Publication Ethics

International Journal of Didactic Mathematics in Distance Education (IJDMDE) (e-ISSN: 3047-9207) is a peer-reviewed journal published by Universitas Terbuka that is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice.

This statement clarifies the ethical behavior of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in this journal, including the authors, the editors, the peer-reviewers, and the publisher. This statement is based on the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Core Practices and the Scopus Content Selection & Advisory Board (CSAB) criteria. Our responsibility is to publish original work of value to the intellectual community to the highest possible standards. Honesty, originality, and fair dealing on the part of authors, and fairness, objectivity, and confidentiality on the part of editors and reviewers are among the critical values that enable us to achieve our goal. IJDMDE is committed to following best practices on ethical matters, errors, and retractions, and to providing a legal review if necessary.

Allegation of Research Misconduct
Research misconduct means fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, or plagiarism in producing, performing, or reviewing research and writing an article, or in reporting research results. When authors are found to have been involved with research misconduct or other serious irregularities involving articles that have been published in IJDMDE, Editors have a responsibility to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the scientific record.

In cases of suspected misconduct, the Editors and Editorial Board will use the best practices of COPE to resolve the complaint and address the misconduct fairly. A submitted manuscript found to contain such misconduct will be rejected. In cases where a published paper is found to contain such misconduct, a retraction will be published and linked to the original article.

The first step involves determining the validity of the allegation. If scientific misconduct is a possibility, the allegations are shared with the corresponding author, who is requested to provide a detailed response. After evaluation, additional review may be obtained. Institutions are expected to conduct an appropriate and thorough investigation of allegations of scientific misconduct.

Authorship
Reporting Standards
Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and the results, followed by an objective discussion of the significance of the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Originality and Authorship of the Paper

• Authors must certify that their manuscripts are their original work.
• Authors must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published elsewhere.
• Authors must certify that the manuscript is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.
• All authors mentioned in the paper must have significantly contributed to the research (conception, design, execution, analysis, writing, or revision).
• Authors who have not made substantive contributions should not be listed (guest/gift authorship is prohibited).
• The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version and have agreed to its submission for publication.
• The order of authors listed should reflect their level of contribution to the work.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works
When an author discovers a significant error in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate to retract or correct the paper.

Conflict of Interest
All parties involved in the publishing process must disclose any potential conflicts of interest transparently.
For Authors and Editors

• Authors must notify the Editors of any conflicts of interest — financial, personal, or professional — that could inappropriately influence their work.
• All sources of financial support for the research must be disclosed, as should the role of any sponsor.
• A Declaration of Competing Interests must be submitted with the manuscript. If no conflict exists, this must be explicitly stated.
• Editors will recuse themselves from manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
  Editors should clearly understand a research's funding sources.

For Reviewers

• Reviewers should not review manuscripts with conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions.
• Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Data Sharing
IJDMDE supports the principles of open science and encourages transparency in research data.
Data Access and Retention
Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access and to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
Data Availability Statement

Complaints and Appeals

IJDMDE has a clear procedure for handling complaints against the journal, Editorial Staff, Editorial Board, or Publisher. The scope of complaints includes anything related to the journal business process: editorial process, citation manipulation, unfair editor/reviewer practices, peer-review manipulation, etc.

• Authors who consider an editorial decision to be unfair may appeal in writing to the Editor-in-Chief, providing clear grounds for the appeal.
• Complaints may be submitted through the journal's official contact channels.
• All complaints and appeals will be handled confidentially, fairly, and within 30 working days.
• The journal is committed to not retaliating against any party who raises a complaint in good faith.
• The appeal process may involve editorial board members not involved in the original decision.
• All complaint cases will be processed in accordance with COPE guidelines.

 

Ethical Oversight

IJDMDE ensures that all research it publishes meets internationally accepted ethical standards. If the research involves chemicals, humans, animals, procedures, or equipment with unusual hazards, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript.
Research Involving Human or Animal Subjects

• Research involving human subjects must have received approval from a duly constituted institutional ethics committee and must conform to the Declaration of Helsinki.
• Authors must include a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines.
• A statement confirming that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects must be included.
• The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

Research Involving Confidential Data

If the research involves confidential data and business/marketing practices, authors should clearly justify whether the data or information will be secured appropriately.

