Publication Ethics

The Journal of ICT Research and Applications (JICTRA) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. The journal follows internationally recognized principles of publication ethics and refers to the guidelines and best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in handling ethical issues related to submitted and published manuscripts.

All parties involved in the publication process—including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher—are expected to uphold the principles of academic integrity, confidentiality, objectivity, transparency, and accountability.

JICTRA is published by Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia.

The publisher is committed to ensuring that editorial decisions are made independently and are not influenced by commercial, financial, institutional, political, or other inappropriate considerations.

The publisher supports the Editorial Board in maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record and in addressing allegations of research or publication misconduct when necessary.

The publisher also supports the long-term availability and preservation of published scholarly content in accordance with the journal's digital preservation policy.

Editors are responsible for ensuring the quality, integrity, and fairness of the editorial and peer-review process.

Editorial decisions must be based on the scientific merit, originality, relevance, methodological quality, clarity, and contribution of the manuscript to the field of information and communication technology.

Editors must:

• evaluate manuscripts objectively without discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, institutional affiliation, or other personal characteristics;
• maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and related editorial information;
• avoid handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest;
• ensure that manuscripts are evaluated through an appropriate and independent peer-review process;
• take reasonable steps to identify and prevent research and publication misconduct;
• consider corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or other post-publication actions when necessary; and
• ensure that editorial decisions are independent of financial or commercial considerations.

Editors must not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research or personal benefit without the explicit written consent of the authors.

Peer reviewers contribute to editorial decisions and assist authors in improving the scientific quality of their manuscripts.

JICTRA applies a single-blind peer-review process, in which reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors. Manuscripts that proceed to peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise.

Reviewers are expected to:

• provide objective, constructive, and evidence-based evaluations;
• complete reviews within the agreed period whenever possible;
• maintain strict confidentiality regarding manuscripts and review materials;
• disclose any potential conflict of interest before accepting a review assignment;
• identify relevant published work that has not been appropriately cited;
• notify the editor of suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation, or other ethical concerns; and
• refrain from using information obtained through peer review for personal or professional advantage.

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts or unpublished materials to publicly accessible generative AI systems or other third-party services where confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.

Authors are responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, and scientific validity of their submitted work.

Authors must ensure that:

• the manuscript represents original work;
• all sources and previously published materials are properly cited;
• the manuscript has not been published previously and is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal;
• research data and results are presented accurately and honestly;
• fabrication, falsification, manipulation, plagiarism, and inappropriate data alteration are not present;
• all individuals listed as authors meet the journal's authorship criteria;
• all authors have approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission;
• relevant funding sources are disclosed;
• potential conflicts of interest are declared;
• ethical approval and informed consent are obtained where applicable; and
• substantive use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies is transparently declared.

Authors must promptly inform the Editorial Office if they discover a significant error or inaccuracy in a submitted or published article.

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the research and who agree to be accountable for the work.

JICTRA does not permit:

• guest authorship;
• gift or honorary authorship;
• ghost authorship; or
• inappropriate inclusion or exclusion of contributors.

Individuals who contribute to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors must be accompanied by a clear explanation and written agreement from all authors.

Changes in authorship after acceptance are strongly discouraged and will only be considered in exceptional circumstances when adequate justification and documentation are provided.

Authors are encouraged to provide an Author Contributions Statement, preferably using the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy.

JICTRA does not tolerate plagiarism, inappropriate text recycling, duplicate publication, or substantial unattributed overlap.

All submitted manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism-detection software as part of the editorial assessment.

As a general editorial guideline, the overall similarity index should normally not exceed 15%, excluding references, properly quoted materials, and other legitimate similarities where appropriate.

However, the similarity percentage is not used as the sole criterion for determining plagiarism. Editors evaluate the nature, source, extent, and context of the detected similarities.

A manuscript may still be considered problematic even when the total similarity index is below the journal's recommended threshold if substantial unattributed copying, inappropriate text recycling, or similarity with a particular source is identified.

Confirmed plagiarism may result in rejection, correction, retraction, or other appropriate editorial action.

Authors should not submit substantially the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously.

Publication of substantially overlapping research in more than one publication without appropriate disclosure, justification, and citation is considered unethical.

Authors must disclose related manuscripts, conference papers, preprints, datasets, or previous publications that may overlap substantially with the submitted manuscript.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their judgment.

Authors should include a Conflict of Interest Statement in the manuscript.

Where no conflict exists, the following statement may be used:

Reviewers and editors must decline involvement in manuscripts where a conflict of interest may compromise—or appear to compromise—their objectivity.

