Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

JUXTA: Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa Kedokteran Universitas Airlangga upholds the ethical principles set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). These standards guide all matters related to publication ethics, including the identification and management of research and publication misconduct.

This policy outlines the ethical responsibilities of all parties involved in publishing articles in JUXTA, including authors, editors, and reviewers.

Authors’ Obligations

  1. Submission

Authors must submit complete manuscripts exclusively through the online submission system on JUXTA's website. Hard-copy submissions will NOT be reviewed or returned. All submissions must include an Authorship Form, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Declaration Statement (only for manuscripts that contain any use of AI), Checklist, and Cover Page signed by all authors.

  1. Human or Animal Subjects

Manuscripts must describe research conducted ethically, responsibly, and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. For studies involving human participants, authors must identify the ethics committee that approved the study and confirm adherence to recognized standards, such as the Declaration of Helsinki. Animal research must be conducted with the same rigor as human research, reflecting the principles of Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement (the 3Rs). Authors must describe study design, statistical analysis, procedures, animal characteristics, housing, and husbandry. Ethical and legal approval must be obtained before study initiation and clearly stated in the manuscript. Compliance with institutional and national guidelines must also be indicated.

  1. Data Availability

Authors may be required to provide raw data for editorial assessment and must be able to supply requested data within a reasonable timeframe.

  1. Reporting Standards

Authors must present an accurate, objective, and precise description of their work. Findings must not be fabricated, falsified, or manipulated in any improper manner. Methods should be described in sufficient detail to enable replication. Misrepresentation of results constitutes unethical behavior and will not be tolerated.

  1. Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must submit original work that has not been previously published. JUXTA screens manuscripts using Turnitin to detect plagiarism. Manuscripts may not be submitted to more than one journal simultaneously unless editors explicitly permit co-publication. Previous work by the authors and others must be appropriately cited. Direct quotations must be enclosed in quotation marks and adequately referenced. Details regarding plagiarism policies are provided in the Penalty section.

  1. Multiple, Duplicate, Redundant, or Concurrent Submission/Publication

Research findings may not be published in more than one primary outlet. Authors must not submit manuscripts previously published elsewhere, nor may they submit the same work to multiple journals concurrently. Policies on publication misconduct are outlined in the Penalty section.

  1. Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must appropriately acknowledge previous work and obtain written permission before including confidential information shared through personal communication or via peer review. Information obtained during confidential service, such as reviewing manuscripts or grant applications, may not be used without the explicit written consent of the original author(s).

  1. Authorship of the Manuscript

Only individuals who meet all authorship criteria (substantial contributions to the study, drafting or critically revising the manuscript, and approving the final version) should be listed as authors.
Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria must not be listed as authors but may be acknowledged with written permission. The corresponding author must ensure that all listed authors qualify for authorship and approve the final submission.

  1. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest at the time of submission, including financial relationships, employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership, grants, or personal or professional affiliations. All funding sources must be fully disclosed.

  1. Fundamental Errors in Published Works

If authors discover significant errors in their published work, they must promptly notify the editors and collaborate on issuing a correction or retraction. If editors or publishers become aware of mistakes from third parties, authors must address the concerns promptly and provide evidence to support the accuracy of their work.

  1. Peer Review

Authors must comply fully with the peer-review process, responding promptly to editorial requests for data, clarifications, ethical approvals, consent, or permissions. When revisions are required, authors must provide point-by-point responses and submit revised manuscripts by the stated deadline.

Penalties for Publication Misconduct

  • Duplicate Submission

If intentional duplicate submission is confirmed, the review process will be terminated immediately. A formal notification will be sent to reviewers, the editorial board, and the heads of all authors’ institutions, detailing the misconduct and supporting evidence. The manuscript will be withdrawn, and authors must provide a written explanation. Offending authors will be barred from submitting to JUXTA for at least five years or indefinitely in severe or repeated cases. JUXTA may also report the misconduct to indexing bodies, funding agencies, and other journals in accordance with COPE guidelines.

  • Duplicate Publication

Intentional duplicate publication will result in retraction or permanent removal of the article, accompanied by a COPE-compliant notice specifying the reason and identifying responsible authors. JUXTA will notify the publisher of the duplicate work and the heads of the authors’ institutions. Authors must submit a written explanation. They will be prohibited from submitting to JUXTA for a minimum of five years or indefinitely for severe or repeated violations. JUXTA may also notify indexing services, funders, and journals as required by publication ethics standards.

