Publication Ethics & Malpractice

The Borneo International Journal of Education (BIJE) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice. The journal adheres to internationally recognised ethical publishing principles and follows the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, and internationally accepted standards of research integrity.

All parties involved in the publication process—including authors, editors, editorial board members, reviewers, and the publisher—are expected to uphold ethical conduct, academic integrity, transparency, fairness, and professionalism throughout the editorial and publication process.

1. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to BIJE must ensure that their work is original, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration by another journal simultaneously. Manuscripts must accurately present the research conducted and contain sufficient detail to allow readers to evaluate the validity of the findings.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all data presented are genuine, accurately reported, and honestly interpreted. Fabrication, falsification, manipulation of research data, image manipulation, and misleading reporting are strictly prohibited.

Authors must appropriately acknowledge the work of others through accurate citation and referencing. Any use of ideas, words, figures, tables, or data from other sources must be properly cited.

Only individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the research should be listed as authors. All listed authors must approve the final version of the manuscript before submission and agree to its publication.

Authors are required to disclose any financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that may influence the research or its interpretation.

When research involves human participants, authors must confirm that the study received appropriate ethical approval from the relevant institutional ethics committee where applicable and that informed consent was obtained from participants.

If authors discover significant errors after publication, they are obliged to promptly notify the Editor-in-Chief and cooperate in correcting or retracting the article when necessary.

2. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for ensuring that all submitted manuscripts are evaluated fairly, objectively, and solely on their academic merit, originality, methodological rigour, significance, and relevance to the journal's scope.

Editorial decisions shall not be influenced by the authors' nationality, ethnicity, gender, institutional affiliation, religious belief, political philosophy, or personal relationships.

Editors shall maintain the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts and shall not disclose any information regarding manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial advisers, and the publisher as appropriate.

Editors shall avoid conflicts of interest and must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have competing interests.

Editors are responsible for ensuring that allegations of research misconduct, plagiarism, unethical research practices, duplicate publication, or authorship disputes are investigated thoroughly and handled according to COPE recommendations.

3. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

BIJE employs a double-blind peer-review process to ensure impartiality and academic quality.

Reviewers should evaluate manuscripts objectively, constructively, and confidentially. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate. Review comments should assist authors in improving the quality of their work.

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors and alert editors to any substantial similarity between the manuscript under review and other published works.

Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and shall not use unpublished information obtained during the review process for personal research or professional advantage.

Reviewers who have conflicts of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, institutional, or personal relationships must decline the review invitation.

4. Research Integrity

BIJE maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards research misconduct, including but not limited to:

  • Plagiarism

  • Self-plagiarism

  • Duplicate submission

  • Redundant publication

  • Data fabrication

  • Data falsification

  • Citation manipulation

  • Image manipulation

  • Authorship manipulation

  • Peer-review manipulation

  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest

Any allegation of research misconduct will be investigated thoroughly following internationally accepted ethical procedures.

5. Plagiarism Policy

All submitted manuscripts are screened using recognised plagiarism detection software before entering the peer-review process.

Manuscripts containing evidence of plagiarism, excessive textual overlap, duplicate publication, or unattributed use of copyrighted materials will be rejected immediately. Where plagiarism is identified after publication, BIJE reserves the right to issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions where appropriate.

6. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could influence the editorial process or interpretation of research findings.

Where conflicts exist, appropriate measures shall be taken to ensure an independent and unbiased editorial decision.

7. Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

BIJE is committed to preserving the integrity of the scholarly record.

Where significant errors, ethical breaches, or research misconduct are identified after publication, the journal may publish corrections (errata), corrigenda, expressions of concern, or retract articles in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Retraction notices shall remain permanently linked to the original article to maintain transparency and ensure the integrity of the academic record.

8. Copyright and Intellectual Property

Authors retain responsibility for ensuring that all copyrighted materials included in their manuscripts have obtained appropriate permissions where required.

Submission of a manuscript confirms that the work does not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of any third party.

9. Confidentiality

Editors, editorial staff, and reviewers shall maintain strict confidentiality regarding all manuscripts submitted to BIJE. Information obtained during the editorial process shall not be used for personal benefit or disclosed to unauthorised individuals.

10. Publication Ethics Compliance

Submission of a manuscript to BIJE constitutes the authors' agreement to comply fully with this Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. Any breach of these ethical standards may result in manuscript rejection, withdrawal of published articles, notification to the authors' affiliated institutions, or other appropriate actions deemed necessary by the Editorial Board.