PUBLICATION ETHICS

This statement sets out the ethical standards of Jurnal Ilmiah Kesehatan Masyarakat, abbreviated as SEHATMAS. It applies to everyone who takes part in publishing the journal: the journal management, the editors, the peer reviewers, the authors, and the publisher. It is based on the Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

A peer reviewed journal supports a trusted body of knowledge, and it reflects the quality of the work of authors and of the institutions that support them. In public health and the health sciences, published findings can influence clinical practice, health programs, and public policy. Therefore, the standards below are taken seriously by every party.

Three core values. Neutrality, justice, and honesty guide the journal. Every responsibility on this page follows from them.

1. Core Values

Value	What it means for SEHATMAS
Neutrality	The publication is managed without conflicts of interest.
Justice	Credit for authorship goes to the people who deserve it.
Honesty	Publications are free from duplication, fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism.

Who Is Responsible for What

Party	Main commitment
Journal management and publisher	Provide a sound structure, independence, protection of confidential information and rights, and the means to publish regularly.
Editors	Make fair and objective decisions, protect the academic record, and keep the quality of the journal improving.
Peer reviewers	Give honest, objective, timely, and confidential reviews, and avoid conflicts of interest.
Authors	Report original work honestly, give credit correctly, disclose support, and respect research participants.

2. Responsibilities of the Journal Management and the Publisher

Area	Responsibilities
Governance	Set the name, the scope, the publication frequency, and where needed the accreditation of the journal. Appoint the Editorial Board. Define in a contract the relationships among the publisher, the editors, the reviewers, and other parties.
Confidentiality and rights	Protect confidential information about contributing researchers, authors, editors, and reviewers. Apply the norms of intellectual property, especially copyright. Arrange the licenses and the other legal requirements.
Policies and conduct	Review the policies of the journal and communicate them to authors, editors, reviewers, and readers. Create a code of conduct for editors and reviewers.
Continuity	Publish the journal regularly, ensure the funding for continued publication, and build cooperation networks and promotion for the journal.

Commitments of the Publisher

No.	Commitment
1	Make decisions free from outside interests, and make sure that commercial considerations do not affect editorial decisions.
2	Give editors and reviewers independence in their work, and respect the privacy of authors.
3	Protect intellectual property and copyright. See the Copyright Notice and Licensing pages.
4	Manage funds that come from third parties openly and transparently.
5	Support the long term availability of published work. See the Archiving Policy.
6	Disclose any conflict of interest that could affect the operation of the journal.

3. Responsibilities of Editors

Area	Responsibilities
Quality of the journal	Connect the needs of readers and authors. Improve the quality of the publication continuously. Apply processes that ensure the quality of published work. Make the author guidelines easy to find and to understand, and assign suitable reviewers. Encourage authors to revise manuscripts until they are publishable.
Fair and objective decisions	Select manuscripts for their validity and importance, through a review that is thorough, transparent, and fair. Judge a manuscript on its intellectual content only, whatever the personal characteristics or views of the authors. Promote objective freedom of opinion, stay open to new ideas and to opposing views, and avoid defending the position of oneself, of an author, or of a third party in a way that harms objectivity.
Integrity of the record	Maintain the records of the academic integrity of authors. Issue corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when they are needed. Be responsible for style and format, while authors remain responsible for the content and for all statements in the manuscript.
Confidentiality and conflicts	Do not disclose information about a manuscript to anyone other than those who need it for the review and the publication. Do not use unpublished material from a submission in one's own research without the written consent of the author. Disclose conflicts of interest, and do not handle manuscripts in which a conflict exists.
Research ethics and education	Support the reduction of errors in research and in publication by requiring authors to attach an ethical clearance form that has been approved by an ethics committee, where it is required. Support education on publication ethics for researchers.
Feedback and improvement	Seek feedback actively from authors, readers, reviewers, and members of the Editorial Board. Encourage an evaluation of the journal when problems are found. Review how the policies of the journal affect authors and reviewers, and improve them in order to reduce errors.

4. Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Area	Responsibilities
The review itself	Review the manuscripts that editors assign, and report the findings so that the editors can decide whether to publish. Review honestly, objectively, and independently. Support views with clear arguments, and avoid personal criticism of the authors.
Conflicts and involvement	Do not review a manuscript in which you have a direct or an indirect involvement. Keep privileged information confidential, and do not use it for personal advantage.
Confidentiality and privacy	Treat every manuscript as confidential. Protect the privacy of authors by not sharing review comments, suggestions, or recommendations, and do not discuss a manuscript unless the editor allows it.
Promptness and standards	Review manuscripts promptly, and in line with the style of the journal and with scientific standards, for example the methods of data collection, the legitimacy of the authors, and the conclusions. Decline the invitation if you are not qualified or cannot review promptly.
Helping authors	Encourage authors to improve their manuscripts, and review revised manuscripts again against the set standards.
Sources and overlap	Check the accuracy of the references, point out relevant work that is not cited, and report any substantial overlap with published work that you know.

More about the review is available on the Peer Review Process page. Rules on the use of AI tools by reviewers are in the Generative AI Policies.

5. Responsibilities of Authors

Area	Responsibilities
Authorship and responsibility	Make sure that everyone who is listed as an author meets the criteria for authorship (see Authorship and Contributorship). Take collective responsibility for the work and its content, including the methods, the analysis, the calculations, and the details.
Honest reporting and data	Report the research honestly and accurately. Fabrication and knowingly false statements are unacceptable. Explain the limitations of the study. Provide the raw data for editorial review when asked, keep the data for a reasonable period, and handle the data of participants confidentially. See the Data Sharing Policy.
Originality and sources	Submit only original work that has not been published in any language and is not under consideration elsewhere. Do not publish the same research in more than one journal. Cite and quote the work of others properly, and cite the publications that influenced the research. See the Plagiarism and Research Integrity Policy.
Participants and ethics	Follow the requirements for research with human participants in section 6.
Disclosure	Declare all sources of support, direct or indirect, including funding, and disclose any financial or substantive conflict of interest. See Conflicts of Interest.
Generative AI	Follow the Generative AI Policies. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.
Working with the journal	Respond to the comments of reviewers professionally and on time. Tell the editor promptly about any significant error in your own published work, and cooperate in a correction or a retraction. Tell the editor if you wish to withdraw a manuscript.

6. Research With Human Participants and Ethical Clearance

Requirement	Details
Ethical clearance	Authors attach an ethical clearance form that has been approved by an ethics committee, where it is required.
Permission and informed consent	Obtain the permission of the institution and the informed consent of the participants.
Minors	For participants who are minors, obtain the consent of a parent or a guardian.
Privacy	Protect the identity of the participants, and keep their personal and health data confidential.
Reporting	Describe in the Method section how permission, informed consent, and ethical clearance were obtained.

7. Ethical Concerns, Corrections, and Retractions

Topic	How it is handled
Reporting a concern	Anyone can report suspected misconduct in a submitted or a published article to the editorial office at jurnal.sehatmas@gmail.com. Concerns are handled under the Allegations of Misconduct policy.
Corrections and retractions	An article may be corrected, or retracted for reasons such as fabricated data, publication elsewhere, plagiarism, or an ethical violation, as described in Correction and Retraction.
Discussion after publication	Scholarly comments on published articles follow the Post Publication Discussion policy.

Related Policies

Topic	Page
Review of manuscripts	Peer Review Process
Similarity and plagiarism	Plagiarism and Research Integrity Policy
Who may be an author	Authorship and Contributorship
Declaring conflicts	Conflicts of Interest
Use of AI tools	Generative AI Policies
Reporting and handling misconduct	Allegations of Misconduct
Correcting or retracting articles	Correction and Retraction
Sharing research data	Data Sharing Policy
Preparing a manuscript	Manuscript Preparation and Author Guidelines
The publisher	Publisher