Ethical Publication

Qanun Medika – Medical Journal Faculty of Medicine Muhammadiyah Surabaya is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and research integrity. This publication ethics policy is developed with reference to the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which provide guidance for journals and publishers on addressing ethical issues throughout the scholarly publishing process. The journal expects authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher to uphold the principles of honesty, transparency, accountability, fairness, and respect for research participants.

1. Duties and Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

The editorial board is responsible for ensuring that editorial decisions are based on the scientific quality, originality, relevance, and methodological rigor of submitted manuscripts. Decisions must be made fairly and independently, without discrimination based on the authors' race, gender, religion, nationality, institutional affiliation, or political beliefs. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by commercial interests, personal relationships, or external pressure.
Editors must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and use information obtained through the editorial process only for legitimate editorial purposes. They must disclose relevant competing interests and withdraw from handling manuscripts when a conflict of interest could compromise their impartiality. These responsibilities are consistent with COPE's guidance on publication ethics and editorial management and its guidance on competing interests.

2. Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts represent original work, accurately report the research conducted, and provide sufficient methodological details to support the evaluation and interpretation of their findings. All relevant sources must be appropriately cited, and any use of other people's work, data, figures, tables, or ideas must be properly acknowledged. Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and other forms of research misconduct are unacceptable.
Authors must submit manuscripts that are not simultaneously under consideration by another journal and must disclose any substantial overlap with previously published or submitted work. All individuals listed as authors must have made a meaningful scholarly contribution, approved the final manuscript, and agreed to be accountable for the integrity of the work. Individuals who do not meet the journal's authorship requirements should be acknowledged appropriately rather than granted honorary authorship.
Authors are required to disclose funding sources, relevant competing interests, and any other information necessary to evaluate the integrity of their research. Suspected plagiarism, redundant publication, authorship disputes, and other forms of misconduct will be handled in accordance with the journal's procedures and the relevant COPE guidance on authorship and contributorship and COPE guidance on publication misconduct.

3. Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must provide objective, constructive, evidence-based, and timely evaluations of submitted manuscripts. Their assessments should focus on scientific validity, originality, methodological appropriateness, ethical compliance, clarity of presentation, and relevance to the journal's scope. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate, and recommendations must be supported by clear scholarly reasoning.
Reviewers must treat manuscripts and all associated information as confidential. They must not share, reproduce, retain, or use unpublished material for personal or professional advantage without appropriate authorization. Reviewers must disclose potential competing interests and decline assignments when their impartiality may reasonably be questioned. Any suspected plagiarism, data manipulation, unethical research practices, or other concerns must be reported confidentially to the editor.
These responsibilities follow the principles of transparency, confidentiality, impartiality, and appropriate management of competing interests reflected in the COPE Core Practices and COPE's guidance on peer review processes.

4. Peer Review and Editorial Decision-Making

Qanun Medika applies a peer-review process to evaluate the scientific quality, originality, validity, and relevance of submitted manuscripts. Manuscripts are initially screened by the editorial team to assess their suitability for the journal, compliance with submission requirements, and potential ethical concerns. Manuscripts considered suitable are sent to qualified reviewers with relevant expertise.
Editorial decisions are based on the reviewers' assessments, the scientific merits of the manuscript, and the editor's independent judgment. Peer review does not guarantee acceptance, and the editor may request revisions, reject a manuscript, or seek additional expert opinions when necessary. Reviewers provide recommendations, while the final editorial decision remains the responsibility of the authorized editor.
The journal aims to ensure that its review procedures, reviewer responsibilities, editorial criteria, and mechanisms for handling competing interests and disputes are clearly communicated and consistently implemented. These principles are aligned with the COPE guidance on peer review.

5. Research Ethics and Ethical Oversight

Research involving human participants, identifiable personal information, human biological materials, or animals must comply with applicable ethical standards, institutional requirements, and relevant national and international regulations. Authors must provide information about approval from an appropriate research ethics committee or institutional review board when required by the nature of the study and applicable regulations.
For studies involving human participants, authors must describe the informed consent procedures used, where applicable, and explain how participants' privacy, confidentiality, dignity, and rights were protected. Research involving vulnerable populations requires particular attention to safeguards and applicable ethical requirements. For studies involving animals, authors must report compliance with relevant animal research ethics requirements and describe measures taken to minimize pain, distress, and unnecessary harm.
Authors must not disclose identifiable information about patients or research participants without appropriate authorization and consent. Case reports, clinical images, and other potentially identifiable medical information must be handled with particular care. Where consent for publication is required, authors must obtain it before publication and ensure that confidentiality is protected to the greatest extent possible.
The journal may request ethics approval documents, informed consent statements, clinical trial registration details, or other supporting information when necessary. Manuscripts that fail to demonstrate adequate ethical safeguards may be rejected or subjected to further investigation. These requirements reflect the ethical oversight principles outlined in the COPE Core Practices, particularly the provisions concerning research involving human participants, animals, consent to publication, and confidential information.

