Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement
Borneo Akademika Publication Ethics
Borneo Akademika (BA) is committed to publishing original work and upholding fair treatment of all submissions. Submissions that have been published elsewhere will be rejected. Likewise, manuscripts that are similar to published work will be considered plagiarised work and will be rejected without review. As part of the submission process, you must warrant that you are submitting the work for first publication. Borneo Akademika upholds academic integrity, and authors are encouraged to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) - International Standards for Authors.
Ethics Statements
Editor Ethics
Borneo Akademika editors (Chief Editor and Editors) uphold the highest standards of editorial practice to maintain the trust and credibility of the journal. Editors must treat all manuscripts submitted to Borneo Akademika confidentially without disclosing the information to other parties or using the information for personal gain. Editors must also ensure that authors provide a comprehensive funding disclosure and any other relevant information. This is to ensure transparency among authors and that they adhere to the ethical standards in research. Editors must ensure that all manuscripts undergo rigorous peer review and that the editorial process is transparent, with editorial decisions made fairly and without bias. If editors and editorial team members are authors or have contributed to a manuscript, publication decisions are made by members outside of the editors and editorial team.
Editors’ decisions to accept or reject a manuscript for publication are based on the originality, clarity, importance, and the study’s relevance to the remit of Borneo Akademika. Editors are responsible for selecting reviewers whose expertise and knowledge align with the field of the manuscripts. Editors should consider objectively monitoring the performance of peer reviewers and the editorial team. Editors should encourage peer reviewers to disclose any conflicts of interest they may have with the manuscripts they are asked to review. If work is found to be fraudulent or when editors suspect misconduct, errors, or conflicts of interest, editors are responsible for addressing potential publication misconduct promptly and treating all such cases confidentially. When necessary, editors have the right to reject publication or publish article retractions.
Reviewer Ethics
Reviewers should only agree to review manuscripts in which they have expertise and knowledge in the subject matter of the manuscript. Reviewers should notify the editors if they feel they are unqualified to review the manuscript and withdraw from the review. They should ensure that they review promptly and professionally, providing objective and constructive comments that are fair and respectful. They must ascertain that their feedback is clear and helpful to authors. Details of the manuscript should always be kept confidential at all times. Reviewers of Borneo Akademika are expected to adhere to a code of ethics that ensures the integrity and quality of the peer review process. Reviewers should not disclose the identity of the authors or themselves in a double-blind review process. Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of the manuscripts they review and refrain from using any information from the manuscripts for personal advantage. They should inform the Chief Editor of any
potential conflicts of interest, including financial, personal, or academic relationships that could affect their impartiality. They should refuse to review manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest. Reviewers should notify the editors if they find that the manuscript under review is similar to other published manuscripts or when they detect relevant published work referred to in the manuscript that has not been cited in the references. Authorship and Contributors Author Ethics The reporting standards of Borneo Akademika are intended to enhance the quality and reliability of research, ensuring that studies are transparent, reproducible, and accessible to the broader scientific community. Authors should clearly explain the methods of data collection and present their findings accurately without falsifying or manipulating the data. Data and material availability: Authors are required to make data available to editors and peer reviewers upon request. Information on access to
primary datasets and any referenced datasets should be included in data availability statements, and sharing restrictions must be agreed upon with the editor at the time of submission. Information such as justifications for restricted access (e.g., privacy, ethical, or legal concerns) should be included in the data availability statement. The terms of access must be clearly stated, including the contact information for access requests, the turnaround time for requests, and any limitations placed on the use of data through data use agreements. Duplicate and redundant publication is the practice of presenting the same or similar research findings in many papers without proper attribution. This can include salami slicing, which is the practice of dividing a single study into several papers to maximise the number of publications, or duplicate publications, where the content is verbatim from another publication. Authors should avoid such practices that undermine research integrity and
credibility, which could result in retractions.
The number of authors in one article should not be more than six. Authors can legitimately claim authorship when they have significant contributions to the work.
Listing individuals’ contributions to the work is necessary. Authors are to submit a short description of all contributions to their manuscript. For example, at the end of the manuscript, the authors have the following statements in place: The first author contributed to the research design and wrote the introduction and literature review. The second author analysed the data and wrote the research findings. The third author contributed to the methodology section of the manuscript, and all the authors revised and improved the final submitted version. The corresponding author is the primary author responsible for communication with the journal throughout the submission, peer review, and publication process. This individual is not necessarily the first author. The corresponding author manages
all communication between the journal and all co-authors, both before and after publication, and is responsible for informing all co-authors of any matters arising concerning the published manuscript.
The corresponding author must ensure that all authors have agreed to be listed and have approved the manuscript submission to the journal. Authors are responsible for notifying the editorial board should their authorship change during the submission or revision. The editorial board does not accept authorship changes after acceptance has been issued.
ORCID Authors and co-authors have to provide their Open Researcher Contributor IDs or ORCIDs. This helps the journal distinguish between authors with similar names and link individuals to their research outputs. Articles that are not aligned with the aims and scope of Borneo Akademika or do not meet the standard requirements for a journal article will be rejected.
Research funders or other sources of support for publications should be disclosed and acknowledged in the manuscript.
Unethical citation practices, particularly manipulative citations that include references not relevant to the article's content solely to increase citations, constitute a form of misconduct in reference evaluation criteria. Excessive self-citations of authors’ own work are considered academic malpractice. Authors and co-authors are responsible for the contents of the article and accountable for resolving any questions about the accuracy or integrity of their work. Duplicate or redundant publications or reproducing the same content from earlier publications in more than one journal are something that authors must avoid. Authors must protect the anonymity of their participants, especially when dealing with personal data, so that individuals cannot be identified, either directly or indirectly. Protecting the anonymity of participants is a critical aspect of ethical research. Authors can replace names with pseudonyms and disguise locations to protect the identities of
participants.
Conflicts of interest
Conflicts of interest include those that may not be immediately obvious and may affect the decisions of writers, reviewers, and editors. Such conflicts can arise from various sources, including financial, personal, or professional interests, and compromise the objectivity and integrity of the research, potentially influencing the results, data interpretation, and the publishing process. When conflicts of interest occur, authors and reviewers must disclose to the editors. Likewise, editors should disclose conflicts of interest to their readers. Editors may need to withdraw from reviewing, and the selection process should be halted if a conflict of interest arises.