Allegation of Research Misconduct

Mitra Teras: Jurnal Terapan Pengabdian Masyarakat takes all allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously. The journal handles every allegation fairly, confidentially, and according to the COPE flowcharts. This policy applies to manuscripts under review and to published articles.

What Is Research Misconduct?

Research misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • Fabrication: making up data, results, or program activities that did not happen.
  • Falsification: changing or leaving out data or results so that the report is not accurate.
  • Plagiarism: using other people's ideas, words, data, or figures without proper credit, including self-plagiarism.
  • Duplicate publication: publishing the same work in more than one journal, or submitting it to more than one journal at the same time.
  • Image manipulation: changing photos, figures, or maps in a way that gives a false picture of the results.
  • Authorship misconduct: ghost, gift, or guest authorship, or listing people without their agreement (see our Authorship Criteria).
  • Unethical community engagement: carrying out a program without permission from the community partner, without consent from participants, or without ethics approval when it is required.
  • Undisclosed conflict of interest: hiding interests that may influence the work.
  • Peer review manipulation: suggesting fake reviewers or trying to influence the review process.
  • Misuse of AI tools: using AI tools to create data, results, or references.

How to Report an Allegation

Anyone (readers, reviewers, editors, or members of the public) can report suspected misconduct. Please send the report by email to the Chief Editor at mawaidi@uny.ac.id or to the journal at mitrateras@mjipublisher.com. The report should include:

  • the title of the manuscript or article (and the DOI, if published);
  • a clear description of the concern;
  • any supporting evidence, such as links, documents, or screenshots.

Reports may be made anonymously if they include enough evidence to be checked. The identity of the person who reports will be kept confidential.

How the Journal Handles an Allegation

  1. Acknowledgment. The journal confirms that the report has been received within 7 working days.
  2. Initial check. The Chief Editor, with the help of the Editorial Board, checks whether the allegation is supported by evidence. An editor who has a conflict of interest with the case will not be involved.
  3. Contacting the authors. If the concern is supported, the editor contacts the corresponding author, explains the concern, and asks for a response and supporting evidence (for example, raw data or partner permission letters) within 14 days.
  4. Evaluation. The editor evaluates the response. If needed, the editor asks for advice from reviewers or experts.
  5. Contacting the institution. If the authors do not respond, or if the response does not resolve the concern, the editor may contact the authors' institution and ask it to investigate.
  6. Decision. The Chief Editor makes a final decision and informs the authors and the person who reported the concern.

Possible Outcomes

For manuscripts under review:

  • no action, if the allegation is not supported;
  • a request to correct the problem;
  • rejection of the manuscript;
  • informing the authors' institution.

For published articles:

  • no action, if the allegation is not supported;
  • a correction;
  • an expression of concern, while the investigation is ongoing or if the evidence is unclear;
  • retraction of the article;
  • informing the authors' institution.

Details of corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions are explained in our Correction and Retraction policy.

In serious cases, the journal may refuse new submissions from the authors involved for a period of up to three years.

Fairness and Confidentiality

All authors are treated as not guilty until the evidence shows otherwise. Information about the case is shared only with the people who need it to handle the case. The journal will not take action based on an allegation that is clearly false or made in bad faith.

See also our Publication Ethics and Plagiarism Policy.