Research involving human participants, identifiable personal information, personal data, animals, or other activities requiring ethical oversight must comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional regulations.

Where applicable, manuscripts should provide:

• the name of the ethics committee or institutional review board;
• ethical approval number;
• date of approval; and
• information regarding informed consent.

Authors are responsible for protecting participant privacy, confidentiality, and personal data.

This requirement is particularly relevant to ICT research involving areas such as health informatics, biometrics, surveillance technologies, user studies, artificial intelligence, and personal-data processing.

Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of research data.

Fabrication, falsification, selective manipulation, or misleading presentation of data is considered serious research misconduct.

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to make supporting materials available, including:

• datasets;
• source code;
• algorithms;
• software configurations;
• trained models;
• experimental protocols; and
• supplementary materials.

Research articles are encouraged to include a Data Availability Statement.

When data cannot be shared publicly due to privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, security, contractual, or ethical restrictions, authors should clearly state the reason.

Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies must be used responsibly, transparently, and under human supervision.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors, as authorship requires accountability and responsibility that cannot be attributed to an AI system.

Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted to JICTRA, including content generated or modified with AI-assisted tools.

Substantive use of generative AI for writing, translation, coding, data analysis, visualization, literature analysis, or other research-related purposes should be disclosed.

Where AI constitutes part of the research methodology, authors should provide sufficient information about the:

• tool or model;
• version, where applicable;
• provider or developer;
• purpose of use;
• methodology;
• relevant parameters;
• validation procedures; and
• limitations.

AI-assisted tools must not replace human responsibility for verifying the accuracy, originality, validity, and integrity of the manuscript.

Detailed provisions are provided in the journal's Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy.

Research and publication misconduct may include, but is not limited to:

• fabrication or falsification of data;
• plagiarism;
• duplicate or redundant publication;
• inappropriate authorship;
• citation manipulation;
• peer-review manipulation;
• image or data manipulation;
• undisclosed conflicts of interest;
• unethical research practices;
• unauthorized use of confidential information; and
• unethical or undisclosed use of artificial intelligence.

JICTRA evaluates credible allegations carefully and confidentially.

The Editorial Office may request clarification and supporting documentation from the authors and, where appropriate, consult reviewers, institutions, research-integrity officers, or other relevant parties.

Possible actions include rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, notification of the authors' institution, or other appropriate measures.

Decisions are based on evidence and due process rather than allegation alone.

JICTRA is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record.

Where errors or ethical concerns are identified after publication, the journal may issue:

• Correction / Erratum / Corrigendum;
• Expression of Concern;
• Retraction; or
• other appropriate notices.

A correction may be issued when an error does not invalidate the principal findings of the article.

Retraction may be considered when findings are unreliable as a result of serious error, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, unethical research, duplicate publication, peer-review manipulation, or other serious breaches of publication ethics.

All correction and retraction notices should remain permanently accessible and clearly linked to the original Version of Record.

Editors, reviewers, editorial staff, and other parties involved in manuscript handling must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and related information.

Unpublished information obtained through the editorial or peer-review process must not be disclosed or used for personal research, competitive advantage, or other purposes without appropriate authorization.

Authors and readers may submit complaints regarding editorial procedures, publication ethics, or published content.

Authors may also appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant scientific or procedural issue has not been adequately considered.

Appeals must provide clear and substantive grounds and should not merely express disagreement with an editorial outcome.

Complaints and appeals will be considered fairly, confidentially, and based on the available evidence.

Where appropriate, an appeal may be evaluated by an editor who was not directly responsible for the original decision.

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit and publication ethics.

The journal's publisher, institutional affiliation, financial arrangements, Article Processing Charges (APCs), sponsorships, or other commercial considerations must not influence whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected.

Payment of an APC is an administrative requirement only after a manuscript has successfully completed the editorial and peer-review process and has been accepted for publication.

JICTRA does not provide guaranteed acceptance or publication in exchange for payment.

JICTRA will take reasonable steps to identify and prevent publication of manuscripts involving research misconduct.

The journal will not knowingly encourage, facilitate, or permit unethical publication practices.

When ethical concerns arise, JICTRA will seek to resolve them fairly and transparently and, where appropriate, follow relevant COPE guidance and flowcharts.

The following dedicated policy pages provide additional operational details on specific publication ethics matters.

• Peer Review Process
• Plagiarism and Text Overlap Policy
• Authorship and Contributorship Policy
• Conflict of Interest Policy
• Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy
• Ethical Oversight
• Data Availability and Reproducibility Policy
• Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct
• Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Discussion
• Copyright and Licensing Policy
• Open Access Policy
• Archiving and Digital Preservation Policy
• Complaints and Appeals Policy