Publication Ethics

Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan (Journal of Environmental Health) with registered number ISSN 1829-7285 (printed) and ISSN 2540-881X (online) is a peer-reviewed electronic journal. This statement clarifies the ethical behaviour of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in this journal, including the author, the chief editor, the Editorial Board, the peer-reviewer and the publisher (Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Airlangga).

ETHICAL GUIDELINE FOR JOURNAL PUBLICATION

Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Airlangga as publisher of Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan (Journal of Environmental Health) takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously and we recognize our ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. In addition, the Faculty of Public Health Universitas Airlangga and Editorial Board will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful and necessary.

The editorial and publication processes of the journal are conducted in accordance with the guidelines of:

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE),

World Association of Medical Editors (WAME),

Council of Science Editors (CSE),

European Association of Science Editors (EASE),

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE),

International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM).

PUBLICATION ETHICS

Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan (Journal of Environmental Health) is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of scientific integrity. Rigorous, double-blind peer review processes are followed, emphasizing the promotion of ethical and scientific excellence in all published articles. The journal will adhere to COPE guidelines when addressing possible instances of misconduct. Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan (Journal of Environmental Health) applies open citation as indicated in 140c.

Submitted manuscripts are treated with utmost confidentiality. Information regarding manuscripts, reviews, and decisions is kept confidential, only accessible to the corresponding author, designated reviewers, and the journal's editor.

Manuscripts are accepted for publication with the understanding that they are original, not concurrently submitted to other journals, and have not been previously published.

Clinical Trial Registration

Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan (Journal of Environmental Health) upholds publication ethics by enforcing guidelines for clinical trial registration. These guidelines require that all clinical trials be registered in a publicly accessible registry before recruiting participants. The registration should provide comprehensive trial details and include a unique identification number. Timely reporting of trial results, regardless of the outcome, is mandatory. Authors must provide proof of trial registration during manuscript submission, and adherence to these guidelines ensures transparency and ethical conduct in our journal's published trials, promoting research integrity and accurate reporting of results.

EDITOR

Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan (Journal of Environmental Health) employs a system where manuscripts submitted are forwarded to the members of the editorial board for evaluation before being sent to the reviewers. This system supports the journal's commitment to fairness and quality.
The Editor-in-Chief provides leadership and sets the strategic direction for the journal, ensuring it aligns with advancements in the field and the goals of the publishing organization. He oversees the entire editorial process, including accepting and rejecting manuscripts, ensuring the content meets high scientific and ethical standards. The Editor-in-Chief establishes and enforces editorial policies, ethical guidelines, and standards for publication, and makes final decisions on manuscript acceptance, especially in contentious or borderline cases. They represent the journal to the scientific community, at conferences, and in public forums. The Editor-in-Chief also ensures a fair peer review process by selecting unbiased reviewers without conflicts of interest and clearly communicating peer review procedures to authors. It is the Editor-in-Chief who holds the final decision on whether a manuscript is published or not published.
The Associate Editor handles the peer review process for submitted manuscripts, assigning reviewers, assessing reviews, and making recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief. They oversee the development of special issues or themed sections, coordinating with guest editors and contributors. Associate Editors contribute to the development and implementation of editorial policies and strategies to enhance the journal's quality and impact. They also evaluate manuscript originality, ethical considerations, and ensure a fair peer review process, selecting unbiased reviewers.
Editorial Board members regularly review manuscripts, providing detailed, constructive feedback to ensure scientific rigor and quality. They provide strategic advice and input to the Editor-in-Chief and editorial team on journal policies, direction, and content. They also help promote the journal within their networks, encouraging high-quality submissions and raising the journal's profile in the scientific community. Editorial Board Members maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts, sharing information only with authorized reviewers and keeping discussions private, except in exceptional cases.
The Section Editor manages a certain issue or specialty area within the journal, ensuring the content is relevant, current, and of high quality. They oversee the peer review process for manuscripts within their section, working closely with associate editors and reviewers. Section Editors identify key topics and trends in their specialty area, soliciting articles and contributing to the strategic development of the section. They also make unbiased decisions based on the content, avoiding biases related to personal attributes, and ensuring fairness and equity throughout the publication process.
The Assistant Editor provides administrative and editorial support to the editorial team, assisting with manuscript tracking, correspondence, and coordination of the review process. They help ensure that manuscripts are properly formatted and meet the journal's submission guidelines before they are sent for review. Assistant Editors act as liaisons between authors, reviewers, and the editorial team, ensuring clear and timely communication throughout the editorial process.
In general, editors are responsible for the content published and must follow strict standards and journal policies. They have the authority to accept, reject, or request changes to manuscripts, prioritizing timely review and publication. Editors maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts, upholding content integrity and addressing misconduct. They have to avoid decisions involving conflicts of interest. Editors excuse themselves from appraising manuscripts where conflicts of interest arise due to competitive, collaborative, or other associations with the authors, companies, or institutions tied to the papers. In such cases, editors delegate the review and evaluation to other members of the editorial board.

