Ethical Oversight

JURNAL AKTA is committed to ensuring that all published research is conducted and reported with the highest ethical standards, in accordance with the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Ethical oversight is a shared responsibility involving authors, their institutions, funding bodies, peer reviewers, and the journal. Authors must comply with relevant ethical guidelines and legal regulations, respect the rights, dignity, and welfare of research participants, and uphold research integrity by avoiding fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and other forms of misconduct.

Research involving human participants must obtain freely given informed consent from each participant or their legally authorized representative. Such research should generally receive approval or an exemption from an appropriate independent ethics committee or Institutional Review Board before it commences. Authors must report the committee’s name and approval identifier, where available, or provide a clear justification if approval is not required under applicable regulations or institutional policies. Participant confidentiality and anonymity must be protected, and studies involving vulnerable populations must justify their inclusion and describe additional safeguards against risks, coercion, and privacy violations. Where applicable, research involving animals must comply with relevant welfare guidelines and receive appropriate ethical approval.

Authors must ensure that personal, sensitive, and proprietary data are collected, stored, and reported in accordance with applicable privacy and data protection requirements. Anonymization or de-identification should be used wherever appropriate. Separate, explicit consent for publication is required when manuscripts contain identifiable information, including images, detailed case descriptions, or quotations that may reveal a participant’s identity. Research conducted within organizations must obtain the necessary permissions to conduct the study, use organizational data, and publish the findings, while respecting confidentiality agreements.

All submitted manuscripts must include a dedicated “Ethical Considerations” or “Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate” section addressing applicable approvals, consent procedures, privacy measures, publication permissions, and safeguards for vulnerable participants. JURNAL AKTA reserves the right to request supporting documentation and, where necessary, verify approval with the relevant ethics committee. Editors and peer reviewers are expected to identify and report potential ethical concerns, and manuscripts that fail to meet the journal’s ethical standards will not be accepted. Editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly merit, relevance to the journal’s scope, and compliance with ethical standards.

Ethical concerns identified before or after publication will be investigated in accordance with relevant COPE guidelines and the journal’s procedures for addressing suspected misconduct. Depending on the nature and severity of the breach, actions may include requesting clarification or corrections, contacting authors’ institutions, issuing an expression of concern, or retracting an article. Authors are encouraged to consult relevant institutional, national, international, and funder requirements before commencing their research and to consider ethical responsibilities throughout the research and publication process.