Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Research (e-ISSN 2503-331x) is a peer-reviewed journal published by Department of Phamacy, Universitas Sebelas Maret. The journal follows the Core Practices outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing to ensure the integrity, credibility, and transparency of the scholarly publishing process.

1. Ethical Guideline for Journal Publication

The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed JPSCR journal is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is, therefore, important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, the publisher, and the society.  

Universitas Sebelas Maret as the publisher of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Research takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously, and we recognize our ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. Also, the Universitas Sebelas Maret and Editorial Board will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful and necessary.

2. Publication decisions

The editor of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Research journal is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

3. Fair play

An editor at any time evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

4. Confidentiality

The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

5. Duties of Reviewers

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

6. Duties of Authors

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Manuscripts involving human participants, animals, or identifiable personal data must comply with applicable ethical standards and obtain approval from the ICMJE Recommendations. Consent and confidentiality must be maintained for human subjects. Any potential ethical violations will be investigated following COPE guidance.

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or non-financial interest or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Editors and reviewers must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where a conflict exists.

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

7. Allegations of Misconduct

JPSCR ensures that any allegations of research or publication misconduct are handled fairly, consistently, and transparently. This includes concerns related to plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, authorship disputes, and peer-review manipulation.

• Preliminary Evaluation: The Editor-in-Chief (EIC) assesses all allegations for credibility and relevance.
• Investigation: Credible cases follow COPE flowcharts; authors and institutions may be contacted.
• Confidentiality: All investigations are handled confidentially to protect the parties involved.
• Outcomes: Possible actions include rejection, correction, retraction, or institutional notification.
• Record Keeping: BMEB maintains detailed records of all investigations for at least 5 years.

8. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must accurately reflect individuals’ contributions to the research and writing. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria must be acknowledged appropriately.

• Each author must have contributed substantially to the conception, design, analysis, or interpretation of data.
• All authors share responsibility for the integrity of the manuscript.
• Gift, ghost, or honorary authorship is not permitted.
• Disputes are handled in accordance with the COPE authorship dispute guidelines.

9. Complaints and Appeals

JPSCR provides a transparent process for handling complaints or appeals regarding editorial decisions, peer-review conduct, or ethical concerns.

• Complaints are first addressed by the Editor-in-Chief.
• If unresolved, they may be escalated to the publisher or ethics committee.
• BMEB follows COPE’s flowcharts for appeals and complaint resolution.

10. Data and Reproducibility

JPSCR promotes transparency and reproducibility in research by encouraging authors to make data available and verifiable.

• Authors must retain all raw data and provide it upon request.
• Datasets should be properly cited if publicly available.
• Fabrication, falsification, or selective reporting are considered misconduct.

11. Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

JPSCR maintains the integrity of the scholarly record through transparent mechanisms for corrections, retractions, and discussions.

• Errors identified post-publication will be corrected promptly.
• Retractions follow COPE’s Retraction Guidelines.
• Readers may submit post-publication comments or concerns to the editorial office.

Copyright Notice

An author who publishes in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Research (JPSCR) agrees to the following terms:

• Author retains the copyright and grants the the journal the right of first publication of the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal
• The author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book) with the acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
• Author is  permitted and encouraged to post his/her  work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of the published work.

Read more about the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Plagiarism Checker

To ensure that the articles are free from plagiarism,  Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Research (JPSCR) takes plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and AI-generated plagiarism seriously. It applies a strict policy to safeguard the originality and integrity of all published work.

1. Plagiarism Check

• All submitted manuscripts are screened using plagiarism detection software (e.g., Turnitin).
• The editorial team performs a similarity check twice: before the peer-review process and before final publication.
• The maximum acceptable similarity index is 20%. Manuscripts exceeding this threshold will be returned to the authors for correction and resubmission.

4. Consequences

If plagiarism or self-plagiarism is detected during the review or after publication, the editorial board will take appropriate action, which may include:

• Rejection of the manuscript
• Retraction of the published article (see link: Retraction)
• Notification to the authors’ institutions or funding bodies

The Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Research (JPSCR) upholds the highest standards of academic integrity and expects all authors to comply with ethical publishing practices. By submitting a manuscript, authors acknowledge that their work is original, free of plagiarism, and adheres to the principles of responsible research conduct.

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

This journal charges the following author fees:

• Article Submission: 250,000 IDR : Authors are required to pay an Article Submission Fee.
• Article processing charges (APCs) / Article Publication Fee: 750,000 IDR (since Volume 10 No. 1).

The APCs covers:

• The standard fifteen (15) pages manuscript. For every additional page, an extra fee of Rp. 50,000 per page will be charged.
• DOI registration for each paper.
• Manuscript copy editing and layout.
• The payment DOES NOT INCLUDE print version and delivery fees of the hardcopy. Printings and delivery should be by request with the following fees: 250,000 IDR for 1 copies, including domestic delivery.  Delivery to abroad (out of Indonesia) is according to the standard fee by EMS. The printing version is issued some months after the online version, depends on the request.
• Article Processing Cost is FREE for manuscript submitted by overseas author/s.
• Manuscript written by Indonesian author/s collaborated with overseas author/s will be charged 50% DISCOUNT of the APC.

If author/s do not have funds to pay such fees, Author/s will have an opportunity to waive each fee. We do not want fees to prevent the publication of worthy work. The waiver is intended primarily for a high-quality article.

AI Tool Usage Policy in Article Preparation

This policy guides the responsible and transparent use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools during manuscript preparation, in line with the ethical standards of COPE, ICMJE, and WAME.

1. Purpose and Scope

Applies to all authors who use AI tools for writing, analysis, or image generation in preparing manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Research (JPSCR).

2. Principles

• Transparency: The use of AI must be clearly disclosed in the manuscript.
• Accountability: Authors remain fully responsible for all content, including that generated with AI assistance.
• Human Oversight: AI-generated outputs must be verified and edited by humans before submission.
• Originality: AI use must not result in plagiarism or data manipulation.

3. Acceptable Uses

• Grammar and language editing.
• Formatting or reference checking.
• Statistical or data visualization assistance (verified by authors).
• Idea generation or summarization for conceptual clarity.

4. Unacceptable Uses

• Generating full text without author verification.
• Fabricating data, references, or images.
• Using AI to manipulate data or peer review outcomes.
• Listing AI tools as authors.

5. Disclosure Requirement

Authors must include an AI disclosure statement, for example:

“Portions of this manuscript were assisted by ChatGPT (OpenAI) for language editing. The authors reviewed and verified all AI-generated content.”

If no AI tools were used, authors should declare: “The authors declare that no artificial intelligence (AI) tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript.”

6. Screening and Enforcement

• Manuscripts may be screened for AI-generated content.
• Undisclosed use may result in rejection or retraction.
• BMEB reserves the right to notify authors’ institutions in severe cases.

7. Summary of Author Responsibilities

References: COPE (2023), Elsevier (2023), Springer Nature (2023), WAME (2023), ICMJE (2024).