Publication ethics

 
 
 

COPE · ICMJE · Declaration of Helsinki · CIOMS

Publication Ethics

Physical Therapy Journal of Indonesia (PTJI) is committed to the highest standards of research integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct across all stages of publication.

Overview

PTJI adopts the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to address all areas of publication ethics, including research and publication misconduct. All papers involving human or animal subjects must adhere to the Declaration of Helsinki and the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals (CIOMS). A declaration on ethics approval must appear at the start of the Methods section in all articles dealing with original human or animal data.

PTJI is committed to ensuring that advertising, reprints, and other commercial considerations have no bearing on editorial decisions. The publisher has no authority to interfere with the integrity of the contents and may only assist in the timely publication of articles.

 

Updated 2024 · COPE & ICMJE Guidelines

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Research & Publication

PTJI follows the position statements of COPE (2023) and ICMJE (2023) regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence tools, including large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, and equivalent tools, in research and manuscript preparation.

 

Permitted Uses

  • Grammar, spelling, and language editing
  • Formatting and style consistency checks
  • Literature search assistance and summarizing publicly available information
  • Generating structured outlines for author review
  • Translation assistance (with author verification)
 

Not Permitted

  • Listing AI tools as an author or co-author
  • Using AI to generate or fabricate data, results, or citations
  • Using AI to write peer review reports or editorial decisions
  • Submitting AI-generated text without disclosure
  • Using AI to create fraudulent images or manipulate figures

⚠️ AI Cannot Be Listed as an Author

AI tools do not meet the ICMJE authorship criteria. They cannot take responsibility or accountability for published work. Only humans may be listed as authors. Attempting to list an AI as an author will result in immediate rejection of the manuscript.

Mandatory Disclosure Requirement

Authors who use any AI tool during manuscript preparation must disclose this in the Methods section (for research-related use) or the Acknowledgments section (for language or formatting assistance). The disclosure must specify the tool name, version, and purpose of use.

Example: "The authors used [Tool Name, Version] for grammar editing of the final manuscript. The scientific content, data, and conclusions are solely the responsibility of the authors."

 

Declaration of Helsinki · ARRIVE

Human and Animal Rights Policies

For studies involving human participants, authors must clearly state that signed informed consent was obtained from all participants. Authors must protect patient privacy and specify how copies of consent forms are collected and stored. Patients or subjects must expressly grant permission to disseminate any images or material that could identify them. If this was not included in the original consent form, consent must be obtained separately or identifying material must be removed.

For animal experiments, authors must indicate the animal care and licensing criteria under which the study was conducted, and describe these following the ARRIVE (Animals in Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments) guidelines.

If the study did not require ethics approval, or any deviation from standard ethical requirements occurred, the authors must provide a clear explanation. Ethics committee approval number and issuing institution must be stated in the Methods section.

Responsibilities by Role

 

For Editors

  • Bear full responsibility for every article published in PTJI
  • Guide authors to follow ICMJE-adapted submission instructions
  • Evaluate each article objectively without regard to nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, religion, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation
  • Declare and recuse themselves from any potential conflict of interest
  • Ensure author information is not disclosed to reviewers (double-blind)
  • Communicate reviewer decisions to authors, excluding abusive or libelous remarks
  • Honor reasonable author requests to exclude specific reviewers, if well-reasoned
  • Maintain strict confidentiality of all manuscript submissions
  • Use COPE flowcharts when addressing suspected misconduct or disputed authorship
 

For Reviewers

  • Be aware of ethical issues and potential research/publication misconduct in manuscripts under review
  • Notify the editor promptly if unable to complete the review within the agreed timeframe
  • Maintain strict confidentiality of all manuscripts and related information
  • Declare and recuse from any conflict of interest with the manuscript or authors
  • Provide objective, constructive, and evidence-based feedback
  • Not use AI tools to generate peer review content , reviewers are personally accountable for the review
  • Not retain or copy the manuscript for personal use beyond the review process
 

