Publication Ethics and Malpractice Policy

Journal of Management Entrepreneurship and Tourism (JMET)

The Journal of Management Entrepreneurship and Tourism (JMET) is committed to maintaining integrity, transparency, fairness, accountability, confidentiality, and academic independence throughout the scholarly publishing process.

This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, Editorial Board members, the Publisher, and other parties involved in the publication process.

JMET's ethical policies are informed by internationally recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing, including relevant guidance and core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

I. Core Ethical Principles and Author Responsibilities

1. Core Ethical Principles

JMET is committed to protecting the integrity of the scholarly record.

Editorial decisions are based on:

• Originality;
• Academic contribution;
• Methodological rigor;
• Ethical compliance;
• Relevance to the JMET Aims and Scope;
• Quality and clarity of presentation.

The journal does not tolerate research or publication misconduct. Financial, commercial, institutional, personal, or other inappropriate considerations must not influence editorial decisions.

2. Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted manuscripts represent accurate, original, ethical, and responsibly conducted scholarly work.

By submitting to JMET, authors confirm that:

• The manuscript is original;
• The work is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal;
• All listed authors have approved the submission;
• Data, analyses, results, and interpretations are reported accurately;
• Sources are appropriately acknowledged;
• Required ethical and legal permissions have been obtained;
• Conflicts of interest and funding have been disclosed;
• All applicable JMET policies have been followed.

Authors remain accountable for the integrity of the work after publication.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must reflect genuine and substantial intellectual contribution.

All listed authors should:

• Have contributed meaningfully to the research or manuscript;
• Approve the final version;
• Agree to submission and publication;
• Accept responsibility for their contribution;
• Cooperate in resolving questions concerning the integrity of the work.

Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately. JMET encourages use of the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy.

4. Changes in Authorship

Authors should finalize the author list and order before submission.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must:

• Include a clear explanation;
• Be agreed to by all affected authors;
• Be approved by the Editor.

Authorship changes after acceptance will normally be permitted only in exceptional and justified circumstances. Suspected authorship disputes may be referred to the authors' institutions where appropriate.

5. Originality, Plagiarism, and Text Recycling

Manuscripts must constitute original scholarly work.

JMET does not tolerate:

• Plagiarism;
• Unattributed copying;
• Inappropriate paraphrasing;
• Misappropriation of ideas;
• Inappropriate text recycling or self-plagiarism.

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-detection software or other research-integrity tools.

6. Duplicate, Redundant, and Overlapping Publication

Authors must not submit substantially the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously.

Previously published work must not be presented as original research.

Where manuscripts arise from the same dataset or research program, authors must:

• Disclose related publications;
• Cite relevant previous work;
• Explain the distinct contribution of the submitted manuscript.

Artificial fragmentation of one study into multiple publications without meaningful scholarly justification is discouraged.

7. Preprints and Prior Dissemination

JMET may consider manuscripts previously deposited on legitimate preprint platforms, institutional repositories, or presented as conference abstracts, provided that:

• Prior dissemination is transparently disclosed;
• The manuscript has not already been formally published as the Version of Record;
• Copyright or licensing restrictions do not prevent publication;
• The manuscript satisfies JMET's originality and contribution requirements.

Authors should identify any relevant preprint or prior public version during submission.

II. Research Integrity and Transparency

8. Fabrication, Falsification, and Data Manipulation

Authors must not fabricate, falsify, selectively manipulate, or intentionally misrepresent research data, statistical results, qualitative evidence, participant information, images, figures, tables, or analytical outputs.

Where legitimate concerns arise, JMET may request supporting data, documentation, analysis files, or other evidence.

9. Image and Figure Integrity

Images and figures must accurately represent the underlying research.

• Features must not be added, removed, moved, or obscured misleadingly;
• Research images must not be manipulated to distort scientific meaning;
• False empirical images must not be created;
• Copyrighted images must not be reused without required permission.

Uniform adjustments for clarity may be acceptable where they do not misrepresent the underlying information.

