PUBLICATION ETHICS AND PUBLICATION MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

Jurnal Konstruksi dan Infrastruktur (JKI) is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, transparency, editorial independence, and responsible scholarly publishing.

This policy applies to authors, editors, editorial board members, reviewers, and the publisher, and applies to all scholarly content published by JKI, including regular issues and Special Issues.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are original works and are free from plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, inappropriate data manipulation, and other forms of research misconduct.

All ideas, data, figures, tables, text, and other materials originating from other sources must be properly acknowledged and cited.

Manuscripts may be screened using similarity-detection software. Similarity results are evaluated by the editorial team and are not used as the sole basis for determining plagiarism or research misconduct.

Multiple, Redundant, or Simultaneous Submission

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to JKI and another journal.

A manuscript that has been previously published, or substantially overlaps with previously published work, must not be submitted without appropriate disclosure and justification.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, analysis, interpretation, or preparation of the manuscript.

All listed authors must:

  • have made a meaningful contribution to the work;
  • approve the final version of the manuscript;
  • agree to its submission and publication; and
  • accept responsibility for the integrity of the published work.

Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be appropriately acknowledged.

Ghost authorship, guest authorship, and honorary authorship are not permitted.

Accuracy and Research Integrity

Authors are responsible for presenting research data, methods, analyses, and findings accurately and honestly.

Fabrication, falsification, inappropriate manipulation of data or images, selective reporting, and intentional misrepresentation of research findings are unacceptable.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, personal, professional, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, interpretation of results, or publication process.

If no conflict of interest exists, authors should provide an appropriate statement.

Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support, grants, sponsorship, or other funding related to the research.

Where no external funding was received, authors should state this clearly.

Data Availability and Reproducibility

Authors should provide sufficient information to enable the research to be understood, evaluated, and, where appropriate, reproduced.

Data supporting the findings should be made available where ethically, legally, and practically possible.

If data cannot be publicly shared because of ethical, legal, confidentiality, privacy, commercial, or other legitimate restrictions, the reason should be clearly stated.

Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

Research involving human participants, animals, sensitive personal data, vulnerable populations, or other activities requiring ethical approval must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical standards.

Where required, authors must provide information regarding:

  • the approving ethics committee or institutional review body;
  • approval or reference number; and
  • informed consent from participants.

Where ethical approval or informed consent is not applicable, authors should state this clearly.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain the copyright of their published work and grant JKI the right of first publication.

Articles published in JKI are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

JKI does not require authors to transfer copyright to the journal.

Errors in Published Work

If authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in a submitted or published article, they must promptly notify the Editorial Office and cooperate in correcting, updating, or retracting the article when necessary.

2. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.

Reviewers must not disclose, distribute, reproduce, or discuss unpublished manuscripts or their contents with unauthorized parties.

Information obtained through peer review must not be used for personal, professional, academic, or commercial advantage.

Competence and Timeliness

Reviewers should accept review assignments only when they have appropriate expertise and sufficient time to complete the review responsibly.

A reviewer who feels unqualified to review a manuscript or is unable to complete the review within the requested period should promptly inform the editor.

Objectivity

Reviews must be conducted objectively, professionally, and constructively.

Personal criticism, discriminatory remarks, abusive language, or comments unrelated to the scientific merit of the manuscript are inappropriate.

Reviewer comments should provide clear and reasoned arguments that help editors make informed decisions and assist authors in improving their manuscripts.

Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must disclose any potential conflict of interest and decline a review when their independence or impartiality could reasonably be questioned.

Identification of Ethical Concerns

Reviewers should inform the editor if they identify suspected:

  • plagiarism;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • fabrication or falsification;
  • inappropriate data or image manipulation;
  • citation manipulation;
  • unethical research practices; or
  • other serious ethical concerns.

3. Responsibilities of Editors and the Editorial Board

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions must be based on the scholarly merit, originality, relevance, methodological quality, integrity, and suitability of the manuscript for the aims and scope of JKI.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by commercial considerations, institutional relationships, nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, political views, personal relationships, or other irrelevant factors.

Fair Editorial Decisions

Editors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are evaluated fairly and consistently.

Acceptance or rejection decisions must be based on the quality and integrity of the manuscript and the results of the editorial and peer-review process.

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial board members must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, reviewer identities, reviewer reports, unpublished data, and all other confidential information obtained during the editorial process.

Conflicts of Interest

Editors and editorial board members must not handle manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest.

Such manuscripts must be assigned to another qualified and independent editor.

Integrity of Peer Review

Editors are responsible for ensuring that peer review is conducted fairly, independently, confidentially, and according to the journal's stated peer-review process.

Manuscripts that pass initial editorial screening are evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise.

Manuscripts Submitted by Editors, Reviewers, or Board Members

Manuscripts authored by editors, editorial board members, reviewers, or individuals affiliated with the publisher must not receive preferential treatment.

Such manuscripts must undergo the same editorial screening and independent peer-review process as other submissions.

An editor or editorial board member who is an author of a manuscript must not participate in its evaluation, reviewer selection, editorial discussion, or final decision.

4. Research and Publication Misconduct

JKI takes allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously.

Misconduct may include, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • fabrication or falsification of data;
  • inappropriate image or data manipulation;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • citation manipulation;
  • undisclosed conflicts of interest;
  • inappropriate authorship;
  • manipulation of the peer-review process;
  • fabricated reviewer identities;
  • unethical research practices; and
  • other serious violations of research integrity.

When misconduct is suspected, the editorial team will assess the available evidence and may request clarification, original data, documentation, or other supporting information from the authors.