  • Plagiarism (Including Self-Plagiarism)

If intentional plagiarism is detected, the article will be withdrawn, accompanied by a detailed retraction notice that identifies the plagiarized content. JUXTA will notify the relevant publisher or copyright holder, when applicable, and the heads of all authors’ institutions. Authors must provide a written explanation. Authors will be banned from submitting to JUXTA for a period of five years or indefinitely in cases of severe or recurrent misconduct. JUXTA may also report misconduct to indexing bodies, funders, and other journals, in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Editors’ Obligations

  1. Publication Decisions

Editors are accountable for the quality and integrity of published content. They must apply consistent standards and rely on peer-review reports when making decisions to accept, reject, or request revisions. Editorial decisions must be made promptly and comply with legal requirements regarding libel, copyright, and plagiarism.

  1. Review for Manuscripts

Editors must assess each submission for originality and evaluate the ethical conduct of studies involving human or animal subjects. Editors must manage peer review fairly, transparently, and without bias, selecting reviewers with appropriate expertise and avoiding conflicts of interest.

  1. Fair Evaluation

Editors must ensure impartial assessment of manuscripts, based solely on academic merit and independent of authors’ personal characteristics or affiliations.

  1. Confidentiality

Editors must maintain the confidentiality of submissions and not disclose information to anyone outside the editorial and peer-review process without consent, except under exceptional circumstances.

  1. Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Editors and editorial board members may not use unpublished information obtained through manuscript handling for personal research. Manuscripts presenting conflicts of interest must be reassigned to another editor.

Reviewers’ Obligations

  1. Confidentiality

Manuscripts under review must be treated as confidential documents and may not be shared without permission.

  1. Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Reviewers assist editors in making informed decisions and help authors improve their manuscripts.

  1. Objectivity

Reviews must be objective and supported by clear arguments. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate.

  1. Promptness

Reviewers who cannot provide timely evaluations or lack the required expertise must notify the editors immediately.

  1. Acknowledgment of Sources

Reviewers must identify relevant previous work not cited by the authors and report any similarities or overlap with other publications.

  1. Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Information obtained during peer review must not be used for personal benefit. Reviewers must decline reviews where conflicts of interest exist.

The Utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Imagery, or AI-Enhanced Technologies

Artificial Intelligence and AI-Enhanced Technologies

JUXTA: Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa Kedokteran Universitas Airlangga adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) position statement regarding the utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation. Instruments like ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) often fail to meet authorship standards and, therefore, cannot be designated as authors on manuscripts. JUXTA uses Turnitin AI Checker to check the utilization of output generated by AI tools.

The utilization of an LLM (or alternative AI tool) for "AI-assisted copy editing" does not require disclosure. We describe "AI-assisted copy editing" as the enhancement of human-generated texts by AI to increase readability and style, while ensuring the texts are free from grammatical, spelling, punctuation, and tone errors. These AI-assisted enhancements may encompass modifications in phrasing and formatting of the texts but exclude generative editorial tasks and independent content creation.

When AI or AI-assisted tools have been utilized in manuscript preparation, this must be explicitly disclosed with adequate details in the cover letter upon submission. Moreover, authors must exhibit transparency regarding the use of these tools and specify how the AI tool was employed in the "Methods" section. Additionally, they should include the product specifications of the AI tool in the "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Declaration Statement" section.

Authors bear full responsibility for the originality, authenticity, and integrity of their manuscript's content and must ensure adherence to all publication ethics regulations of JUXTA. JUXTA retains the authority to solicit additional information, and editorial determinations will be made in accordance with the Editorial Process of JUXTA.

Images Generated by Artificial Intelligence

The rapidly evolving domain of generative AI picture generation has presented new legal, copyright, and research integrity challenges. As publishers, we strictly adhere to established copyright legislation and the highest standards of publication ethics. Due to the unsolved legal difficulties surrounding AI-generated photographs and videos, JUXTA cannot authorize their publication.  

Additional exclusions to this guideline encompass photographs and videos explicitly mentioned in content focused on AI, which will be evaluated individually.

Given the anticipated rapid advancements in this industry, we will conduct regular reviews of this policy and modify it as needed.

Please note that not all AI techniques are generative in nature. The utilization of non-generative machine learning technologies to alter, merge, or augment existing images or figures must be stated in the corresponding caption upon submission to provide a case-by-case evaluation.