REVIEWER

Reviewers are expected to abstain from evaluating manuscripts in cases where they possess conflicts of interest stemming from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, sponsors, or institutions linked to the paper. Similarly, they should avoid assessing works that involve affiliations with organizations that could benefit from or be adversely affected by the publication of the study.
Manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review, ensuring anonymity of authors and reviewers for unbiased assessment.
Peer review helps editors make decisions and authors improve their papers.
Manuscripts and related information should be kept confidential and not shared without authorization.
Reviewers should provide clear opinions supported by evidence. Manuscripts should be original, adhere to technical standards, and present comprehensive and interpretable results. Language should be clear and error-free.
Reviewers should maintain confidentiality and avoid conflicts of interest with authors, companies, or institutions.
Reviewers should provide timely feedback and notify about any delays.
Reviewers should identify relevant unpublished work, ensure proper citations, and inform the editor about significant similarities with other published papers.

AUTHOR

The term "Author" pertains to the individual intellectual contributor who plays an independent role in a published study. The following four criteria, constituting the authorship index, must be met for someone to be recognized as an author:

Author should have made substantial contributions to the study's conceptualization, planning, data collection/processing, analysis, or data interpretation.
Author's input should involve critical intellectual or conceptual revisions for refining the study's design or content.
Author must grant approval for the finalized study intended for publication.
Author is responsible for investigating and resolving concerns related to the accuracy and integrity of all aspects of the study, assuming full ownership of every detail.

Individuals indicated as authors should possess these characteristics, and those who fulfill these criteria should be listed in the study in a determined order, which should be collectively agreed upon by all co-authors.

Authors should be prepared to elucidate the rationale behind the order of authorship when requested. It is the joint responsibility of the authors, rather than the journal to which the work is submitted, to ascertain that all individuals listed as authors fulfill all four criteria.
Authors bear the responsibility of composing a manuscript that adheres to scientific standards.
The corresponding author, subsequent to the study's publication, should be ready to furnish data and supplementary information upon request.
Authors should refrain from publishing manuscripts that essentially present the same findings in multiple journals or primary publications. Simultaneously submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals is considered unethical and unacceptable.
The submitted work must be original and not previously published elsewhere in any form or language, unless it involves an extension of previous work. (Transparency should be provided regarding the reuse of content to prevent concerns about text repetition or 'self-plagiarism').
Breaking a single study into multiple parts to artificially increase submissions, either to different journals or over time to the same journal ('salami-slicing/publishing'), is inappropriate.
Authors must ensure they possess appropriate permissions for utilizing software, questionnaires/(web) surveys, and scales within their studies, as applicable.
Manuscripts should refer to pertinent and relevant literature to substantiate the assertions put forth. Excessive and unsuitable self-citation, as well as orchestrated attempts by multiple authors to collectively self-cite, are strongly advised against.
Authors are to refrain from making false statements concerning an entity (which could be an individual or a company) or providing portrayals of their conduct or deeds that could potentially be interpreted as personal attacks or accusations aimed at the said individual or entity.
For manuscripts involving human participants, data, or tissue, authors must include an ethical clearance document from the relevant authority overseeing the study, specifying the ethics committee, the document number, and the date of the document. All human studies must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and protect minority groups according to the guidelines set by the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
For consent to publication, authors must obtain consent to publish from individuals whose data (cases, details, images, videos) are included, or from their parent/guardian if the individual is a minor. This applies primarily to case series. Authors can use either an institutional consent form or a provided consent form and should be prepared to provide a copy upon request.
Authors are expected to submit their manuscripts through the online submission system, adhering to provided guidelines. This includes attaching a signed declaration form and ensuring compliance with the provided checklist. Authors should also disclose any prior publications and suggest potential reviewers.
Authors must obtain informed consent from participants, detailing the study's purpose, procedures, potential risks, benefits, confidentiality, and data utilization.
Participant anonymity must be safeguarded, and any identifying information should be removed from research data.
Authors should ensure that vulnerable populations, such as children, pregnant women, and prisoners, undergo a comprehensive risk-benefit analysis. Informed consent from authorized representatives and privacy protection are necessary. Adhering to guidelines set by the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) is recommended.
Recruitment of participants should be voluntary and unbiased, and research protocols require approval from an ethical review committee.
Reporting and mitigation of adverse events are essential, with community engagement being vital for culturally sensitive studies. Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan (Journal of Environmental Health) is dedicated to upholding ethical standards, ensuring participant rights, privacy, and well-being.
Authors utilizing animal models in their study must adhere to the principles of Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement (3Rs) for animal subjects and follow the ARRIVE
Authors may need to provide raw data upon request for editorial review purposes.
Authors are obligated to present truthful and unbiased findings, accompanied by clear descriptions of methods for reproducibility and avoidance of fraudulent claims.
Manuscripts should fulfill publication criteria, refrain from plagiarism, and appropriately acknowledge all sources.
Proper acknowledgment of data sources and influential publications is necessary.

Peer Review

All submitted articles are subjected to scrutiny by editors and reviewers. Acceptance hinges on the significance and novelty of the submitted material.
Upon acceptance for publication, the article may undergo editorial revisions to enhance clarity and comprehension while preserving the presented data.
Authors must actively engage in the peer review process and address reviewers' comments thoroughly. Adherence to these guidelines ensures ethical publication practices and upholds research integrity.

