Publication Ethics

PUBLICATION ETHICS

Media Wisata is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and scholarly integrity. This Publication Ethics Policy applies to authors, editors, reviewers, and all parties involved in the publication process.

This policy is developed with reference to the principles and best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and is implemented as part of the journal's commitment to responsible scholarly publishing, transparency, fairness, academic integrity, and editorial independence.

 

Editorial Responsibilities

Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief and editors are responsible for making publication decisions based on the manuscript's academic quality, originality, significance, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal's scope, and compliance with publication ethics.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, nationality, institutional affiliation, political views, or other personal characteristics.

Editors may consult reviewers, associate editors, editorial board members, or other qualified experts when making editorial decisions.

Fair and Independent Evaluation

All manuscripts are evaluated fairly and objectively based on their scholarly content. Editorial decisions must be independent of commercial, personal, institutional, or political interests.

Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, or individuals closely associated with the journal must be handled through an appropriate independent editorial process to avoid conflicts of interest.

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and related information.

Information about a manuscript may only be disclosed to the corresponding author, assigned reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers, publisher, or other parties directly involved in the editorial process when necessary.

Unpublished information, data, arguments, or ideas obtained from submitted manuscripts must not be used for personal or professional advantage without the author's permission.

Editorial Conflicts of Interest

Editors must disclose and appropriately manage any actual, potential, or perceived competing interests.

An editor must not participate in the editorial decision-making process for a manuscript when the editor has a personal, professional, financial, institutional, collaborative, or other relationship that could reasonably affect editorial impartiality.

 

Reviewer Responsibilities

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists editors in assessing the quality, originality, relevance, methodological rigor, and scholarly contribution of manuscripts. Reviewer comments should also help authors improve their manuscripts.

Reviewer Qualifications and Promptness

Reviewers should accept an assignment only when they have appropriate expertise and sufficient time to conduct a thorough review.

Reviewers who feel unqualified to evaluate a manuscript or are unable to complete the review within the required period should promptly notify the editor and decline the assignment.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.

Reviewers must not share, copy, distribute, discuss, or use unpublished information from a manuscript without permission from the editor.

Reviewers must also take reasonable precautions to protect the confidentiality of manuscripts and review materials.

Objectivity and Professional Conduct

Reviews must be conducted objectively, fairly, and professionally.

Reviewer comments should focus on the manuscript and its scholarly content. Personal criticism, discriminatory comments, offensive language, or inappropriate remarks about the author are unacceptable.

Reviewer recommendations should be supported by clear and constructive arguments.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been appropriately cited by the authors.

Reviewers should notify the editor if they identify substantial similarity, possible plagiarism, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, or other potential ethical concerns.

Reviewer Competing Interests

Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived competing interest before accepting a review assignment.

Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts when their objectivity could reasonably be affected by competitive, collaborative, institutional, personal, financial, or other relationships with the authors, institutions, or organizations associated with the manuscript.

Use of Generative AI by Reviewers

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts, unpublished research data, reviewer reports, or other confidential materials into public or third-party generative AI systems when doing so could compromise confidentiality, intellectual property, or the rights of the authors.

Generative AI must not replace the reviewer's professional judgment. Reviewers remain fully responsible for the confidentiality, accuracy, and integrity of their review.

 

Author Responsibilities

Reporting Standards and Research Integrity

Authors must present an accurate and transparent account of their research.

Research data, methods, analysis, results, and interpretations must be reported honestly. Fabrication, falsification, manipulation of data, misleading reporting, or other forms of research misconduct are unacceptable.

Authors should provide sufficient methodological information to allow readers to understand, evaluate, and, where appropriate, reproduce the research.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are original and have not been published previously in substantially similar form.

All ideas, words, data, findings, images, tables, figures, or other materials originating from other sources must be appropriately acknowledged and cited.

Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, inappropriate reuse of previously published material, and other forms of unattributed appropriation are prohibited.

Media Wisata conducts similarity screening as part of its editorial process. The journal's maximum similarity index is 10% as an editorial screening threshold. Similarity percentage alone does not constitute a determination of plagiarism; the editorial team evaluates the sources, context, location, and nature of the similarities.

Duplicate, Redundant, and Concurrent Publication

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

Authors should not publish substantially the same research in multiple publications without appropriate justification, disclosure, cross-referencing, and permission where applicable.

If substantial overlap with another publication is identified, authors must promptly disclose it to the editor.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must be based on substantial intellectual contributions to the research, such as conception and design, data collection or acquisition where intellectually substantive, analysis and interpretation, or substantial contribution to drafting or critically revising the manuscript.

Individuals who have made substantial contributions should be appropriately recognized as authors, while individuals whose contributions do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:

  • all eligible authors are included;
  • no inappropriate or honorary authors are included;
  • all authors have approved the final version of the manuscript;
  • all authors have agreed to its submission;
  • author contributions are accurately reported; and
  • any changes to authorship during the editorial process are appropriately disclosed and approved by all affected authors.

