Publication Ethics

COMMUNIA – Journal of Community Engagement and Development is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. The journal follows internationally recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing, particularly the guidelines and best practices developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing developed by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME.

This publication ethics policy applies to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, editorial board members, and the publisher. All parties are expected to uphold academic integrity, transparency, fairness, confidentiality, and respect for intellectual property.

1. Principles of Publication Ethics

COMMUNIA is committed to:

1. Maintaining academic integrity and the integrity of the scholarly record.
2. Ensuring that editorial decisions are based on the quality, originality, relevance, and scholarly contribution of manuscripts.
3. Applying a fair, objective, and transparent peer-review process.
4. Protecting the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and personal information.
5. Preventing plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, and other forms of research and publication misconduct.
6. Ensuring transparency regarding authorship, contributorship, funding, and conflicts of interest.
7. Providing appropriate mechanisms for complaints, appeals, corrections, and retractions.
8. Respecting intellectual property rights and applicable copyright regulations.
9. Promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and non-discrimination throughout the editorial and publication process.

Editorial decisions shall not be influenced by the author's nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, political beliefs, institutional affiliation, or other irrelevant personal characteristics. Decisions must be based on scholarly merit.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to COMMUNIA must ensure that:

1. The manuscript is original and has not been previously published in another journal.
2. The manuscript is not simultaneously submitted to another journal while it is under consideration by COMMUNIA.
3. All information, data, findings, and sources are reported honestly and accurately.
4. There is no fabrication, falsification, manipulation, or inappropriate omission of research data.
5. All sources and ideas derived from other works are properly cited.
6. Plagiarism and all forms of inappropriate text or idea appropriation are prohibited.
7. All individuals who have made substantial contributions to the research and manuscript are appropriately recognized as authors or contributors.
8. All listed authors have approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission.
9. Authorship is not granted to individuals who have not made a substantial scholarly contribution.
10. Any potential conflict of interest is disclosed.
11. Funding sources and other forms of financial or institutional support are disclosed where applicable.
12. Ethical approval or informed consent is obtained when required by the nature of the research.
13. Authors cooperate with the editor if clarification, additional information, corrections, or documentation is required after submission or publication.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the content they submit.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

COMMUNIA recognizes authorship based on substantial intellectual or scholarly contributions to the work.

Authors should have made meaningful contributions to areas such as:

• conception or design of the study;
• data collection, analysis, or interpretation;
• development of the methodology;
• drafting or substantial revision of the manuscript; and
• approval of the final version of the manuscript.

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet authorship criteria should be appropriately acknowledged.

The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the journal and ensuring that all authors have approved the manuscript and agreed to its submission.

Any request to add, remove, or change the order of authors after submission must be justified and approved by all authors. The editor may request written confirmation from all affected authors before approving such changes.

4. Plagiarism and Similarity

COMMUNIA does not tolerate plagiarism or other forms of inappropriate appropriation of another person's intellectual work.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

• copying text without appropriate citation;
• presenting another person's ideas as one's own;
• substantial duplication of previously published material;
• inappropriate reuse of one's own previously published work without proper acknowledgment;
• submitting substantially similar manuscripts to multiple journals; and
• manipulation of citations or references for inappropriate purposes.

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism or similarity-detection software. A similarity result is not, by itself, a determination of misconduct; editors may assess the context and nature of the similarity before making an editorial decision.

Where plagiarism or other forms of misconduct are confirmed, COMMUNIA may reject the manuscript, withdraw it from consideration, issue a correction or retraction when necessary, and/or take other appropriate actions in accordance with established publication-ethics procedures.

5. Research Misconduct

COMMUNIA considers research misconduct to include, but not be limited to:

• fabrication of data or research results;
• falsification or manipulation of data;
• plagiarism;
• duplicate or redundant publication;
• inappropriate authorship practices;
• manipulation of the peer-review process;
• undisclosed conflicts of interest that materially affect the research or publication;
• unethical research involving human participants or other subjects; and
• other actions that seriously compromise the integrity of the scholarly record.

Allegations of misconduct may be raised before or after publication. The journal will assess allegations seriously and may request clarification, supporting documentation, or an institutional investigation where appropriate.

When necessary, COMMUNIA may cooperate with the author's institution or other relevant authorities in investigating serious allegations of research misconduct. COPE recommends that journals maintain clear procedures for handling allegations both before and after publication.

