PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

International Journal of Counseling and Psychotherapy (IJCP) recognizes the importance of ethical principles in academic publishing and is committed to maintaining high standards of ethical conduct. This statement outlines the ethical responsibilities of all parties involved in the publication process of articles in this journal, including authors, the Editor-in-Chief, the Editorial Board, peer reviewers, and the publisher. IJCP has established a policy statement on Publication Ethics and Palpractice Statement, based on the following authoritative sources:

IJCP is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and upholding scientific integrity at every stage of the publishing process through its Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement. This policy encompasses the principles of transparency, honesty, responsibility, and fairness in manuscript handling, including the prevention of plagiarism, data manipulation, and conflicts of interest.

The Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement was established by IJCP to ensure the integrity and credibility of the scientific publication process, protect the rights of all parties involved (authors, editors, reviewers, and publishers), and prevent and address any form of publication ethics violations such as plagiarism, data manipulation, and conflicts of interest. This policy also aims to support transparency, fairness, and accountability at every stage of manuscript evaluation and publication, thereby promoting the dissemination of high-quality and trustworthy scholarly work to the academic community and the broader public.

A. Duties of Publisher
1. Guardianship of the Scholarly Record:
These guidelines have been prepared with all relevant requirements in mind, particularly recognizing the important role of the publisher in supporting the significant efforts made by journal editors and the often-unrecognized voluntary contributions of peer reviewers in maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. While ethical codes understandably emphasize potential infractions, the overall smooth functioning of the system and the infrequency of issues highlight the robustness of scholarly practice. The publisher serves a supportive and facilitative role in the scholarly communication process and holds ultimate responsibility for upholding best practices across its publications.

Academia Edu Cendekia Indonesia (AEDUCIA), as the publisher of the International Journal of Counseling and Psychotherapy (IJCP), takes its role as the guardian of the scholarly record very seriously. Our journals serve as a record of scientific progress, and we recognize our responsibility as custodian of that record in all our policies, especially the ethical guidelines adopted herein.

AEDUCIA implements these policies and procedures to support editors, reviewers, and authors in fulfilling their ethical responsibilities under these guidelines. We collaborate with other publishers and industry associations to establish and promote best practices regarding ethical matters, error correction, and retraction of published content.

2. Safeguarding Editorial Independence:
AEDUCIA is committed to ensuring that advertising, reprints, or any form of commercial revenue do not influence editorial decisions in any way.

3. Collaboration to Establish Industry Best Practices:
AEDUCIA promotes ethical standards by offering editors membership in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and by providing Crossref Similarity Check reports for all submissions processed through our editorial systems.

4. Support for Editors:
AEDUCIA provides editors with technical, procedural, and legal support, including assistance in communication with other journals or publishers when needed. We are also prepared to offer specialized legal consultation if required.

5. Education on Publishing Ethics:
AEDUCIA provides comprehensive education and guidance on publishing ethics, particularly tailored for early-career researchers.

6. Handling of unethical publishing behaviour:
In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, clarification or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the affected work. The publisher, together with the editors, shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, and under no circumstances encourage such misconduct or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.

7. Access to journal content:
The publisher is committed to the permanent availability and preservation of scholarly research and ensures accessibility by partnering with organizations and maintaining our own digital archive.

8. Competing Interests for Editors Employed by AEDUCIA:
Editors of the International Journal of Counseling and Psychotherapy (IJCP) who are employees of AEDUCIA must disclose any actual or perceived conflicts of interest that could affect their editorial judgment. These interests must be reported as soon as they arise and, at a minimum, declared annually to allow for proper evaluation and resolution. Ongoing competing interests, such as holding a patent, may be disclosed on the journal’s website, while interests related to a specific manuscript may be disclosed within the published article.

Competing interests may be financial or non-financial in nature. Examples include: (1) current academic affiliations or editorial roles, such as employment, consultancy, professional membership, advisory roles, board participation, or acting as an expert witness, whether paid or unpaid; and (2) financial interests such as patent ownership, patent applications, travel grants, or directorships. Minor investments in publicly traded stocks (less than one percent of the outstanding shares of a company), or investments made through mutual funds, pension funds, or similar vehicles, are excluded.

Editors employed by AEDUCIA are required to adhere to the company’s policy concerning the submission of research to AEDUCIA journals. In general, this policy discourages such editors from submitting manuscripts to AEDUCIA journals during their editorial tenure, except under specific conditions, such as when the research was conducted prior to their employment or when the work was previously presented at a conference whose full proceedings are to be published by an AEDUCIA journal.

In all cases, the IJCP editor-author must disclose the potential conflict to the journal upon submission. The journal will ensure that the peer-review and editorial processes are conducted independently of the IJCP editor-author. If the article is accepted, the declaration of interest in the publication must clearly state that the author is employed by AEDUCIA and that the peer-review process was conducted independently of the author.

All editor-authors must also adhere to AEDUCIA’s policies regarding recusal from involvement in the handling of manuscripts they authored, manuscripts authored by colleagues or family members, or manuscripts involving products or services in which they have a vested interest. Furthermore, editorial staff are strictly prohibited from using confidential information obtained through their roles for personal gain.

B. Duties of Editors
1. Publication Decisions:
The editor of the International Journal of Counseling and Psychotherapy (IJCP) is solely responsible for deciding which submitted manuscripts should be published. These decisions must be based on the scholarly merit and relevance of the work to researchers and readers. The editor may be guided by the journal’s editorial board policies and legal considerations, such as libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editor may also consult with other editors or reviewers when making these decisions.

2. Peer Review:
The IJCP editor shall ensure that the peer review process is fair, unbiased, and timely. Research articles must typically be reviewed by at least two external and independent reviewers, and where necessary, the editor should seek additional opinions.

The editor shall select reviewers with appropriate expertise in the relevant field and shall follow best practices to avoid selecting fraudulent reviewers. All disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and suggestions for self-citation made by reviewers will be reviewed by the editor to assess any potential bias.

3. Fair Play:
The IJCP editor shall evaluate manuscripts solely on intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
The journal’s editorial policies should promote transparency and honest, complete reporting. The editor shall ensure that both peer reviewers and authors clearly understand the expectations placed upon them. All journal communications shall be conducted through the journal’s standard electronic submission system.

The editor, together with the publisher, shall establish a transparent mechanism for authors to appeal editorial decisions.

4. Confidentiality:
The IJCP editor must maintain the confidentiality of all submitted materials and communications with reviewers, unless otherwise agreed with the relevant authors and reviewers. In exceptional cases, and in consultation with the publisher, limited information may be shared with editors of other journals, institutions, or organizations investigating suspected research misconduct to facilitate ethical investigations.

Unless the journal operates an open peer-review system or reviewers have agreed to disclose their identities, the editor must protect the anonymity of reviewers.

Unpublished material disclosed in manuscripts must not be used by editors for their own research without the author’s explicit written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and must not be exploited for personal gain.

5. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Journal Editorial Process:
A submitted manuscript must be treated as a confidential document. Editors must not upload any manuscript content into generative AI tools, as this may violate authors’ confidentiality and proprietary rights and, if the manuscript contains personally identifiable information, could breach data privacy laws.

This confidentiality extends to all communications regarding the manuscript, including notification or decision letters, which may contain sensitive information about the manuscript and authors. Editors should therefore avoid uploading such correspondence into AI tools, even for language or readability improvements.

Peer review is central to the scientific process, and IJCP adheres to the highest standards of integrity in this regard. The editorial evaluation of a scientific manuscript requires critical thinking and original judgment responsibilities that lie solely with human editors. Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies must not be used by editors to assist in manuscript evaluation or decision-making, as these technologies may generate incomplete, inaccurate, or biased conclusions. The IJCP editor remains fully responsible and accountable for the editorial process, final decisions, and communications with authors.

The IJCP Editors are advised to consult the journal’s detailed policy on the use of generative AI technologies (Visit the generative AI policies for journals page to review our generative AI policy for editors).

6. Declaration of Conflicts of Interest:
Any potential editorial conflicts of interest should be declared to the publisher in writing prior to the appointment of the IJCP editor, and updated whenever new conflicts arise. The publisher may publish such declarations in the journal.

The IJCP editor must not be involved in decisions regarding manuscripts they have authored, manuscripts authored by family members or colleagues, or manuscripts related to products or services in which the editor has a personal interest. Such submissions must undergo the journal’s standard procedures, with peer review handled independently of the relevant author/editor and their research groups. A clear statement to this effect must be included in any such published manuscript.
The IJCP editor shall enforce the journal’s policy regarding the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by authors and reviewers.

7. Vigilance over the Published Record:
The IJCP editor should actively safeguard the integrity of the published record by reviewing and assessing reported or suspected misconduct including research, publication, reviewer, and editorial misconduct in collaboration with the publisher (or society).

This process generally involves contacting the authors and carefully considering the complaint or claims made. It may also involve communication with relevant institutions and research bodies. The IJCP editor shall utilize the publisher’s misconduct detection systems, such as plagiarism checks, as appropriate.
When presented with convincing evidence of misconduct, the IJCP editor should coordinate with the publisher (and/or society) to promptly issue corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or other appropriate amendments to the scholarly record.

