Publishing Ethics

Lembaga Komunitas Informasi Teknologi Aceh (KITA) is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and academic integrity across all hosted scholarly journals. Our publisher-level policies are guided by the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and national accreditation standards (ARJUNA/SINTA).

1. Duties of Editors & Publisher

Editorial Independence: Editorial decisions are based solely on academic merit, originality, methodological rigor, and relevance to each journal's scope—free from commercial or institutional influence.
Fair Play & Non-Discrimination: Manuscripts are evaluated regardless of the authors' race, gender, religious belief, nationality, or institutional affiliation.
Confidentiality: Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and the publisher.

2. Duties of Peer Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and helps authors improve their manuscripts through constructive feedback.
Objectivity & Timeliness: Reviews must be conducted objectively with clear supporting arguments, and completed within the agreed timeframe.
Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts in which they have competing, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected to the paper.

3. Duties of Authors

Originality & Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original. All submitted manuscripts undergo similarity screening prior to peer review. Plagiarism in any form constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable.
Multiple or Redundant Publication: Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently.
Authorship & Acknowledgment: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study.

4. Handling of Misconduct & Retractions

Allegations of Misconduct: Lembaga KITA investigates all allegations of research or publication misconduct (data fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, or duplicate publication) following COPE flowcharts.
Corrections & Retractions: When a significant error or ethical breach is confirmed in a published article, the publisher and journal editors will issue an erratum, expression of concern, or formal retraction linked via Crossref DOI.

Reporting Ethical Concerns

Any ethical concerns, suspected misconduct, or copyright infringement regarding articles published in Lembaga KITA journals may be reported directly to the Publisher Ethics Committee at info@lembagakita.org or journal@lembagakita.org.