6. Editorial Responsibilities

Editors of COMMUNIA are responsible for:

1. Managing manuscripts fairly, objectively, and confidentially.
2. Selecting appropriate reviewers based on expertise and the relevance of their academic background.
3. Ensuring that editorial decisions are based on scholarly quality and relevance.
4. Protecting the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.
5. Identifying and managing potential conflicts of interest.
6. Preventing discrimination or bias in editorial decisions.
7. Responding appropriately to allegations of misconduct.
8. Ensuring that published articles are corrected or retracted when necessary.
9. Providing authors with a fair opportunity to appeal editorial decisions.
10. Maintaining the integrity of the journal's scholarly record.

Editors must not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for personal advantage or other inappropriate purposes.

7. Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers play an essential role in maintaining the quality and integrity of scholarly publishing.

Reviewers are expected to:

1. Evaluate manuscripts objectively and constructively.
2. Provide clear, professional, and evidence-based comments.
3. Maintain the confidentiality of all information contained in the manuscript.
4. Not use unpublished information for personal, professional, or academic advantage.
5. Identify relevant published work that has not been cited where appropriate.
6. Inform the editor of any potential conflict of interest.
7. Decline the review if they do not have sufficient expertise or cannot complete the review within the required timeframe.
8. Avoid personal, discriminatory, hostile, or offensive comments.
9. Not contact authors directly regarding the manuscript unless authorized by the editor.

Reviewers should disclose any personal, academic, financial, institutional, or other relationship that could reasonably affect their impartiality. COPE's reviewer guidelines emphasize objectivity, confidentiality, conflict-of-interest disclosure, and constructive feedback.

8. Peer Review Integrity

COMMUNIA applies a double-blind peer review process in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from each other during the review process.

Editors and reviewers must not attempt to circumvent the confidentiality of the review process.

Peer-review reports must be objective, constructive, and relevant to the scholarly quality of the manuscript. Reviewers must not use the review process to delay publication, obtain personal benefit, promote their own work unnecessarily, or undermine competing researchers.

The journal may take appropriate action if manipulation or abuse of the peer-review process is suspected.

9. Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest may arise when an author, reviewer, editor, or other party has a financial, professional, personal, academic, or institutional relationship that could influence—or reasonably appear to influence the publication process.

Authors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest at submission.

Reviewers must decline assignments where a conflict of interest may compromise their objectivity.

Editors must not handle manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest, including manuscripts involving close collaborators, family members, institutional colleagues, or other relationships that may affect impartiality.

Where necessary, the journal may request additional disclosure or take appropriate measures to manage the conflict.

10. Ethical Oversight

Authors are responsible for ensuring that research involving human participants, personal data, vulnerable populations, or other ethically sensitive subjects complies with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements.

Where applicable, manuscripts should provide information regarding:

• ethical approval;
• the name of the approving institution or ethics committee;
• approval or reference number, where available;
• informed consent; and
• measures taken to protect participant confidentiality and privacy.

For research involving vulnerable communities, authors should demonstrate appropriate consideration of dignity, safety, privacy, and informed participation.

COMMUNIA reserves the right to request evidence of ethical approval or other relevant documentation when required.

11. Data Availability and Research Transparency

Authors are encouraged to maintain accurate research records and, where ethically and legally permissible, make supporting data, materials, instruments, or other relevant research resources available.

Authors must not fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or selectively misrepresent research data.

Where data cannot be publicly shared because of privacy, confidentiality, ethical, legal, or other legitimate restrictions, authors should provide an appropriate explanation.

12. Citation and Referencing Ethics

Authors must provide accurate and appropriate citations for ideas, theories, data, methods, quotations, and other material derived from previous works.

Citation manipulation is prohibited. Authors, reviewers, and editors should not request unnecessary citations solely to increase citation counts, journal metrics, or the visibility of particular individuals or publications.

References should be relevant to the manuscript and presented accurately.

13. Duplicate, Redundant, and Simultaneous Publication

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

COMMUNIA considers duplicate or redundant publication to be a serious publication-ethics concern.

If substantial overlap with another publication is discovered, the editor may request an explanation and supporting information. Depending on the circumstances, the manuscript may be rejected or an appropriate post-publication action may be taken.

