Publication Ethics

PHI IUSTITIA: Journal of Law and Multidisciplinary Studies is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics, referring to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directorate General of Higher Education (Direktorat Jenderal Pendidikan Tinggi), and international best practices. This policy applies to all parties involved in the publication process: authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher.

Authorship Criteria and Author Responsibilities

• Authorship is limited to those who have made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research; all listed authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to be accountable for its content.
• The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have seen and approved the submission and for serving as the primary point of contact during the editorial process.
• Authors must submit original manuscripts, free from plagiarism or duplicate/redundant publication, and must honestly cite all sources used.
• Authors must disclose any potential conflict of interest and the source of research funding.
• Authors are responsible for promptly notifying the editor and cooperating in the correction or retraction of the article if a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered after publication.

Editor Responsibilities

• Editors decide on manuscript acceptance based solely on scientific quality, without regard to the authors' race, gender, religion, citizenship, or institutional affiliation.
• Editors maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and handle allegations of ethical misconduct fairly and thoroughly, in accordance with COPE procedures.
• Editors ensure that editorial decisions are not influenced by advertising, reprint, or other commercial revenue.
• Editors are responsible for ensuring that accepted manuscripts fall within the journal's Focus and Scope, including the requirement that manuscripts under the Applied Engineering/Technical Sciences and Medicine/Health Sciences sections explicitly integrate legal, regulatory, or policy analysis.

Reviewer Responsibilities

• Reviewers assess manuscripts objectively and in a timely manner, based on scientific merit alone.
• Reviewers maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript and report any indication of plagiarism, duplicate publication, or other ethical concerns to the editor.
• Reviewers must disclose any conflict of interest and decline to review manuscripts where such a conflict exists.

Publisher Responsibilities

• The publisher (Perkumpulan Palu Hukum Indonesia) supports the editorial team in upholding editorial independence and ensures that business or commercial considerations do not influence editorial decisions.
• The publisher assists in investigating allegations of misconduct and, where necessary, facilitates the publication of corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies.
• The publisher ensures the long-term preservation and accessibility of published content through the journal's archiving policy.

Plagiarism and Similarity Screening

All submitted manuscripts are screened using a similarity detection tool (Turnitin or equivalent). Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding 20% will be returned to the author for revision or rejected, consistent with the threshold set out in the Author Guidelines.

Research Ethics and Ethical Clearance

Research involving human participants, animal subjects, or sensitive personal data must comply with applicable ethical standards and include a statement of ethical clearance/approval from the relevant institutional ethics committee, as required in the Author Guidelines.

Handling of Ethical Violations

Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, or other ethical violations will be rejected or retracted even after publication, following COPE's retraction guidelines. Retracted articles remain accessible with a clear retraction notice explaining the reason for retraction.

Corrections and Retractions

• Minor errors that do not affect the overall interpretation of the article may be addressed through a published correction (erratum/corrigendum).
• Serious errors that invalidate the findings, or confirmed cases of misconduct (plagiarism, data fabrication/falsification, duplicate publication), will result in retraction, with a retraction notice linked to the original article.

Conflict of Interest

Editors and reviewers must withdraw from handling a manuscript if they have a personal, professional, or financial relationship with the author(s) that could compromise objectivity.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors who disagree with an editorial decision may submit a written appeal to the Editor-in-Chief, explaining the grounds for the appeal. Appeals will be reviewed by an editor not involved in the original decision, and a response will be provided within a reasonable timeframe. Complaints regarding suspected misconduct by authors, reviewers, or editors may be submitted to the editorial office and will be handled in accordance with COPE's guidelines and flowcharts.