Publication Ethics & Plagiarism Policy

The Journal of Innovative Technologies in Learning and Education (J-ITLE) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, research integrity, and scholarly transparency. The journal follows the principles and best practices recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and applies ethical standards to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher.

All manuscripts submitted to J-ITLE must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. The journal does not tolerate plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or any other form of research and publication misconduct.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring the integrity, originality, accuracy, and ethical compliance of their submitted manuscripts.

Authors must:

  • Submit only original work that has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another journal or publisher;
  • Ensure that the manuscript does not contain plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation;
  • Present research findings honestly, accurately, and transparently;
  • Provide proper acknowledgment and citation for all sources, ideas, data, figures, tables, images, software, instruments, or other materials used in the manuscript;
  • Ensure that all listed authors have made significant scholarly contributions to the research and have approved the final version of the manuscript;
  • Identify the corresponding author who is responsible for communication with the journal during submission, peer review, revision, and publication;
  • Disclose any financial, institutional, personal, academic, or other potential conflicts of interest that may influence the research or its interpretation;
  • Disclose all sources of funding, sponsorship, institutional support, or research grants related to the submitted work;
  • Obtain necessary ethical approval, research permission, or informed consent when the study involves human participants, personal data, students, teachers, schools, institutions, or other protected groups;
  • Respond to editorial and reviewer comments professionally and within the required timeframe;
  • Notify the editor immediately if a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered in the submitted or published work.

2. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, implementation, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, drafting, or revision of the manuscript.

All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for the integrity of the work. Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately in the acknowledgement section.

Changes in authorship, including the addition, removal, or rearrangement of authors, must be requested before publication and must be approved by all authors. The editorial team may request written confirmation from all authors when authorship changes are proposed.

3. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for ensuring that all submitted manuscripts are handled fairly, objectively, confidentially, and in accordance with the journal’s editorial policies.

Editors must:

  • Evaluate manuscripts based on scholarly merit, originality, relevance, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, and contribution to the journal’s focus and scope;
  • Ensure that editorial decisions are not influenced by authors’ nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, religion, political views, personal relationships, financial considerations, or potential citation impact;
  • Maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and related communications;
  • Select qualified reviewers with relevant expertise and no known conflicts of interest;
  • Ensure that peer review is conducted fairly, constructively, and in a timely manner;
  • Manage conflicts of interest involving authors, reviewers, editors, or editorial board members;
  • Take appropriate action when ethical concerns, plagiarism, duplicate submission, data fabrication, falsification, or other forms of misconduct are suspected;
  • Issue corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or other notices when necessary to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

4. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers play an important role in maintaining the quality and integrity of scholarly publication. Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, confidential, and timely evaluations of manuscripts assigned to them.

Reviewers must:

  • Accept review assignments only when they have relevant expertise and sufficient time to complete the review;
  • Evaluate manuscripts objectively based on academic quality, originality, relevance, methodology, clarity, ethical compliance, and contribution to the field;
  • Provide constructive comments that help authors improve their manuscripts;
  • Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and review reports;
  • Not use unpublished materials, data, or ideas from submitted manuscripts for personal advantage;
  • Declare any potential conflict of interest before accepting or continuing a review assignment;
  • Inform the editor if they suspect plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, falsification, ethical violations, or other forms of misconduct;
  • Respect the journal’s peer-review policy and review deadlines.

5. Responsibilities of the Publisher

The publisher of J-ITLE supports the journal in maintaining editorial independence, publication ethics, digital access, and the integrity of the scholarly record.

The publisher is responsible for:

  • Supporting the editorial team in implementing ethical publishing practices;
  • Ensuring that editorial decisions remain independent from commercial, institutional, political, or personal interests;
  • Maintaining the journal website, publication platform, and access to published content;
  • Supporting corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or other publication notices when necessary;
  • Ensuring that author fees, sponsorship, advertising, or institutional support do not influence editorial decisions or peer-review outcomes.

6. Plagiarism Policy

J-ITLE does not tolerate plagiarism in any form. Plagiarism includes using another person’s words, ideas, data, images, tables, figures, research instruments, or creative work without proper acknowledgment. Plagiarism also includes close paraphrasing, unattributed translation, inappropriate reuse of published material, and presenting another person’s work as one’s own.

Self-plagiarism, redundant publication, or duplicate publication of an author’s previously published work without proper citation and justification is also considered unethical and is not allowed.

All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism before or during the editorial review process using plagiarism detection software, such as Turnitin, Plagiarism Checker X, or other reliable similarity checking tools.

Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding 20%, excluding references and bibliography, may be returned to authors for revision or rejected, depending on the nature and extent of the similarity. The editorial team may also reject a manuscript with a similarity index below 20% if substantial plagiarism, unattributed copying, or unethical reuse is detected.

7. Research Misconduct

Research and publication misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • Plagiarism;
  • Self-plagiarism or redundant publication;
  • Duplicate submission or duplicate publication;
  • Data fabrication;
  • Data falsification;
  • Image, figure, table, or data manipulation;
  • Inappropriate authorship or undisclosed ghost, guest, or gift authorship;
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest;
  • Citation manipulation;
  • Peer-review manipulation;
  • Failure to obtain required ethical approval or informed consent;
  • Misuse of confidential information obtained through peer review or editorial processes.

8. Handling Allegations of Misconduct

Suspected cases of research or publication misconduct will be handled carefully, fairly, and confidentially. The editorial team will review the allegation, examine the available evidence, and contact the author(s), reviewer(s), editor(s), or institution(s) when necessary.

If misconduct is suspected before publication, the manuscript may be returned to the authors for clarification, correction, or revision, or it may be rejected depending on the seriousness of the case.

If misconduct is confirmed after publication, the journal may take one or more of the following actions:

  • Issue a correction or corrigendum;
  • Issue an editorial expression of concern;
  • Retract the article;
  • Notify the authors’ institution, research funder, or relevant authority;
  • Temporarily or permanently restrict future submissions from the author(s), depending on the severity of the misconduct.

All corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions will be clearly linked to the original article to maintain the transparency and integrity of the scholarly record.

9. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

J-ITLE may issue corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern when necessary to correct the scholarly record and inform readers about significant issues affecting a published article.

A correction may be issued when an article contains an honest error that does not invalidate the main findings. A retraction may be issued when the findings are unreliable due to misconduct, serious error, plagiarism, duplicate publication, unethical research, or other major problems. An expression of concern may be issued when serious concerns exist but the investigation is still ongoing or the evidence is inconclusive.

Retraction notices will state the reason for retraction and will remain publicly available.

10. Conflicts of Interest

All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and the publisher, must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest.

Conflicts of interest may include financial relationships, institutional affiliations, academic competition, personal relationships, employment, consultancy, funding, political interests, religious interests, or other circumstances that may influence judgment or decision-making.

Editors and reviewers who have conflicts of interest with a manuscript must decline involvement in the editorial or review process.

11. Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

Research involving human participants, students, teachers, schools, institutions, personal data, interviews, observations, experiments, surveys, learning analytics, or other sensitive data must comply with relevant ethical standards.

Authors are responsible for obtaining ethical approval, institutional permission, or informed consent when required. The editorial team may request evidence of ethical approval or consent during the review process.

12. Appeals and Complaints

Authors may submit an appeal if they believe that an editorial decision was based on a misunderstanding, factual error, procedural error, or conflict of interest.

Appeals must be submitted in writing to the editorial office and must include a clear explanation and supporting evidence. The Editor-in-Chief or an assigned editor will review the appeal and may consult additional editorial board members or independent reviewers when necessary.

Complaints related to editorial conduct, peer review, publication ethics, or journal management may also be submitted to the editorial office. All complaints will be handled fairly, confidentially, and in a timely manner.

13. Contact

For questions, concerns, appeals, complaints, or reports related to publication ethics, plagiarism, or research misconduct, please contact:

Journal of Innovative Technologies in Learning and Education (J-ITLE)
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education
Universitas Citra Bangsa, Indonesia
Email: edu@ucb.ac.id