3. Duties of Reviewers:
1. Contribution to Editorial Decisions:
Peer review supports the IJCP editor in making informed editorial decisions and helps authors improve their manuscripts through constructive feedback. As a cornerstone of formal scholarly communication, peer review is fundamental to maintaining the integrity of the scientific process. In addition to assessing the scientific merit of a manuscript, reviewers should remain vigilant for potential ethical concerns such as plagiarism, redundant publication, or unacknowledged prior work and report these to the editor. Reviews should be conducted fairly, respectfully, and with professional courtesy.

2. Standards of Objectivity:
Reviews must be objective, with observations clearly formulated and supported by evidence or arguments that authors can use to improve their manuscripts. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate.

3. Acknowledgement of Sources:
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that authors have not cited. Any observation, derivation, or argument previously reported in other publications should be properly referenced. Reviewers must also inform the IJCP editors of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published or unpublished work of which they have personal knowledge.

4. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest:
Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the authors. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. This applies equally to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.

Reviewers should disclose any potential conflicts of interest to the IJCP editor before agreeing to review a manuscript and discuss whether recusal is necessary due to potential bias. Examples of conflicts include (but are not limited to) recent collaborations (within the past three years) with the authors, shared institutional affiliations, or close personal relationships.

If a reviewer suggests that an author cite the reviewer’s (or their associates’) work, this must be based on genuine scientific reasons, not with the intention of inflating citation counts or enhancing visibility.

5. Promptness:
Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to evaluate the manuscript or who cannot complete the review promptly should notify the IJCP editors immediately and decline the invitation, allowing alternative reviewers to be contacted.

6. Confidentiality:
Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not share the manuscript or details about it with anyone else or contact the authors directly without permission from the IJCP editor. Reviewers must respect the confidentiality of the peer review process, including compliance with the journal’s policy on the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in peer review.
While some editors may encourage discussion with colleagues or co-reviewing, reviewers should first consult the IJCP editor to ensure confidentiality is maintained and that all participants receive appropriate credit. Unpublished material in manuscripts must not be used in reviewers’ own research without explicit written consent from the authors. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must not be used for personal advantage.

7. The Use of Generative AI and AI-assisted Technologies in the Journal Peer Review Process:
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (such as ChatGPT, Bard, Gemini, Claude, and similar tools) in peer review must comply with IJCP’s ethical standards, emphasizing confidentiality, personal responsibility, transparency, and integrity. Reviewers must not use these tools to generate review content or to produce summaries of manuscripts.

These policies aim to provide greater transparency and guidance to authors, reviewers, editors, readers and contributors. Editorial will monitor this development and will adjust or refine policies when appropriate of IJCP (Visit the generative AI policies for journals page to review our generative AI policy for reviewers).

3. Duties of Authors
1. Reporting Standards:
Authors reporting original research must present an accurate account of the work performed and provide an objective discussion of its significance. The underlying data should be accurately represented in the manuscript. Manuscripts should contain sufficient detail and references to enable others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Review and professional publication articles should also be accurate and objective, while editorial opinion pieces must be clearly identified as such.

2. Data Access and Retention:
Authors may be asked to provide the research data supporting their manuscript for editorial review and/or to comply with the journal’s open data policies. Authors should be prepared to provide public access to such data when practicable and retain the data for a reasonable period after publication. Authors may refer to their journal’s Guide for Authors for further details.

3. Originality and Acknowledgement of Sources:
Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original. If they use the work or words of others, these must be appropriately cited or quoted, and permission obtained where necessary. Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have influenced their work and provide appropriate context within the larger scholarly record. Information obtained privately through conversation, correspondence, or discussion must not be used or reported without explicit written permission from the source.

Plagiarism takes many forms, from presenting another’s manuscript as one’s own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts without attribution, to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms is unethical and unacceptable.

4. Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication:
Authors should generally avoid publishing manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one primary journal. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals concurrently constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable.

Authors should not submit manuscripts previously published, except as abstracts, parts of published lectures or academic theses, or as electronic preprints.

Publication of certain types of articles (e.g., clinical guidelines, translations) in more than one journal may be justifiable if specific conditions are met. The authors and editors of all journals involved must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation as the primary document.

5. Citations:
Authors must cite relevant, timely, and verified literature to support the claims made in their article. Citations should generally be peer-reviewed. Authors should:

  • Ensure that statements in their article which rely on external sources are cited accurately.
  • Ensure that all citations in their article can be verified through a permanent Digital Object Identifier or other permanent identifier.
  • Avoid excessive and inappropriate citations to their own work.
  • Avoid excessive and inappropriate citations to the work of other authors or institutions and not enter into arrangements to cite the work of other authors or author groups.
  • Avoid excessive citations to support a single statement in their article.