14. Corrections and Retractions

COMMUNIA is committed to maintaining an accurate scholarly record.

If an error is identified after publication, the journal may publish a correction when the error does not invalidate the main findings of the article.

A published article may be retracted when there is substantial evidence of serious problems affecting the reliability or integrity of the work, including confirmed plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, major methodological errors, duplicate publication, or other serious forms of misconduct.

Corrections and retractions will be clearly identified and linked to the original article where technically possible.

The journal will not remove a published article from the scholarly record except in exceptional circumstances where retention would create a serious legal or ethical risk.

COPE's publication-ethics principles specifically recommend that journals maintain mechanisms for corrections, revisions, and retractions.

15. Complaints and Appeals

COMMUNIA provides authors, reviewers, readers, and other stakeholders with the opportunity to raise legitimate concerns regarding the journal's editorial and publication processes.

Complaints may concern:

• editorial decisions;
• peer-review procedures;
• editorial conduct;
• conflicts of interest;
• publication ethics;
• authorship;
• plagiarism;
• research misconduct; or
• other matters affecting the integrity of the journal.

Complaints should be submitted through the official journal communication channels and should include sufficient information and supporting evidence where available.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision by providing a clear and reasoned explanation. Appeals will be considered by the editor or an appropriate independent editorial authority. An appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original decision.

COMMUNIA will handle complaints and appeals fairly, confidentially, and as promptly as reasonably possible.

16. Intellectual Property and Copyright

Authors retain responsibility for ensuring that manuscripts do not infringe the intellectual property rights of others.

All third-party materials, including text, tables, figures, photographs, datasets, and other copyrighted materials, must be appropriately cited and, where required, used with permission.

The journal's copyright and licensing policies are stated separately in its Copyright Notice and Licensing Policy.

17. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors who use artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of a manuscript must use such tools responsibly and transparently.

AI tools may assist with activities such as language improvement, grammar correction, translation, or other appropriate technical assistance. However:

1. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.
2. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scholarly content of the manuscript.
3. Authors must verify information, references, quotations, data, and other outputs generated or assisted by AI.
4. AI-generated content must not be used to fabricate data, references, results, or sources.
5. Where AI use materially contributes to the preparation of the manuscript, authors should disclose the nature and extent of such use in accordance with the journal's author guidelines.
6. Confidential manuscript materials must not be uploaded to AI systems in a manner that violates confidentiality, privacy, copyright, or applicable research requirements.

Editors and reviewers should also maintain confidentiality and should not upload unpublished manuscripts or confidential review materials into generative AI systems when doing so could compromise the confidentiality of the publication process.

18. Editorial Independence

COMMUNIA maintains editorial independence in evaluating and publishing scholarly manuscripts.

Editorial decisions should be made on the basis of scholarly merit, relevance, originality, methodological rigor, and contribution to the field rather than commercial, political, institutional, personal, or other inappropriate considerations.

No author, sponsor, institution, or external party may improperly influence editorial decisions.

19. Post-Publication Discussion

COMMUNIA recognizes the importance of scholarly discussion after publication.

Readers and researchers may communicate legitimate concerns regarding published articles through the journal's official communication channels.

Where a concern is substantiated, the journal may investigate the matter and, where appropriate, publish a correction, clarification, editorial note, expression of concern, or retraction.

20. Enforcement of Publication Ethics

When an ethical concern is identified, COMMUNIA will assess the matter according to the seriousness and nature of the allegation.

Possible actions include:

• requesting clarification from the author;
• requesting supporting documents or research data;
• consulting reviewers or editorial board members;
• contacting the author's institution where appropriate;
• rejecting a submitted manuscript;
• issuing a correction or clarification;
• publishing an expression of concern;
• retracting a published article; and/or
• taking other appropriate measures consistent with recognized publication-ethics standards.

The journal will seek to ensure that allegations are handled fairly, confidentially, and without prejudice.

21. Commitment to Academic Integrity

COMMUNIA is committed to protecting the integrity of the scholarly publishing process and the reliability of the academic record. All authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants are expected to act with honesty, transparency, accountability, fairness, and respect for the scholarly community.

This policy is periodically reviewed and may be updated to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, research ethics, and international publication standards.

Reference for Publication Ethics:
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, developed in collaboration with DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME.