Publication Ethics

The Elementary Journal 

1. Introduction

The Elementary Journal (TEJ) is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, transparency, and responsible scholarly communication. The journal publishes original research and scholarly contributions in basic education and early childhood education.

All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher, are expected to uphold ethical principles that ensure the originality, reliability, fairness, and credibility of published research.

TEJ encourages adherence to recognized publication ethics principles, including the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), applicable research ethics standards, and relevant institutional requirements.

2. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to TEJ must comply with the following ethical requirements.

2.1. Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts contain original scholarly work. All ideas, arguments, data, quotations, and findings obtained from other sources must be appropriately acknowledged and cited.

Plagiarism, including copying text or ideas without proper attribution, presenting another person's work as one's own, and inappropriate text recycling, is unacceptable.

The journal may use similarity-checking software and editorial assessment to identify potential plagiarism or inappropriate overlap. Similarity scores must be interpreted in context and do not, by themselves, establish whether misconduct has occurred.

2.2. Original Submission and Duplicate Publication

Manuscripts submitted to TEJ must not be under consideration by another journal simultaneously.

Authors must disclose any previous publication, preprint, conference paper, thesis, or other publicly available version that substantially overlaps with the submitted manuscript. The editorial team will assess whether the submission represents a sufficiently distinct scholarly contribution.

Duplicate publication, redundant publication, and inappropriate fragmentation of research findings are not acceptable.

2.3. Authorship and Contributions

Authorship must accurately reflect substantial intellectual contributions to the research, including its conception or design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or substantive manuscript preparation and revision.

All listed authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission to TEJ. Each author is responsible for the integrity of their contributions.

Individuals whose contributions do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately.

Gift authorship, ghost authorship, and the omission of eligible contributors are unacceptable. Changes to authorship after submission require a legitimate explanation and approval in accordance with the journal's editorial procedures.

2.4. Accuracy and Integrity of Research

Authors must report research methods, data, analyses, and findings accurately and transparently.

Data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate manipulation of research results, and misleading presentation of evidence are prohibited.

Authors must retain appropriate research records and provide supporting information when reasonably requested by the editor to address questions concerning the validity or integrity of a manuscript.

2.5. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving children, teachers, parents, or other human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements.

Where required, authors must obtain approval from an appropriate research ethics committee before conducting the study. Informed consent must be obtained from adult participants, and parental or legal guardian consent must be obtained for children where applicable. Child assent should also be obtained when appropriate to the participant's age and developmental capacity.

Authors must protect participants' privacy, confidentiality, dignity, and welfare. Identifying information must not be disclosed without an appropriate ethical and legal basis.

Research involving vulnerable participants must include appropriate safeguards to minimize potential harm.

2.6. Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose financial, professional, personal, or institutional relationships that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the research or its interpretation.

Relevant conflicts must be disclosed during submission and reported in the manuscript where appropriate.

If no relevant conflict exists, authors may include the following statement:

“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

2.7. Funding Disclosure

All sources of financial support must be acknowledged, including funding organizations and grant numbers where applicable.

Authors should disclose the funder's role in research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions where relevant.

If the research received no external funding, authors may state:

“This research received no external funding.”

2.8. Citation Integrity

Authors must cite relevant and reliable sources that support their research and arguments.

References must accurately represent the cited publications. Fabricated references, misleading citations, citation manipulation, coercive citation practices, and unnecessary self-citation intended to inflate citation counts are unacceptable.

2.9. Generative Artificial Intelligence

Authors who use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools during research or manuscript preparation must comply with the journal's applicable AI policy.

AI tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and accountability of scholarly work.

Authors remain fully responsible for the content submitted to TEJ, including text, references, data, analysis, and conclusions. AI-generated information and references must be independently verified.

The use of AI to fabricate data, invent references, generate misleading research findings, conceal plagiarism, or misrepresent authorship is prohibited.

Substantive AI assistance should be disclosed in accordance with the journal's AI policy. Authors must also protect confidential information, unpublished manuscripts, and research participants' personal data when using external AI services.

3. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for managing the editorial process fairly, objectively, confidentially, and transparently.

3.1. Editorial Independence and Fairness

Editorial decisions must be based on the manuscript's scholarly quality, originality, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal's scope, and contribution to the field.