Authorship

The names and sequence of authors provided in the copyright transfer form will be taken into consideration once the manuscript process commences.
Except for authors who have signed the copyright transfer form, no additional authors' names can be appended to the manuscript at any point.
Authors are strongly advised to ensure the accuracy of the author group, the Corresponding Author, and the author order upon submission. The addition or removal of authors during the revision process is generally not permissible, though exceptions might arise in some cases. Comprehensive explanations should accompany any alterations in authorship. Please be aware that modifications to authorship cannot be made after a manuscript has been accepted.

Plagiarism and Misconduct

Authors should avoid duplicating or redundant manuscripts and identify multiple publications from the same research project.
Findings should be presented clearly, truthfully, and without fabrication, falsification, or improper manipulation of data (including image manipulation). Authors should follow discipline-specific regulations for collecting, choosing, and processing data.
It is impermissible to present others' data, text, or theories as if they are the author's own ('plagiarism'). Proper acknowledgment of other works is necessary. This entails acknowledging closely copied, summarized, and/or paraphrased material. Quotation marks should be used for verbatim text from other sources, and permissions must be obtained for copyrighted material.
The journal might employ software to detect instances of plagiarism, such as Turnitin.
Authors are responsible for promptly notifying editors of significant errors and collaborating to rectify them.
In cases where there is suspicion of misconduct or alleged fraudulent activity, the Journal and/or Publisher will initiate an investigation in accordance with COPE If valid concerns arise from the investigation, the respective author(s) will be contacted using their provided email address, affording them an opportunity to address the issue. Depending on the circumstances, this could lead to the journal's implementation of various measures, which may include, but are not limited to:

If the manuscript is still under review, it might be declined and returned to the author.
For articles that have already been published online, the actions taken will depend on the severity and nature of the violation:

An erratum/correction could be appended to the article.
An expression of concern might be associated with the article.
In more serious cases, the article may be retracted. The rationale for these actions will be communicated through the published erratum/correction, expression of concern, or retraction notice.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Technology

Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan (Journal of Environmental Health) does not recognize Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT as authors. The use of LLMs should be documented in the Methods section or an appropriate part of the manuscript. Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan (Journal of Environmental Health) does not permit AI-generated images and videos for publication due to unresolved legal and research integrity issues, except for images from contracted agencies or those referenced in AI-specific pieces. Peer reviewers should not use generative AI tools to review manuscripts, as these tools may lack accuracy and produce biased information. Any use of AI tools in evaluating manuscript claims must be transparently declared by peer reviewers in their reports.

Correcting substantial errors

It is the responsibility of authors to rectify significant errors or inaccuracies in their published articles once discovered. The author(s) are urged to reach out to the journal to explain how the error is impacting the article. The approach taken to rectify the scholarly record will be contingent upon the nature of the error. This might involve issuing a correction or, in more serious cases, a retraction. The retraction statement should offer clarity regarding which sections of the article are affected by the error.
When necessary, article retractions will be executed in accordance with COPE retraction guidelines.

Acknowledgment

Contributions that do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgment" section. Activities such as fundraising, data collection, overseeing the study group, spell checking, technical editing, data reduction, and editing in isolation do not qualify for authorship; thus, these roles should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgment" section.
Authorship should accurately represent contributions with co-authors' consent, acknowledging substantial contributors as co-authors and others in the acknowledgment section.

Conflicts of Interest

Any conflicts of interest, financial support, grants, and other editorial contributions (such as statistical analysis, language editing) and/or technical assistance, if present, should be stated in the conclusion. Author has to fill the conflicts of interest form to ensure all authors disclose to the readers any real or apparent conflict(s) of interest that may have a direct bearing on the subject matter of the article.

Funding

All authors are required to reveal any financial or other pertinent interests that could potentially impact the findings or interpretation of their manuscript. They must also disclose all sources of financial backing for the project.

Article Withdrawal

In cases involving ethical concerns, errors, or other issues that compromise the validity or credibility of an article, article withdrawal may be required to maintain the integrity and reliability of the scientific literature as long as there are justifiable reasons, including plagiarism, fraud or misconduct, errors or inaccuracies, ethical concerns, duplicate publication, and the violation of journal policies. Policy of article withdrawal will be undertaken along with the guidelines in COPE withdrawal guidelines.

Author consent is needed as the authors should acknowledge the issues and agree with the decision. If the authors disagree, a more formal process might be needed, involving the journal's editorial board or the third-party ethics committee.
The withdrawal of an article involves a thorough editorial review and the decision should be well-documented and transparent.
The withdrawal will be publicly notified to the readers, authors, and the scientific community through a formal retraction notice that provides information about the reasons for withdrawal and the steps taken.
The retraction statement alongside the withdrawal notice will be published, outlining the reasons for withdrawal, and correcting any misinformation from the original article.
The databases will be informed about the withdrawal so as to ensure that the readers are aware of the withdrawal.