10. Research Ethics and Ethical Approval

Research involving human participants, personal data, vulnerable populations, confidential organizational information, animals, or other ethically sensitive materials must comply with applicable ethical standards.

Where required, authors must provide:

• Name of the approving ethics committee or institutional review board;
• Approval number or reference;
• Relevant approval date where applicable.

JMET may request evidence of ethical approval.

11. Informed Consent and Consent for Publication

Authors must obtain informed consent where required.

Special care must be taken with:

• Minors;
• Vulnerable populations;
• Sensitive personal information;
• Confidential organizational or community data.

Authors are responsible for protecting participant privacy and confidentiality.

12. Data Availability and Reproducibility

JMET supports responsible research transparency and reproducibility. Authors should provide a Data Availability Statement where appropriate.

Research data, code, instruments, or related materials should be made available when legally, ethically, and practically possible.

Restrictions based on confidentiality, privacy, institutional agreements, commercial sensitivity, intellectual-property rights, or ethical requirements should be clearly explained.

13. Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all relevant financial support, including:

• Funder name;
• Grant number where applicable;
• Relevant role of the funder.

Funding arrangements must not compromise research independence.

14. Conflicts of Interest and Competing Interests

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their judgment.

15. Citation Ethics

References must be selected for legitimate scholarly reasons.

JMET prohibits:

• Citation manipulation;
• Citation cartels;
• Irrelevant citation padding;
• Excessive self-citation without scholarly justification;
• Coercive citation practices.

Editors and reviewers must not pressure authors to cite their own publications, JMET publications, or unrelated sources solely to increase citation metrics.

III. Peer Review and Editorial Governance

16. Peer-Review Integrity

JMET operates a double-blind peer-review process.

Manuscripts passing initial editorial screening are normally evaluated by at least two qualified independent reviewers.

JMET does not tolerate fabricated reviewer identities, fraudulent reviewer accounts, undisclosed reviewer conflicts, reviewer manipulation, or attempts by authors to control the review process.

17. Reviewer Responsibilities

• Evaluate manuscripts objectively and professionally;
• Maintain confidentiality;
• Declare conflicts of interest;
• Review only within their area of expertise;
• Provide constructive and evidence-based comments;
• Alert Editors to suspected misconduct where appropriate.

Reviewers must not use confidential information for personal benefit, contact authors directly about the review, use inappropriate language, or require irrelevant citations.

18. Editor Responsibilities

Editors must ensure that editorial processes are:

• Fair;
• Independent;
• Confidential;
• Evidence-based;
• Timely;
• Ethically appropriate.

19. Editorial Conflicts of Interest

Editors must not manage manuscripts in which they have a significant conflict of interest. Such manuscripts should be transferred to another qualified and independent Editor.

Manuscripts submitted by Editorial Board members must undergo the same independent peer-review standards applied to other submissions.

20. Editorial Independence

Scientific editorial decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief and responsible Editors.

The Publisher, Sumber Belajar Sejahtera, provides organizational, administrative, technical, and financial support but does not improperly interfere with scientific editorial decisions.

The following must not influence acceptance or rejection:

• Article Processing Charges;
• Sponsorship;
• Advertising;
• Institutional prestige;
• Commercial relationships;
• Author financial status.

21. Publisher Responsibilities

The Publisher supports editorial independence, research integrity, digital preservation, accessibility, ethical publishing procedures, and responsible correction of the scholarly record.

The Publisher does not own the copyright of JMET articles, except where an exceptional and explicitly documented arrangement lawfully provides otherwise.

22. Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright in accordance with the JMET Copyright and License Statement.

23. Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

JMET maintains a separate Generative Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy.

• AI cannot be listed as an author;
• Human authors remain fully accountable;
• Substantive AI use must be disclosed;
• Fabricated AI-generated data or references are prohibited;
• Reviewer and editor confidentiality must not be compromised through AI tools.