Editors must not discriminate against authors based on nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, institutional affiliation, personal relationships, or other irrelevant characteristics.

3.2. Confidentiality

Editors must treat submitted manuscripts and related communications as confidential.

Manuscript information may be shared only with individuals involved in the editorial process or when disclosure is required by legitimate ethical, legal, or institutional obligations.

Editors must not use unpublished material for personal research or professional advantage without appropriate authorization.

3.3. Peer Review Management

Editors must select qualified and independent reviewers whose expertise matches the manuscript's subject.

Potential reviewer conflicts of interest must be considered before assignments are confirmed. Editors must evaluate reviewer reports critically and retain responsibility for the final editorial decision.

3.4. Conflicts of Interest

Editors must disclose and appropriately manage conflicts of interest. When an editor has a personal, professional, financial, or institutional relationship that could compromise impartiality, the manuscript should be handled by an independent editor.

Editorial decisions must not be improperly influenced by commercial considerations, personal interests, or external pressure.

3.5. Handling Ethical Concerns

Editors must investigate credible concerns about plagiarism, data integrity, authorship, duplicate publication, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other possible misconduct.

Where necessary, editors may request explanations, supporting documentation, corrections, or additional information from the authors or relevant institutions.

Editorial action must be proportionate to the evidence and consistent with the journal's policies and recognized publication ethics principles.

4. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers play an essential role in maintaining the quality and integrity of scholarly publications.

4.1. Objectivity and Constructive Evaluation

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively and provide clear, evidence-based, and constructive feedback.

Comments should focus on the research question, theoretical foundation, methodology, analysis, interpretation, originality, and scholarly contribution of the manuscript.

Personal criticism, discriminatory remarks, and unsupported judgments are unacceptable.

4.2. Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.

Reviewers must not distribute, reproduce, disclose, or use unpublished manuscript content for personal or professional advantage without authorization.

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscript content to external AI tools or other services where doing so could compromise confidentiality, unless explicitly authorized and compliant with the journal's policy.

4.3. Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must disclose any financial, personal, professional, or institutional relationship that could affect their impartiality.

Reviewers should decline an assignment if a conflict of interest prevents a fair and independent assessment.

4.4. Timeliness

Reviewers should complete their evaluations within the agreed deadline. If they cannot complete a review on time, they should inform the editorial office promptly.

4.5. Recognition of Relevant Literature

Reviewers should identify relevant published research that has not been cited where it materially supports the evaluation.

Reviewers must not demand unnecessary citations to their own publications or unrelated sources for personal benefit.

5. Double-Blind Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

TEJ applies a double-blind peer review process in which author and reviewer identities are concealed from each other during the review process.

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial screening are evaluated by at least two independent expert reviewers, in accordance with the journal's stated review policy.

Based on the reviewers' recommendations and the editor's assessment, manuscripts may receive one of the following decisions:

  • Accept: The manuscript is accepted, subject to any necessary editorial preparation.

  • Minor Revision: Limited corrections or clarifications are required before final acceptance.

  • Major Revision: Substantial changes are required, and the revised manuscript may undergo further review.

  • Reject: The manuscript does not meet the journal's requirements for scope, originality, methodological rigor, scholarly contribution, or ethical compliance.

The final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief or an authorized editor. Reviewers provide expert recommendations but do not independently determine the final publication outcome.

Further information is provided on the journal's Peer Review Process page.

6. Plagiarism Screening and Publication Misconduct

TEJ does not tolerate plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, or other forms of publication misconduct.

The editorial office may use similarity-checking tools and other appropriate verification procedures during manuscript screening and review.

A similarity score alone is insufficient to establish misconduct. Editorial assessment must consider the nature of the overlap, the originality of the material, the adequacy of attribution, and the context of the manuscript.

When credible concerns arise, the journal may:

  1. Request an explanation or supporting documentation from the authors.

  2. Return the manuscript for clarification or correction where appropriate.

  3. Reject the manuscript if serious concerns are substantiated before publication.

  4. Publish a correction, expression of concern, or retraction when warranted for a published article.

  5. Contact relevant institutions or other responsible parties when justified by the circumstances.

Actions will be proportionate to the available evidence, the seriousness of the concern, and applicable publication ethics principles.