6. Editors’ and Reviewers’ Recommendations:
Editors and reviewers may recommend that authors consult (and potentially cite) additional sources during peer review for legitimate scientific reasons. If the IJCP editor or reviewer suggests that an author includes citations to their own work or that of their associates, this must be strictly for genuine scientific purposes and not intended to increase citation counts or enhance the visibility of their work (or that of their associates).

7. Confidentiality:
Information obtained during confidential activities, such as manuscript or grant application review, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved.

8. Authorship of the Manuscript:
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All who have made substantial contributions should be listed as co-authors.

Those who have contributed to certain substantive aspects of the manuscript (e.g., language editing or medical writing) should be acknowledged in the acknowledgements section. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all appropriate co-authors are included, no inappropriate co-authors are listed, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission.

Authors should carefully consider the list and order of authors before submission and provide the definitive list at the time of original submission. Changes to authorship after submission (addition, removal, or rearrangement) will only be considered in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the IJCP editor and must be clearly flagged by the authors. All authors must agree to any such changes.
Authors take collective responsibility for the work. Each author is accountable for addressing questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work.

Individual journals may have specific authorship definitions (e.g., medical journals often follow the ICMJE guidelines), and authors should ensure compliance with the policies of the relevant journal.

9. Use of Generative AI and AI-assisted Technologies in Scientific Writing and Visual Content:
IJCP permits limited use of generative AI and AI-assisted tools in scientific writing and visual content, provided their use is transparent and ethical. AI tools must not be used to generate core scientific content, conclusions, or data representations. AI-generated images should be clearly labeled and used only for conceptual illustration not as actual experimental results.

Authors must disclose any use of AI tools, such as ChatGPT or image generators, in their manuscripts. AI cannot be listed as an author. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all AI-assisted content, including text, images, and figures.

AI may be used for minor tasks such as grammar correction or summarizing, provided the content remains under human control and confidentiality is maintained. Misuse or undisclosed use of AI may be considered a breach of publication ethic (Visit the generative AI policies for journals page to review our generative AI policies for authors).

10. Jurisdictional claims:
IJCP respects the decisions taken by its authors as to how they choose to designate territories and identify their affiliations in their published content. AEDUCIA’s policy is to take a neutral position with respect to territorial disputes or jurisdictional claims, including, but not limited to, maps and institutional affiliations. For journals that AEDUCIA publishes on behalf of a third-party owner, the owner may set its own policy on these issues

  • Maps: Readers should be able to locate any study areas shown within maps using common mapping platforms. Maps should only show the area actually studied and authors should not include a location map which displays a larger area than the bounding box of the study area. Authors should add a note clearly stating that "map lines delineate study areas and do not necessarily depict accepted national boundaries”. During the review process, IJCP’s editors may request authors to change maps if these guidelines are not followed.
  • Institutional affiliations: Authors should use either the full, standard title of their institution or the standard abbreviation of the institutional name so that the institutional name can be independently verified for research integrity purposes.

11. Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects:
If the work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment with any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these hazards in the manuscript.

If the work involves animal or human subjects, the manuscript must include a statement confirming that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) approved them. For human subjects, a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained must be included. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be respected.

Research involving human subjects should be conducted in accordance with the World Medical Association’s Code of Ethics (Declaration of Helsinki). Animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and be conducted in accordance with relevant legislation such as the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and, where applicable, the Animal Welfare Act.

Authors must obtain appropriate consents, permissions, and releases to include case details, personal information, or images of patients or other individuals in an IJCP publication. Written consents must be retained by the author, and copies or evidence of these consents must be provided to IJCP upon request.

12. Declaration of Conflict of Interests:
A declaration of conflicts of interest is a formal statement disclosing any personal or professional interests that might influence a person’s judgment or actions, ensuring transparency and fairness by revealing potential biases or relationships that could affect impartiality.

All authors should disclose any financial or personal relationships with individuals or organizations that could be perceived as influencing (biasing) their work.

All sources of financial support for the research and/or article preparation must be disclosed, including the role of any sponsor(s) in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, report writing, and the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no involvement, this should be explicitly stated.

Examples of potential conflicts include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications or registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts should be disclosed as early as possible.

13. Notification of Fundamental Errors:
If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the IJCP editor to retract or correct the manuscript if necessary. If the editor or publisher is informed by a third party of an error, the author is obligated to cooperate with the IJCP editor, including providing requested evidence.

14. Image Integrity:
It is unacceptable to enhance, obscure, move, remove, or introduce specific features within an image. Adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable only if they do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original image. Manipulations intended to improve clarity are allowed, but any manipulation for other purposes may be considered scientific misconduct and will be addressed accordingly.

Authors should comply with any specific graphical image policies of the relevant journal, such as providing original images as supplementary material or depositing them in an appropriate repository.