Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Al-Musyrif: Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, research integrity, editorial independence, confidentiality, and responsible scholarly communication.

This statement applies to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, Editorial Board members, reviewers, and the publisher. The journal follows relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and supports the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.

1. Editorial Independence and Fairness

Editors evaluate manuscripts solely on their academic quality, originality, relevance to the journal’s scope, methodological soundness, and scholarly contribution. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by commercial interests, institutional pressure, personal relationships, nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, political views, or other characteristics unrelated to academic merit. Editors who have a potential conflict of interest concerning a manuscript must withdraw from handling the manuscript.

2. Confidentiality

Editors, reviewers, Editorial Board members, and editorial staff must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts. Information contained in unpublished manuscripts must not be disclosed, distributed, or used for personal or professional advantage without authorization from the authors.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the work. All listed authors must approve the submitted manuscript and the final version accepted for publication. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately. The journal does not permit guest authorship, honorary authorship, gift authorship, ghost authorship, or the deliberate exclusion of legitimate contributors. Any request for changes in authorship must be accompanied by a clear explanation and agreement from all affected authors.

4. Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct

The journal takes all allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously, whether they concern submitted manuscripts or published articles.

Misconduct may include, but is not limited to:

  • fabrication or falsification of data;
  • plagiarism;
  • inappropriate manipulation of data, figures, or images;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • inappropriate authorship;
  • citation manipulation;
  • manipulated peer review;
  • unethical research practices; and
  • undisclosed conflicts of interest.

Credible allegations will be assessed fairly, objectively, and confidentially. The journal may request explanations, supporting data, ethical approval documentation, authorship records, or other relevant evidence. Where necessary, the journal may communicate with the authors’ institution, research ethics committee, funding body, another journal, publisher, or other relevant authority. Depending on the nature and seriousness of the case, appropriate action may include rejection of the manuscript, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or notification of relevant institutions.

5. Conflicts of Interest and Competing Interests

Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their judgement. Competing interests may include financial support, employment, consultancy, institutional relationships, personal or professional relationships, academic competition, or other interests that may affect impartiality. Authors must disclose relevant funding and competing interests. Reviewers and editors must withdraw from the publication process where a significant competing interest exists. If an undisclosed competing interest is identified after publication, the journal may issue an appropriate correction, clarification, expression of concern, or other notice.

6. Data Integrity and Availability

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the data reported in their manuscripts. Research data must not be fabricated, falsified, deliberately manipulated, or misrepresented. Authors should retain relevant research records and supporting documentation. Where appropriate and ethically permissible, supporting data, research instruments, analytical procedures, or other materials should be made available upon reasonable request. Where data cannot be shared because of ethical, legal, confidentiality, privacy, or institutional restrictions, authors should state the reason where relevant.

7. Ethical Oversight

Research involving human participants, vulnerable groups, sensitive personal data, counselling activities, psychological assessment, or other situations requiring ethical consideration must comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements. Where ethical approval is required, authors must obtain approval from an appropriate research ethics committee or authorized ethics body before conducting the study. Authors must also ensure that informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, anonymity, and participant protection are appropriately addressed. If ethical approval is not required, authors should state the basis for the exemption where relevant. Detailed requirements concerning ethical approval, ethical clearance documentation, informed consent, participant protection, exemptions, and the presentation of ethical statements in submitted manuscripts are provided in the journal’s separate Ethical Clearance Policy.

8. Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all sources of financial, institutional, or material support relevant to the research. Where funders had a role in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit the article, that role should be disclosed transparently.

9. Intellectual Property and Copyright

Authors must respect intellectual property rights and appropriately acknowledge all sources used in their work. Permission must be obtained for copyrighted material where required. Quotations, figures, tables, photographs, research instruments, datasets, and other reused materials must be appropriately acknowledged. Detailed provisions are governed by the journal’s separate Copyright and Licensing Policy .

10. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

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

A correction may be issued when an error affects part of an article but does not invalidate its overall findings or conclusions.

A retraction may be issued when the findings are seriously unreliable, plagiarism or unethical research is identified, duplicate publication has occurred, data have been fabricated or falsified, or the integrity of the publication process has been seriously compromised.

An expression of concern may be published when serious concerns have been raised but an investigation remains incomplete or the available evidence is inconclusive.

All post-publication notices will be clearly identified and linked to the affected article.

11. Post-Publication Discussion

The journal welcomes responsible scholarly discussion concerning published articles. Readers, researchers, and authors may submit substantive comments, criticisms, or concerns to the editorial office. Where appropriate, the journal may invite the original authors to respond. Post-publication discussion may result in clarification, correction, commentary, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate editorial action. All post-publication discussion must remain evidence-based, academically relevant, and respectful.

12. Complaints and Appeals

Authors and other parties may submit complaints or appeals concerning editorial decisions, publication procedures, reviewer conduct, editor conduct, publication ethics, or other matters related to the journal. Appeals must clearly explain the grounds for reconsideration and provide relevant supporting information. Whenever practicable, complaints and appeals will be considered by an editor or responsible person who was not directly involved in the original matter. Complaints concerning the Editor-in-Chief will be referred to the publisher or another appropriate independent authority.

13. Reviewer and Editor Conduct

Reviewers and editors must uphold confidentiality, objectivity, independence, integrity, and professional conduct.

The journal does not tolerate:

  • misuse of unpublished information;
  • undisclosed conflicts of interest;
  • manipulation of reviewer identity;
  • manipulation of the peer-review process;
  • malicious or personal criticism;
  • coercive or irrelevant citation requests; or
  • manipulation of editorial decisions for personal or institutional interests.

Detailed procedures governing the manuscript evaluation process are provided in the journal’s separate Peer Review Process.

14. Citation Ethics

Authors must cite publications because they are genuinely relevant to the research and scholarly argument. The journal does not tolerate citation manipulation, coercive citation, excessive irrelevant self-citation, citation cartels, citation stacking, or the deliberate addition of irrelevant references solely to increase citation metrics. Editors and reviewers must not require authors to cite their own work or articles from the journal unless such citations are directly relevant and academically justified.

15. Duties of the Publisher

The publisher supports the editorial independence of Al-Musyrif and is responsible for maintaining transparent and ethical publishing practices. Commercial, financial, institutional, advertising, sponsorship, or other non-academic interests must not influence editorial decisions. The publisher supports appropriate procedures for handling complaints, misconduct allegations, corrections, retractions, and communication with relevant institutions or other publishers where necessary.

16. Commitment to the Integrity of the Scholarly Record

Al-Musyrif is committed to protecting the accuracy, reliability, transparency, and integrity of published scholarship. Credible ethical concerns will be considered regardless of whether they arise before or after publication. Where necessary, the journal will take appropriate action, including clarification, correction, expression of concern, or retraction, to maintain an accurate and trustworthy scholarly record.

17. Related Journal Policies

This Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement should be read together with the journal’s separate policies on:

Together, these policies form part of Al-Musyrif’s commitment to ethical, transparent, and responsible scholarly publishing.