Publication Ethics

Journal of Law and Society Review (JLSR) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and integrity. This statement is based on the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and applies to all parties involved in the publication process: authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher.

1. Ethical Principles

JLSR upholds the following core principles:

  • Integrity in research and publication
  • Transparency in authorship and data reporting
  • Accountability in editorial decisions
  • Fairness in peer review
  • Confidentiality throughout the process

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must:

A. Originality and Plagiarism

  • Submit original work only
  • Properly cite all sources
  • Avoid plagiarism, including self-plagiarism

B. Multiple or Concurrent Submission

  • Manuscripts must not be submitted to more than one journal simultaneously

C. Authorship

  • Only individuals who made significant contributions should be listed as authors
  • All co-authors must approve the final version

D. Data Integrity

  • Provide accurate data
  • Avoid fabrication, falsification, or manipulation

E. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

  • Disclose any financial or personal conflicts of interest

F. Ethical Approval

  • Research involving humans/subjects must include ethical clearance

3. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must:

  • Ensure fair and unbiased decisions
  • Evaluate manuscripts based on academic merit only
  • Maintain confidentiality
  • Avoid conflicts of interest
  • Take action against ethical violations

Editors have full authority to:

  • Accept or reject manuscripts
  • Request revisions
  • Retract or correct published articles if necessary

4. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must:

  • Provide objective and constructive feedback
  • Maintain confidentiality
  • Identify relevant uncited work
  • Report suspected plagiarism or misconduct
  • Decline review if conflicts of interest exist

5. Peer Review Process

JLSR applies a double-blind peer review system:

  • Authors and reviewers remain anonymous
  • Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two independent reviewers
  • Editorial decisions are based on reviewer reports and editorial judgment

6. Ethical Misconduct and Handling

JLSR takes ethical violations seriously, including:

A. Plagiarism

  • Screening using similarity detection tools
  • Manuscripts with high similarity will be rejected

B. Data Fabrication and Falsification

  • Immediate rejection or retraction

C. Duplicate Publication

  • Not permitted

D. Citation Manipulation

  • Excessive or irrelevant citations are prohibited

7. Retraction, Correction, and Withdrawal

JLSR follows COPE guidelines for:

A. Retraction

Issued when:

  • Findings are unreliable
  • Ethical violations are proven

B. Correction

Issued for minor errors that do not invalidate findings

C. Withdrawal

Allowed for valid reasons before publication

8. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit complaints or appeals regarding editorial decisions.
JLSR will:

  • Review complaints fairly
  • Follow COPE procedures
  • Provide transparent responses

9. Copyright and Licensing

  • Authors retain copyright
  • Articles are published under Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license

10. Data Availability and Transparency

Authors are encouraged to:

  • Provide data availability statements
  • Share datasets where possible

11. Publisher Responsibilities

The publisher ensures:

  • Ethical oversight
  • Long-term digital preservation
  • Independence of editorial decisions

Closing Statement

JLSR is dedicated to promoting ethical, transparent, and high-quality scholarly publishing, contributing to the advancement of global socio-legal research.