Further information should be provided in the journal's separate Plagiarism Screening policy.

7. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

TEJ is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record after publication.

7.1. Corrections

A correction may be published when a material error is identified that affects the accuracy, clarity, or interpretation of a published article but does not invalidate its overall findings.

Corrections should identify the affected article and explain the nature of the amendment.

7.2. Retractions

A retraction may be considered when reliable evidence demonstrates that a published article contains serious errors, fabricated or falsified data, plagiarism, substantial unethical research practices, or other problems that undermine the reliability or integrity of the work.

Retraction decisions should be based on a fair assessment of the evidence and handled transparently.

7.3. Expressions of Concern

An expression of concern may be issued when substantial questions arise regarding a published article but an investigation has not yet reached a conclusive outcome.

The journal seeks to preserve transparency and protect the integrity of the scholarly record while an appropriate assessment is conducted.

Decisions concerning corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions should follow recognized publication ethics guidance, including the relevant COPE guidance.

8. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit a formal appeal if they believe an editorial decision resulted from a significant factual error, a serious procedural irregularity, or an inappropriate interpretation of the manuscript.

Appeals must provide a clear explanation and relevant supporting evidence. Disagreement with an editorial decision alone does not guarantee reconsideration.

Complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer review, authorship, publication ethics, or possible misconduct should be handled fairly and confidentially by an appropriate editorial representative.

Where necessary, the journal may appoint an independent editor to avoid conflicts of interest.

9. Conflicts of Interest in Editorial and Review Activities

All parties involved in the publication process must disclose relevant conflicts of interest.

A conflict may arise from financial relationships, personal relationships, institutional affiliations, academic competition, collaborative relationships, or other circumstances that could reasonably compromise impartiality.

The journal will take appropriate steps to manage disclosed conflicts, including reassignment of editorial responsibility or selection of alternative reviewers.

The existence of a disclosed conflict does not automatically imply misconduct. However, failure to disclose a relevant conflict may raise ethical concerns.

10. Data Availability and Research Transparency

Authors are encouraged to make research data, instruments, analytical procedures, and supplementary materials available where appropriate and ethically permissible.

A data availability statement should indicate whether supporting data are publicly available, where they can be accessed, under what conditions they may be shared, or why access is restricted.

Data sharing must respect participant confidentiality, privacy regulations, intellectual property rights, and institutional requirements.

Authors must not make unsupported claims about the availability or reproducibility of their research materials.

11. Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence

The use of AI technologies must not compromise the authenticity, confidentiality, or reliability of scholarly research.

Authors must verify AI-generated content and remain responsible for the manuscript's scholarly claims, citations, data, and conclusions.

Editors and reviewers must protect confidential submissions and avoid using external AI services in ways that expose unpublished work or violate journal confidentiality.

AI must not replace the responsibility of human authors, editors, or reviewers to exercise independent scholarly judgment.

Additional requirements for disclosure and permitted uses are specified in the journal's separate Generative AI Policy.

12. Publisher Responsibilities

The publisher, C.V. Gerasi Insan Nusantara, supports the journal's editorial independence and the implementation of responsible publishing practices.

The publisher should provide appropriate support for the editorial process, maintain access to published content, and cooperate with the editorial team in addressing credible concerns about publication integrity.

Commercial considerations, publication fees, and institutional relationships must not improperly influence editorial decisions.

The publisher and editorial team should work together to maintain transparent publication policies and protect the reliability of the journal's scholarly record.

13. Open Access and Copyright

TEJ provides open access to its published content in accordance with its stated open-access policy.

According to the journal's published information, articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.

This license permits sharing and adaptation subject to its terms, including appropriate attribution, provision of a license link, indication of changes, and distribution of adaptations under the same license.

Authors must ensure that submitted materials comply with copyright requirements and that third-party content is properly acknowledged and licensed or authorized where necessary.

Further details are provided in the journal's Copyright Notice and Licensing policy.

14. Ethical Standards and External Guidance

TEJ encourages authors, editors, and reviewers to consult recognized publication ethics resources, including:

These resources support responsible scholarly publishing but do not replace applicable laws, institutional ethics requirements, or the journal's own editorial policies.