil Djambek Bukittinggi. Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, relevance to the journal's scope, methodological and interpretive quality, originality, ethical compliance, and the integrity of the submission. Institutional, commercial, financial, religious, political, or personal interests must not determine acceptance or rejection.

Article processing charges, sponsorship, advertising, or other revenue arrangements are administratively separate from editorial evaluation and must not influence peer review or publication decisions.

2. Responsibilities of Editors

• Fair evaluation: assess manuscripts on scholarly content without discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, political belief, institutional affiliation, or other irrelevant personal characteristics.
• Confidentiality: protect submitted manuscripts, reviewer identities, editorial correspondence, and unpublished information.
• Competing interests: disclose and manage conflicts. An editor with a relevant conflict must recuse themselves and transfer handling to an independent editor.
• Peer-review integrity: select qualified, independent reviewers and ensure that review evidence is documented in the journal management system.
• Editorial decisions: make the final decision independently, considering reviewer advice but not delegating editorial responsibility to reviewers or automated systems.
• Misconduct concerns: respond to credible allegations using evidence-based and proportionate procedures, including requests for clarification, data, documentation, or institutional investigation when appropriate.
• Scholarly record: issue corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or other notices when necessary and avoid silent substantive changes to published articles.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Review only within the reviewer's expertise and declared availability.
• Maintain strict confidentiality and do not use unpublished information for personal or professional advantage.
• Provide objective, evidence-based, constructive, and respectful comments.
• Declare competing interests and decline the review when impartial assessment cannot be assured.
• Identify relevant ethical concerns and report them confidentially to the editor.
• Avoid coercive or self-serving citation requests.
• Do not use AI in the peer-review process, including reading, summarizing, evaluating, scoring, drafting comments, or uploading any part of the manuscript to an AI system.

4. Responsibilities of Authors

• Originality: submit original work and appropriately acknowledge all sources, quotations, data, images, and ideas.
• No simultaneous submission: do not submit substantially the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time.
• Accurate reporting: present methods, sources, data, analyses, and limitations honestly and with sufficient detail for scholarly evaluation.
• Authorship: list only individuals who made substantial intellectual contributions, participated in drafting or critical revision, approved the submitted version, and accept accountability for the work. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.
• Research ethics: obtain appropriate ethical approval, informed consent, permissions, or community authorization when required by the research design, population, data, or materials.
• Competing interests and funding: disclose financial and non-financial competing interests and identify relevant funding or support.
• Data and documentation: retain and provide underlying data or documentation when reasonably requested, subject to ethical, legal, privacy, and confidentiality constraints.
• AI transparency: disclose substantive use of AI or AI-assisted technologies in accordance with the journal's Artificial Intelligence Policy. AI cannot be listed as an author.
• Post-publication responsibility: promptly notify the journal when a significant error is discovered and cooperate with correction, clarification, or retraction procedures.

5. Research Misconduct and Questionable Practices

FUADUNA considers fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate or redundant publication, manipulated peer review, paper-mill activity, undisclosed material conflicts, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, unethical research, unauthorized use of data or images, and deliberate misrepresentation to be serious integrity concerns.

A similarity score, allegation, or automated flag is not by itself a finding of misconduct. The journal will assess the underlying evidence, the nature and extent of the problem, the authors' explanation, and the effect on the reliability of the work. Where appropriate, the journal may follow COPE flowcharts or request assistance from the authors' institution or another competent body.

6. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose interests that could reasonably be perceived to influence scholarly judgment. These may be financial, institutional, professional, personal, intellectual, ideological, political, or religious. Disclosure does not automatically disqualify participation; the relevant editor determines appropriate management, which may include recusal, independent review, disclosure in the published article, or another proportionate measure.

7. Human Participants, Sensitive Communities, and Cultural Materials

Research involving human participants, identifiable personal information, vulnerable populations, interviews, private communications, or sensitive religious and cultural communities must respect applicable ethical review, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, and permission requirements. Authors must avoid unnecessary disclosure of identities and should explain relevant ethical approval or consent procedures in the manuscript when applicable.

8. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Discussion

FUADUNA welcomes evidence-based scholarly discussion of published work. Credible post-publication concerns will be assessed fairly and may result in clarification, correction, an expression of concern, retraction, or exceptional removal where justified. Retraction is a mechanism for protecting the scholarly record when an article is no longer reliable; it is not used merely as a punishment. Formal notices should be clearly labeled, freely accessible, and linked to the affected article whenever technically possible.

9. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, or other stakeholders may raise a complaint or request reconsideration through the journal's official contact channel. Appeals should identify the decision or policy concern, explain the grounds, and provide relevant evidence. Where feasible, an appeal involving an editorial conflict will be considered by an editor who was not responsible for the original decision. Appeals do not guarantee reversal of an editorial decision.

10. Publisher Responsibilities

Universitas Islam Negeri Sjech M. Djamil Djambek Bukittinggi supports the editorial independence of FUADUNA and the preservation of an accurate scholarly record. The publisher supports transparent policies, secure journal management, preservation of published content, and appropriate responses to legal or ethical concerns. Publisher or institutional interests must not override documented editorial standards.