Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics Statement of Lex Favor Reo

This code of ethics is a declaration of professional ethics for all parties involved in the publication process of the Lex Favor Reo journal, including Editors, Peer Reviewers, and Authors. This publication ethics statement refers to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and LIPI Regulation No. 5 of 2014 concerning the Code of Ethics for Scientific Publications.

This code of ethics upholds three core values of ethical publication:

  1. Neutrality — free from conflicts of interest in publication management;

  2. Justice — giving authorship rights to those who are entitled to it;

  3. Honesty — free from duplication, fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism (DF2P) in publications.

After reading this Ethics Statement, authors must download the Manuscript Originality Declaration and Open Access Agreement in the Author Pack. The signed Ethics Statement and Copyright Transfer Agreement must be submitted as a supplementary file during the initial manuscript submission.

EDITOR’S DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Publication Decisions

The editor is responsible for deciding which submitted articles are suitable for publication. This decision is guided by the editorial board’s policies and subject to applicable legal requirements, including defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Editors may consult with other editors or reviewers in making the final decision.

Complaints and Appeals

Lex Favor Reo has clear procedures for handling complaints against the journal, its editorial staff, editorial board, or publisher. Complaints may relate to editorial processes, citation manipulation, editorial/reviewer unfairness, or review manipulation. These will be handled following COPE guidelines.

Fair Evaluation

Editors must evaluate manuscripts solely based on their intellectual merit, without discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality, or political ideology.

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and other relevant parties.

Conflicts of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the author's explicit written consent.

REVIEWER’S DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and may also help authors improve their manuscript through constructive feedback.

Timeliness

Reviewers who feel unqualified to review the manuscript or know that a timely review is not possible should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents and not disclosed or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively and respectfully. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Comments should be clearly reasoned and supported by arguments.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Reviewers must identify relevant published works not cited by the authors. Reviewers must notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript and other published sources.

Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have competing, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, institutions, or companies connected to the paper.

AUTHOR’S DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting Standards

Authors must present their research findings accurately and objectively, with sufficient detail and references to allow others to replicate the work.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are original. Proper citation is required if the work and/or words of others are used.

Multiple or Redundant Publication

Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is unethical and unacceptable.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must properly acknowledge all sources of information and cite publications that have influenced the work.

Authorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research. All authors must approve the final version and agree to its submission.

Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that may influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support must be disclosed.

Fundamental Errors

When authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they are obliged to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate in retracting or correcting the article.

Research Ethics

Studies involving humans or animals must receive ethical approval from relevant authorities. Authors must explain how they managed confidential or sensitive data.

RESEARCH MISCONDUCT REPORTING

Research misconduct includes but is not limited to: fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, and plagiarism. The editorial board will investigate any misconduct in accordance with COPE guidelines. If confirmed, the article will be rejected or retracted, and the misconduct may be publicly disclosed.

MANUSCRIPT WITHDRAWAL POLICY

Author-Initiated Withdrawal

Authors are not allowed to withdraw their manuscript once it has been submitted to Lex Favor Reo. If withdrawal is insisted upon:

  • During review: author will be blacklisted for 4 years (12 editions).

  • After acceptance: author will be blacklisted for 10 years (30 editions).

  • Failure to revise on time: blacklisted for 6 years (18 editions).

  • Authors who repeatedly withdraw manuscripts may face permanent blacklisting.

  • The sanction may also be extended to the author’s institution and publicly announced.

ARTICLE RETRACTION, REMOVAL, AND REPLACEMENT POLICY

1. Article Retraction

  • Applicable in cases of ethical violations such as plagiarism, duplication, data manipulation, etc.

  • A formal bilingual retraction notice will be published.

  • The article PDF will be replaced with a retracted version.

  • Abstract will be replaced with a retraction notice, and keywords will be removed.

2. Article Removal

  • Only applied in extreme cases of legal violation, defamation, privacy breach, or public health threat.

  • The article content will be removed and replaced with a removal statement, while metadata will remain.

3. Article Replacement

  • If an article could pose a serious health risk, the authors may retract and submit a corrected version.

  • A retraction notice and a link to the new version will be published along with document history.