For Authors

Originality & Integrity

  • Confirm the manuscript has not been previously published and is not under consideration elsewhere
  • Ensure study originality with proper citations in Vancouver format
  • Plagiarism and self-plagiarism are strictly prohibited
  • "Salami" publication (splitting one study into multiple papers) is strictly prohibited
  • Disclose all AI tools used in preparation (see AI Policy above)

Ethics & Consent

  • Follow ICMJE authorship criteria as described in the Author Guidelines
  • Blind any personal identifying information in manuscripts (descriptions, photographs, pedigrees)
  • Confirm that human experimentation adheres to the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant domestic/international guidelines
  • State the ethics committee name and approval number in the Methods section
  • Provide raw data and study details to the editor if data falsification or fabrication is suspected

Conflict of Interest & Funding

  • Disclose all financial interests or connections, direct or indirect, that could raise questions of bias in the ICMJE Conflict of Interest disclosure form
  • Declare all funding sources and sponsors at time of submission
  • The role of funders (if any) in study design, data collection, analysis, and publication decision must be stated

Detailed Policies

 

Reporting Standards & Data Sharing

Authors must accurately and objectively report research findings. Sufficient material and references must be provided to allow other researchers to replicate the results.

PTJI encourages authors to include a Data Availability Statement in their submission, detailing where and how data (including raw data and code) can be accessed. Data sharing must comply with all ethical guidelines, including informed consent and anonymization of sensitive information.

 

Originality, Attribution & Confidentiality

Authors must ensure manuscripts contain only original material. Proper credit must always be given to others' work, including publications that influenced the reported research.

Information gathered through private communications (emails, discussions) must be disclosed with written permission from the source. Use of confidential information requires formal written authorization.

 

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors may not publish the same study in more than one journal, nor submit the same manuscript simultaneously to multiple journals. Duplicate publication is a violation of COPE standards and will result in immediate rejection.

If the violation is discovered post-publication, a duplicate publication notice will be issued and the article may be retracted. Previously published work may only be submitted in the form of a thesis, lecture material, or registered electronic preprint (e.g., medRxiv, bioRxiv).

 

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship must be limited to those who have made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the work (ICMJE criteria). All such individuals must be listed as co-authors.

Parties who contributed only to specific parts (e.g., language editing, data collection) should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section, not listed as authors. The corresponding author must verify all co-authors are listed correctly and that all co-authors have approved the final version.

 

Image Integrity

Visual manipulations that alter the scientific meaning of an image are strictly prohibited and constitute a research ethics violation. Adjustments to improve clarity (brightness, contrast applied uniformly to the whole image) are permissible.

The use of AI tools to generate, alter, or fabricate scientific images is not permitted. Editors reserve the right to request original unprocessed image files at any stage.

 

Hazardous Materials & Procedures

If the article involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment that are unusually dangerous, this must be clearly stated in the manuscript. Studies involving human or animal subjects must be conducted according to applicable laws and institutional regulations.

Authors must confirm that procedures conformed with applicable rules and guidelines, and that proper institutional permissions were obtained before the study was conducted.

 

Errors in Published Works

If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must immediately notify the Journal Editor. The editor will coordinate a correction, retraction, or expression of concern as appropriate.

If a third party discovers the error, the authors must cooperate with the editor to clarify, correct, or retract the work. PTJI follows COPE retraction guidelines.

 

Changes to Authorship

The author list provided at submission is considered final. Any changes, additions, deletions, or reordering, will only be considered after acceptance, and only with the Editor's approval.

Written confirmation (email or letter) from all authors, including the author being added or removed, is required. The Editor considers such requests only in exceptional circumstances.

 

Submission Declaration

By submitting to PTJI, authors confirm that the work has not been previously published, is not currently under review elsewhere, has been approved by all co-authors, and complies with all applicable ethical standards. Previously published work may only be submitted as a thesis, lecture material, or registered electronic preprint.

Useful Links for Editors, Authors & Reviewers

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