Where appropriate, the journal may contact the authors' institution, research ethics committee, funding organization, or other relevant authority.

Editorial actions will be taken according to the seriousness of the case and recognized publication ethics guidance.

5. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

JKI is committed to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the scholarly record.

Corrections

A correction may be published when an error affects part of an article but does not invalidate its principal findings.

Retractions

An article may be retracted when there is clear evidence that its findings are unreliable because of:

  • research misconduct;
  • major error;
  • fabrication or falsification;
  • plagiarism;
  • redundant publication;
  • unethical research;
  • compromised peer review; or
  • other serious ethical violations.

Expressions of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be issued when serious concerns exist regarding an article but the available evidence is not yet sufficient to reach a final conclusion.

Corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern will be clearly identified and permanently linked to the original article wherever technically possible.

The scholarly record will not be silently altered.

6. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other parties may submit complaints or appeals concerning:

  • editorial decisions;
  • peer-review procedures;
  • ethical concerns;
  • journal policies;
  • conflicts of interest; or
  • other aspects of the publication process.

Complaints and appeals should be submitted to the JKI Editorial Office with a clear explanation and supporting information.

Where possible, a complaint or appeal will be handled by an editor who was not directly involved in the original matter.

Authors appealing an editorial decision should provide clear scientific or procedural reasons for reconsideration.

An appeal does not guarantee that the original editorial decision will be changed.

7. Post-Publication Discussion

JKI supports responsible post-publication discussion and correction of the scholarly record.

Readers, authors, and other researchers may communicate substantive concerns regarding published articles to the Editorial Office.

Where appropriate, the journal may publish:

  • corrections;
  • author responses;
  • editorial notices;
  • expressions of concern; or
  • retractions.

Post-publication concerns will be evaluated objectively and according to recognized publication ethics practices.

8. Special Issues

Articles published in Special Issues are subject to the same standards of:

  • editorial screening;
  • originality;
  • research integrity;
  • publication ethics;
  • peer review;
  • revision;
  • editorial independence; and
  • scientific quality

as articles published in regular issues.

Participation in a conference, seminar, workshop, symposium, or other academic event does not guarantee publication in JKI.

Manuscripts originating from such events must undergo the journal's regular editorial and peer-review procedures.

Editorial responsibility for Special Issues remains with the JKI Editorial Team.

Any editor involved in a Special Issue must comply with the same requirements concerning confidentiality, conflicts of interest, independence, and research integrity as regular journal editors.

9. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-Assisted Tools

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and validity of all content submitted to Jurnal Konstruksi dan Infrastruktur (JKI).

Generative artificial intelligence or AI-assisted tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors because such tools cannot take responsibility for the content of a manuscript, approve the final version, or be accountable for the integrity of the work.

Authors may use AI-assisted tools for routine spelling, grammar, language correction, or formatting without specific disclosure.

However, if generative AI or AI-assisted tools are used beyond these routine functions, authors must transparently disclose:

  • the name of the AI tool;
  • the purpose of its use; and
  • the part or section of the manuscript in which it was used.

Authors must verify the accuracy and appropriateness of all AI-generated or AI-assisted content.

AI tools must not be used to fabricate, manipulate, or misrepresent:

  • research data;
  • images;
  • references;
  • analyses;
  • results;
  • interpretations; or
  • conclusions.

Authors remain fully responsible for all content in the submitted and published article.

Use of AI by Reviewers and Editors

Reviewers and editors must not upload submitted manuscripts, unpublished data, reviewer reports, confidential editorial information, or other unpublished materials to external generative AI or AI-assisted systems where such use may compromise confidentiality, intellectual property, or data protection.

Generative AI or AI-assisted tools must not be used to generate peer-review reports, editorial assessments, reviewer recommendations, or publication decisions.

All peer-review assessments and editorial judgments must be made by qualified human reviewers and editors.

Reviewers and editors remain fully responsible for their evaluations, recommendations, and editorial decisions.

10. Ethical Oversight

JKI expects all published research to comply with applicable ethical, legal, institutional, and professional standards.

Ethical oversight may include matters involving:

  • human participants;
  • animal research;
  • informed consent;
  • personal and sensitive data;
  • confidentiality;
  • vulnerable populations;
  • environmental considerations; and
  • other research activities requiring ethical approval.

Where concerns arise, the editorial team may request supporting documentation or clarification before or after publication.

11. Intellectual Property

Authors and reviewers must respect intellectual property rights.

Material protected by copyright must not be reproduced without appropriate permission where permission is required.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted tables, figures, photographs, datasets, or other third-party materials that are not covered by applicable exceptions or licenses.

12. Citation Ethics

References must be selected based on their genuine scientific relevance to the manuscript.

Authors must not manipulate citations to artificially increase citation counts for themselves, other authors, particular journals, institutions, or organizations.

Editors and reviewers must not require authors to add citations that are not scientifically relevant to the manuscript.

Recommendations for additional references should be based solely on their scholarly relevance and contribution to the work.

13. Publisher and Editorial Responsibility

The publisher and editorial team are responsible for supporting the editorial independence of JKI and maintaining the integrity of the journal.

Commercial, institutional, financial, or other external interests must not influence editorial decisions.

The publisher supports appropriate actions by the editorial team when corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, ethical investigations, or other measures are necessary to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

14. Publication Ethics Guidance

JKI follows recognized principles of transparency, publication ethics, and responsible scholarly publishing.

The journal refers, where appropriate, to guidance and best practices developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.