IV. Misconduct and Post-Publication Actions

24. Research and Publication Misconduct

Misconduct may include, but is not limited to:

• Plagiarism;
• Fabrication;
• Falsification;
• Data or image manipulation;
• Authorship misconduct;
• Citation manipulation;
• Peer-review manipulation;
• Duplicate publication;
• Copyright infringement;
• Undisclosed competing interests;
• Misrepresentation of ethical approval;
• Paper-mill activity;
• Fraudulent research documentation;
• Inappropriate or undisclosed AI use material to research integrity.

25. Handling Allegations of Misconduct

JMET takes credible allegations seriously whether raised before or after publication.

Concerns may be raised by authors, reviewers, readers, editors, institutions, and anonymous or identified whistleblowers.

The journal may request research data, ethical documentation, authorship records, correspondence, explanations, or other evidence.

26. Corrections

Where an error affects accuracy or interpretation but does not invalidate an article as a whole, JMET may issue a Correction, Erratum, or Corrigendum.

• The correction must be clearly identified;
• It must be linked to the original article;
• It must explain what has been corrected;
• It must preserve transparency of the scholarly record.

27. Retractions

Retraction may be considered where reliable evidence indicates that a publication is fundamentally unreliable or involves serious misconduct.

Potential reasons include fabrication, falsification, serious plagiarism, unethical research, duplicate publication, major analytical errors, or compromised peer review.

Retracted articles should normally remain accessible and clearly marked as retracted to preserve the scholarly record.

28. Expressions of Concern

JMET may issue an Expression of Concern where serious questions exist about a publication but evidence remains inconclusive or an external investigation is ongoing.

29. Post-Publication Discussion

JMET welcomes legitimate scholarly discussion concerning published articles.

Readers may report factual errors, methodological concerns, ethical concerns, data-integrity issues, authorship concerns, and other significant matters.

30. Complaints and Appeals

JMET maintains a separate Complaints and Appeals Policy.

Authors may appeal editorial decisions when substantial factual, procedural, ethical, or conflict-of-interest concerns exist.

V. Publishing Operations and Scholarly Record

31. Article Processing Charges and Ethical Independence

Publication charges are disclosed separately in the Article Processing Charges and Author Fees Policy.

Financial arrangements do not influence reviewer selection, peer-review recommendations, editorial assessment, acceptance or rejection, or post-publication ethical decisions.

32. Advertising and Direct Marketing

Advertising, sponsorship, and promotional activities must remain separate from editorial decision-making.

Direct marketing must be truthful, relevant, appropriately targeted, professional, and non-misleading.

33. Confidentiality

JMET maintains appropriate confidentiality of:

• Submitted manuscripts;
• Reviewer identities where required;
• Reviewer reports;
• Editorial correspondence;
• Ethical investigations;
• Unpublished research information.

34. Preservation of the Scholarly Record

JMET is committed to maintaining a reliable and permanent scholarly record.

Corrections, retractions, Expressions of Concern, and related notices form part of that record. Long-term preservation arrangements are described in the journal's Archiving and Digital Preservation Policy.

35. Responsible Journal Metrics

JMET does not manipulate citations, publication volume, peer review, editorial processes, or author networks for the purpose of artificially increasing journal metrics.

VI. Policy Governance

36. Policy Consistency

This policy should be read together with JMET's:

• Author Guidelines;
• Aims and Scope ;
• Peer Review Process;
• Complaints and Appeals Policy;
• Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy ;
• Copyright and License Statement;
• Open Access Statement;
• Archiving and Digital Preservation Policy;
• Article Processing Charges Policy;
• Other applicable journal policies.

Where inconsistencies are identified, JMET will seek to correct them promptly.

37. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed periodically to reflect developments in:

• Publication ethics;
• Research integrity;
• Artificial intelligence;
• Scholarly communication;
• Data governance;
• International publishing standards.

Material changes will be communicated transparently through the official JMET website.

JMET is committed to safeguarding the integrity of scholarly communication through responsible authorship, independent peer review, transparent editorial processes, ethical research conduct, appropriate handling of misconduct, and preservation of a reliable scholarly record.