Intellectual Property
IJDMDE respects and protects the intellectual property rights of all parties involved in the publishing process.
Acknowledgment of Sources

• Authors must identify all sources used in the creation of their manuscript and provide appropriate citations.
• Information obtained privately must not be used or reported without explicit written permission from the source.

Copyright and Licensing

• The copyright of published articles is governed by the Creative Commons license applied by this journal.
• Authors warrant that the submitted manuscript does not infringe any third party's intellectual property rights.
• Use of third-party materials (images, tables, or text) must be accompanied by official permission from the copyright holder.

Image Integrity

It is not acceptable to enhance, obscure, move, remove, or introduce a specific feature within an image. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable only if they do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original. Manipulating images for other purposes will be treated as scientific ethical abuse.

 

Post-Publication Correction

IJDMDE is committed to maintaining the integrity of the academic record through transparent correction and retraction mechanisms.

Corrections and Errata

• Editors must publish an erratum or correction notice if a significant error is found in a published article.
• Authors are obliged to report any errors they discover in their published paper to the Editors promptly.

Retraction

• If serious ethics violations are found in a published article (fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism), the journal will consider retraction in accordance with COPE guidelines.
• Retracted articles will be clearly marked as retracted but will remain accessible for the purposes of the scientific record.
• All corrections, retractions, or editorial expressions of concern will be published openly and linked to the original article.

Plagiarism & Research Misconduct Policy

IJDMDE applies a zero-tolerance policy toward all forms of scientific dishonesty. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Plagiarism Detection

• All submitted manuscripts will be checked using plagiarism detection software before entering the review process.
• The manuscript's similarity level must generally not exceed 20%, with consideration of distribution per source.
• Each submitted article should be accompanied by a statement from the author(s) declaring that the article is free from plagiarism.

Prohibited Practices

• Fabrication of data and falsification of data are serious violations that may result in retraction and notification to the author's institution.
• Redundant publication (publishing the same research in more than one journal without disclosure) is not permitted. No research can be included in more than one publication.
• Salami slicing (unnecessarily dividing one research project into multiple publications) will be handled in accordance with COPE guidelines.
• Citation manipulation (artificially inflating citations) is considered a form of research misconduct.

Consequences

• Every allegation of misconduct will be thoroughly investigated before a decision is reached.
• Results may include: written warning, article retraction, notification to the author's institution, or a ban on future publication in the journal.

Duties of Editors
Publication Decisions
Editors have complete responsibility and authority to reject or accept an article based on the validation of the work, its importance, the reviewers' comments, and such legal requirements as are currently in force. Editors should base their decisions solely on the paper's importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the publication's scope.
Fair Play
Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts exclusively on the basis of academic merit without regard to the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political philosophy, or institutional affiliation.

Confidentiality
Editors must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher. Editors should preserve the anonymity of reviewers.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Editors will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the author's explicit written consent. Editors should not allow any conflicts of interest between staff, authors, reviewers, and board members.

Management of Unethical Behaviors

Editors should act if they suspect misconduct, whether a paper is published or unpublished, and make all reasonable attempts to obtain a resolution. Editors should not accept a paper based on suspicions alone — they should have proof of misconduct. Editors should guarantee the papers' quality and the academic record's integrity.

Duties of Authors
Reporting Standards
Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and the results. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention
Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, should be prepared to provide public access to this data, and should retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publications
Papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Submission of a manuscript concurrently to more than one journal is unethical and unacceptable.

Acknowledgment of Sources
Authors must identify all sources used in the creation of their manuscript. Authors must notify the Editors of any conflicts of interest. Information obtained privately must not be used or reported without explicit written permission from the source.

Declaration of Competing Interests
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could be viewed as inappropriately influencing their work. All sources of financial support must be disclosed.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and may also assist the author in improving the paper. The review process considers relevance, soundness, significance, originality, readability, and language.

Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively, with no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgment of Sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
Reviewers should not consider 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.