Publication Ethics

The Educational Management and Advancement Journal (EduMAJ) adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the principles set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All parties involved in the publication process—authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher—are expected to uphold integrity, transparency, and accountability throughout the editorial and publication workflow.

1. Duties of Editors

Decision Making: Editors decide which manuscripts are suitable for publication based on academic merit, originality, relevance, and ethical standards.
Fair Review: Manuscripts are evaluated objectively, without discrimination based on gender, race, religion, nationality, or institutional affiliation.
Confidentiality: Editors must maintain the confidentiality of all submissions and share information only with the corresponding author, reviewers, or editorial board members.
Conflict of Interest: Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

2. Duties of Reviewers

Confidentiality: All manuscripts under review must be treated as confidential documents.
Objectivity: Reviews must be conducted fairly, providing constructive feedback to improve the manuscript.
Timeliness: Reviewers who cannot meet the deadline should promptly notify the editor.
Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must declare any potential conflicts that may affect their objectivity.

3. Duties of Authors

Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure their manuscripts are original and appropriately cite others' work. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable.
Accuracy: Authors must present accurate data and sufficient detail to allow replication.
Multiple Submissions: Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously.
Authorship: Only those who have made a significant contribution to the research should be listed as authors, and all authors must approve the final manuscript.
Disclosure: All funding sources and potential conflicts of interest must be declared.
Ethical Approval: For studies involving human participants or sensitive data, ethical approval must be stated, including the committee's name and approval number.

4. Duties of the Publisher

Editorial Independence: The Kadewaguru Foundation respects editorial autonomy and does not interfere with editorial decisions.
Integrity: The publisher ensures ethical publishing practices and supports editors, authors, and reviewers in handling misconduct.
Handling Misconduct: In cases of plagiarism, data fabrication, or duplicate publication, the publisher will work with editors to investigate and take appropriate actions, including corrections or retractions in line with COPE guidelines.

5. Plagiarism and Retraction Policy

All submissions are screened using reliable plagiarism detection tools such as Turnitin. Manuscripts with a similarity index above 25% (excluding references and standard phrases) will be returned or rejected. Published articles found to involve plagiarism, falsification, or unethical conduct will be retracted following the COPE Retraction Guidelines.

6. Conflict of Interest

All parties must disclose any potential conflicts of interest. If none exist, authors must include the statement: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."

7. Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

EduMAJ recognizes the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly, or similar) in supporting academic writing. However, AI tools cannot be listed as authors and must not replace human intellectual responsibility. If AI tools are used (e.g., for language editing, text summarization, or code assistance), this must be transparently disclosed in the manuscript (e.g., in the Acknowledgment or Methodology section). Authors remain fully accountable for all manuscript content's accuracy, integrity, and originality.

8. Policy on Self-Citation

Self-citation is acceptable when it is relevant and necessary to demonstrate continuity of research. However, excessive self-citation, particularly from the same journal or publisher, is strongly discouraged as it may compromise academic integrity and distort citation metrics. As a guideline, self-citations should not exceed 20% of the total references. Authors are encouraged to engage with diverse relevant literature to ensure objectivity and credibility in their scholarly contributions.