6. Plagiarism, Redundant Publication, and Research Misconduct

Qanun Medika does not tolerate plagiarism, self-plagiarism that constitutes inappropriate text or data reuse, fabrication, falsification, image manipulation intended to mislead, citation manipulation, duplicate publication, or other forms of research and publication misconduct. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submissions appropriately acknowledge previous work and do not misrepresent the originality or reliability of their findings.
Submitted manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism-detection tools and assessed by editors for other potential ethical concerns. Similarity scores are considered alongside the nature, context, attribution, and extent of the overlapping material; a similarity score alone does not determine whether plagiarism has occurred.
When suspected misconduct is identified before or after publication, the journal will assess the available evidence, request explanations or supporting documentation when appropriate, and provide relevant parties with a fair opportunity to respond. Where necessary, the journal may consult the authors' institutions, research organizations, or other appropriate bodies. Depending on the findings, actions may include rejection, correction, retraction, notification of relevant institutions, or other measures proportionate to the seriousness of the case.
The journal's approach is informed by the COPE guidance on allegations of misconduct. All allegations will be assessed seriously and handled as confidentially as reasonably possible, while respecting procedural fairness and the integrity of the scholarly record.

7. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must reflect substantial scholarly contributions to the research and manuscript. All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and accept accountability for their contributions and for addressing questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of the work. Individuals who provide administrative assistance, technical support, funding, or other contributions that do not qualify for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately.
The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the journal, coordinating the submission, ensuring that all co-authors have approved the submitted manuscript, and confirming that authorship information is accurate. Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be justified, agreed upon by all affected authors, and approved by the editor before the change is implemented.
Authorship disputes will be assessed carefully, and the journal may request supporting information or refer unresolved disputes to the relevant institutions. The journal's policy follows the principles in COPE's authorship and contributorship guidance.

8. Conflicts of Interest and Competing Interests

Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members must disclose financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other relationships that could improperly influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their judgment. Such relationships may include research funding, employment, consultancy, honoraria, intellectual property interests, personal relationships, or affiliations relevant to the submitted work.
Authors must disclose relevant competing interests in their manuscripts and provide funding information. Reviewers must inform the editor of any circumstances that may compromise the impartiality of their assessment. Editors who have a competing interest must not manage the manuscript or make decisions about it; an independent editor should be assigned where appropriate.
The existence of a competing interest does not automatically imply misconduct or prevent publication. Disclosures will be assessed to determine whether additional safeguards, independent review, reassignment, or public disclosure is necessary. The journal follows the COPE guidance on competing interests.

9. Data Availability, Research Transparency, and Reproducibility

Authors must report research methods and results accurately and provide sufficient methodological detail to allow readers to assess the validity of the findings. Research data, materials, protocols, statistical methods, and analysis procedures should be retained and made available when appropriate, subject to applicable ethical, legal, privacy, and confidentiality restrictions.
Where relevant, authors are encouraged to provide a data availability statement explaining whether supporting data are available, where they can be accessed, and under what conditions they may be reused. Clinical trials and other studies should be registered in an appropriate public registry when required by applicable standards or regulations. Authors must not fabricate, falsify, selectively misrepresent, or improperly manipulate research data.
Editors may request original data, study protocols, ethics documentation, or other supporting materials when questions arise concerning the reliability or reproducibility of reported findings. Data sharing must not compromise participant confidentiality, informed consent conditions, intellectual property rights, or other legitimate restrictions. These principles are consistent with the COPE Core Practices on data and reproducibility.

10. Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Publication Rights

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts do not infringe the intellectual property rights of others. Material reproduced from previously published sources, including figures, tables, photographs, instruments, and substantial text, must be appropriately attributed, and permission must be obtained when required by the applicable copyright or licensing terms.
The journal's copyright, licensing, access, and publication-fee policies must be communicated clearly to authors and readers. Authors are responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary rights to submit and publish their work and that any third-party material is used lawfully.
The journal addresses plagiarism, redundant publication, copyright concerns, and related disputes in accordance with its editorial procedures and the COPE Core Practices on intellectual property.

11. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Discussions

Qanun Medika recognizes its responsibility to preserve the accuracy and integrity of the published scholarly record. When errors, inaccuracies, ethical concerns, or evidence of misconduct are identified after publication, the journal will evaluate the available evidence and determine the appropriate action.
Corrections may be issued when an error can be remedied without invalidating the overall findings or conclusions of an article. Retraction may be considered when findings are unreliable because of serious error or misconduct, when there has been substantial plagiarism or redundant publication, or when other circumstances make retraction necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
Retraction, correction, and other post-publication notices must clearly identify the affected article and explain the reason for the action to the extent appropriate. Published articles and their associated notices should remain appropriately linked and discoverable to maintain transparency and the integrity of the scholarly record.
The journal welcomes legitimate scholarly discussion and will consider substantiated concerns raised by readers and researchers. Post-publication allegations will be evaluated fairly, and authors may be invited to respond. Actions will be proportionate to the evidence and the nature of the issue. The journal follows the COPE guidance on post-publication discussions and corrections.

12. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit a reasoned appeal against an editorial decision when they believe that the decision resulted from a significant factual error, a misunderstanding of the manuscript, an inappropriate review process, or a relevant procedural irregularity. Appeals must provide specific grounds and supporting evidence rather than merely expressing disagreement with the outcome.
Complaints concerning editorial decisions, peer review, editorial conduct, publication procedures, or alleged breaches of publication ethics will be assessed by an appropriate editorial representative who is not directly involved in the matter, where practicable. Complaints involving the editor-in-chief should be referred to an independent senior editorial representative or the publisher.
The journal will consider complaints and appeals impartially, maintain appropriate records, and communicate the outcome to the relevant parties when the assessment is complete. An appeal does not guarantee reconsideration or acceptance of a manuscript. The procedure is informed by the COPE Core Practices on complaints and appeals.

13. Confidentiality and Protection of Personal Information

All unpublished manuscripts, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and confidential information obtained during submission, review, and publication must be handled responsibly. Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not disclose confidential material to unauthorized parties or use unpublished information for personal, academic, or commercial advantage.
Personal information relating to authors, reviewers, research participants, and other individuals must be protected in accordance with applicable data protection requirements and the journal's privacy policy. Disclosure may occur only when authorized, legally required, or necessary for the fair investigation of a legitimate ethical concern.

14. Editorial Independence and Journal Management

Editorial decisions must remain independent of commercial, financial, institutional, and personal interests. Advertising, sponsorship, publication fees, institutional affiliations, and other business considerations must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected. Editorial policies and publishing procedures must be communicated transparently and applied consistently.
The journal is committed to maintaining clear editorial responsibilities, transparent publication procedures, appropriate record-keeping, and the fair management of ethical concerns. Any suspected breach of editorial independence or publication policy will be assessed and addressed through the appropriate editorial and publisher-level procedures.
These principles are aligned with the COPE Core Practices on journal management.

15. Handling Allegations of Publication Ethics Violations

Allegations of publication ethics violations may be raised by authors, reviewers, readers, institutions, or other relevant parties. The journal will assess each allegation seriously, review the available evidence, and determine whether further investigation is necessary. Where appropriate, the journal may request explanations, original data, ethics approvals, consent documentation, or other relevant records.
The journal will seek to protect the confidentiality of individuals involved, provide relevant parties with a fair opportunity to respond, and avoid premature conclusions before the available evidence has been assessed. Serious or unresolved concerns may be referred to the relevant institution, research organization, publisher, or other competent body.
The journal may take appropriate editorial action before or after publication, depending on the evidence and the seriousness of the matter. All actions should be proportionate, documented, and intended to protect research integrity and the reliability of the scholarly record. The procedure follows the COPE guidance on allegations of misconduct.

16. Commitment to Publication Ethics

Qanun Medika – Medical Journal Faculty of Medicine Muhammadiyah Surabaya is committed to promoting responsible research, transparent editorial practices, fair peer review, and the correction of the scholarly record when necessary. Authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher share responsibility for maintaining ethical standards and addressing concerns that may undermine the credibility of medical research.
This policy is informed by the COPE Core Practices and relevant COPE guidance. The journal will review and update this policy as necessary to reflect developments in publication ethics, research integrity, and applicable ethical and regulatory standards.