Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The International Journal Linguistics of Sumatra and Malay (IJLSM) is a peer-reviewed, open-access international journal dedicated to upholding the highest standards of scientific integrity. This statement outlines the ethical behavior expected from all parties involved in the publication process: the Authors, the Chief Editor, the Editorial Board, the Peer Reviewers, and the Publisher (TALENTA Publisher, Universitas Sumatera Utara).

Our ethical guidelines are strictly modeled on the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

1. Ethical Commitment of the Publisher

TALENTA Publisher, Universitas Sumatera Utara, takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint, or any other commercial revenue holds no impact or influence over editorial decisions. The Bureau for Research, Community Service, and Cooperation of Universitas Sumatera Utara, the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, and the Editorial Board will actively assist in communications with other journals and publishers where necessary to maintain academic integrity.

2. Duties of Editors

  • Publication Decisions: The Editor-in-Chief holds the ultimate responsibility for deciding which submitted articles will be published. These decisions must always be driven by the validity, significance, and intellectual merit of the work. Editors act within the journal's policies and legal constraints regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.

  • Fair Play: Editors evaluate manuscripts purely on their intellectual content, without regard to the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

  • Confidentiality: The editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers, and the publisher.

  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must never be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.

3. Duties of Reviewers

  • Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review is an essential component of the publication process that assists editors in making informed decisions and helps authors improve the quality of their manuscripts.

  • Promptness and Competence: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research or knows that a timely review is impossible must immediately notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.

  • Confidentiality: All manuscripts received for review are highly confidential documents. They must not be shown to, or discussed with, others unless explicitly authorized by the editor.

  • Standards of Objectivity: Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is strictly prohibited. Referees should express their views clearly, supported by logical arguments.

  • Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that the authors have not cited. Any claim that an observation or argument has been previously reported must be accompanied by the relevant citation. Reviewers must also notify the editor of any substantial similarity between the manuscript and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

  • Conflicts of Interest: Privileged information obtained during peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers must recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

4. Duties of Authors

  • Reporting Standards: Authors must present an accurate account of their original research and an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately. Manuscripts must contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

  • Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must guarantee that their submitted work is entirely original. If the work and/or words of others have been used, they must be appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior.

  • Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publications: Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently, or publishing manuscripts describing essentially the same research in multiple primary publications, is highly unethical and unacceptable.

  • Authorship of the Paper: Authorship must be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All significant contributors should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author must ensure all appropriate co-authors are included, have seen and approved the final version of the paper, and have agreed to its submission.

  • Data Access and Retention: Authors may be asked to provide raw data for editorial review. Authors should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases) and retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

  • Hazards and Human/Animal Subjects: If the research involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment with unusual inherent hazards, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript. Research involving human or animal subjects must comply with relevant institutional and national guidelines.

  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors must explicitly disclose any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support must be acknowledged.

  • Fundamental Errors in Published Works: If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is their strict obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate to retract or correct the paper.