Authorship disputes should be resolved by the authors and, where necessary, their institutions. The journal may suspend editorial processing while such disputes are being resolved.

Competing Interests

All authors must disclose any financial, professional, personal, institutional, or other competing interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, interpretation, authorship, or publication of the manuscript.

If no competing interests exist, authors should explicitly state that there are no competing interests.

Funding

Authors must disclose all sources of financial or other substantive support for the research.

Where applicable, authors should identify the role of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Research Ethics and Ethical Approval

Authors are responsible for ensuring that research involving human participants, personal data, vulnerable groups, animals, or other ethically sensitive subjects has been conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards and institutional or regulatory requirements.

Where ethical approval is required, authors must provide information regarding the approving institution or ethics committee and approval/reference number, where applicable.

Where informed consent is required, authors must ensure that appropriate consent has been obtained.

Data Availability and Research Materials

Authors should provide sufficient information about research data, instruments, procedures, and materials to support transparency and, where appropriate, verification or reproducibility.

Where possible and ethically permissible, authors are encouraged to make relevant research data or materials available through an appropriate repository or upon reasonable request.

Authors must not disclose confidential, personally identifiable, or otherwise protected information without appropriate authorization and ethical safeguards.

Generative AI and AI-Assisted Tools

Authors may use generative AI or other AI-assisted tools in accordance with the journal's AI policy.

AI tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of the submitted manuscript, including any content produced or modified with the assistance of AI.

Where generative AI has been used in a manner relevant to the manuscript, its use must be disclosed according to the journal's Generative AI Policy. AI-generated content must be carefully checked for factual errors, fabricated references, inappropriate attribution, bias, and plagiarism.

Use of AI in the research methodology, data analysis, coding, image generation, or other substantive research activities should be transparently described in the appropriate section of the manuscript.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Authors must properly acknowledge all sources that have contributed to the development of the research.

Relevant publications should be cited accurately and appropriately. Citation manipulation, excessive self-citation, coercive citation, or citation practices intended primarily to artificially increase citation metrics are unacceptable.

Editorial and Research Misconduct

Media Wisata takes allegations of publication and research misconduct seriously.

Potential misconduct may include, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism and self-plagiarism;
  • fabrication or falsification of data;
  • manipulation of images or research materials;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • simultaneous submission;
  • inappropriate authorship or contributorship;
  • undisclosed competing interests;
  • unethical research involving human participants or animals;
  • citation manipulation;
  • misuse of confidential peer-review information;
  • inappropriate use of generative AI;
  • falsification of ethical approval or research documentation; and
  • other practices that compromise the integrity of scholarly publishing.

Allegations may be raised by authors, reviewers, editors, readers, institutions, or other parties.

The journal may request explanations, supporting documentation, corrections, or clarification from the authors and may contact relevant institutions when necessary.

Investigations will be conducted fairly, confidentially, and in accordance with applicable ethical guidance.

 

Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit complaints or appeals concerning editorial decisions or the editorial process.

Complaints should be supported by clear reasons and relevant evidence.

Appeals will be considered by an editor who is independent of the original decision where reasonably possible. An appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original decision.

Complaints concerning editorial misconduct or conflicts of interest will be handled separately from ordinary manuscript appeals.

 

Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Issues

Media Wisata recognizes its responsibility to maintain the integrity of the published scholarly record.

When significant errors or ethical concerns are identified after publication, the journal may take appropriate action, including:

  • correction;
  • clarification;
  • expression of concern;
  • retraction; or
  • other appropriate post-publication notices.

Authors who discover a significant error in their published article must promptly notify the editor and cooperate in correcting the scholarly record.

The journal may also initiate post-publication investigations when credible concerns are raised by readers, reviewers, authors, institutions, or other parties.

Corrections and retractions will be handled transparently and in accordance with applicable publication ethics principles.

 

Intellectual Property and Copyright

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts do not infringe copyright, intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or other legal rights.

Permission must be obtained for the reuse of copyrighted material where required.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that images, figures, tables, instruments, datasets, or other third-party materials used in the manuscript are properly attributed and legally permitted for use.

 

Editorial Independence

Media Wisata maintains editorial independence in evaluating and publishing scholarly work.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by commercial interests, sponsorship, institutional pressure, personal relationships, political considerations, or other interests unrelated to the academic and ethical quality of the manuscript.

The publisher and journal management must respect the editorial independence of the editors in making scholarly decisions.

 

Ethical Commitment

By submitting a manuscript to Media Wisata, authors confirm that they have complied with applicable research and publication ethics requirements and agree to cooperate with the journal in addressing any ethical concerns.

Editors, reviewers, authors, and other parties involved in the publication process are expected to uphold the principles of integrity, transparency, confidentiality, fairness, accountability, and respect for the scholarly record.

Media Wisata may revise this Publication Ethics Policy periodically to reflect developments in scholarly publishing standards, ethical guidance, applicable regulations, and best practices