1. Ethical Principles of Journal Publication

The publication of scientific articles is an important part of the development and dissemination of health knowledge. Peer review supports the quality, credibility, transparency, and integrity of published research.

All parties involved in the publication process are expected to follow high standards of research and publication ethics.

Buletin Penelitian Kesehatan is committed to handling manuscripts fairly, confidentially, independently, and transparently.

2. Editorial Independence

Poltekkes Kemenkes Palu, as the publisher of Buletin Penelitian Kesehatan, supports editorial independence.

Editorial decisions are based on the scientific quality, originality, relevance, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, and suitability of a manuscript for the journal.

3. Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the final editorial decision regarding submitted manuscripts.

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial screening will normally be evaluated by 3 independent reviewers through the journal's double-blind peer review process.

Reviewer recommendations provide important scientific input; however, the final decision remains the responsibility of the Editorial Team.

Editorial decisions may include rejection, revision, further review, or acceptance.

4. Fairness and Non-Discrimination

Editors evaluate manuscripts based on their academic and scientific content.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by the author's race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, citizenship, political beliefs, institutional affiliation, disability, or other personal characteristics unrelated to the scientific quality of the manuscript.

5. Confidentiality

All submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential documents.

Editors and editorial staff must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript except to persons directly involved in the editorial and publication process.

Editors and reviewers must not use unpublished information contained in submitted manuscripts for personal research, professional advantage, or other purposes without appropriate permission.

6. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, editors, and Editorial Board members must disclose any financial, professional, personal, institutional, or other relationship that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their judgment.

Editors or reviewers with a significant conflict of interest should not participate in the evaluation or decision-making process for the affected manuscript.

Authors must disclose all relevant conflicts of interest and sources of financial support in the manuscript.

7. Responsibilities of Authors

7.1 Reporting Standards and Data Integrity

Authors must present their research accurately, honestly, clearly, and objectively.

Data must not be fabricated, falsified, selectively manipulated, or intentionally misrepresented.

Methods should be described with sufficient detail to allow readers to understand how the study was conducted and, when applicable, to allow replication.

7.2 Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts represent original work.

When authors use words, ideas, data, figures, tables, or other materials from other sources, appropriate citation and attribution must be provided.

Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable.

7.3 Multiple, Redundant, and Concurrent Publication

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal.

Authors must not publish substantially the same research in multiple publications without appropriate justification, transparency, and permission where necessary.

7.4 Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must appropriately acknowledge and cite sources that have contributed to the development of the research or manuscript.

Citation manipulation is considered unethical publication practice.

7.5 Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship in Buletin Penelitian Kesehatan follows the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the work, participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript, approved the final version, and agreed to be accountable for the integrity of the work.

Persons who contribute but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

Guest, honorary, gift, and ghost authorship are not acceptable.

7.6 Changes in Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must include a clear explanation and agreement from all affected authors.

The Editorial Team may request supporting documentation before approving authorship changes.

8. Ethical Oversight

8.1 Human Participants

Research involving human participants or identifiable human data must comply with applicable ethical standards.

Authors must provide the name of the Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board and the ethical approval number when approval is required.

Appropriate informed consent must be obtained when applicable.

8.2 Case Reports and Consent for Publication

Case Reports must protect patient confidentiality.

8.3 Animal Research

Research involving animals must comply with recognized institutional and national standards for the ethical care and use of animals.

Authors must provide relevant ethical approval information when required.

8.4 Hazardous Materials and Procedures

If research involves chemicals, microorganisms, equipment, procedures, or biological materials that may present unusual hazards, authors must clearly describe relevant safety considerations.

9. Funding

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support.

Funding information should include the funding organization and grant number when applicable.

Authors should also disclose the role of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions when relevant.

10. Data Availability and Reproducibility

Authors should provide a Data Availability Statement when applicable.

The journal encourages transparent reporting and appropriate sharing of research data, analytic methods, protocols, and supplementary materials, subject to ethical, privacy, legal, and institutional restrictions.

11. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors must disclose the use of generative artificial intelligence or AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation when applicable.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

Human authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, citations, confidentiality, and content of the manuscript.

Confidential or identifiable participant information must not be entered into AI systems in ways that violate ethical approval, informed consent, institutional policy, or privacy requirements.

12. Errors Identified by Authors

If an author identifies a significant error or inaccuracy in a submitted or published article, the author should promptly inform the Editorial Team.

Authors are expected to cooperate with the journal in correcting the scientific record.

13. Responsibilities of Reviewers

13.1 Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and helps authors improve the quality of their manuscripts.

Reviewers should provide clear, constructive, objective, evidence-based, and respectful comments.

13.2 Double-Blind Review

Reviewers receive manuscripts without information intended to identify the authors.

Reviewers should not attempt to determine the authors' identities or contact authors directly regarding manuscripts under review.

13.3 Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for review are confidential.

Reviewers must not share, reproduce, distribute, discuss, or use unpublished information obtained through the peer-review process for personal, academic, professional, or commercial advantage.

13.4 Objectivity

Reviews should be based on scientific considerations.

Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate.

13.5 Conflict of Interest

Reviewers must disclose any potential conflict of interest and decline the review when they cannot provide an impartial assessment.

13.6 Identification of Ethical Concerns

Reviewers should inform the editor if they identify suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication or falsification, inappropriate image manipulation, ethical concerns, citation manipulation, peer-review manipulation, or substantial similarities with other work.

13.7 Use of AI by Reviewers

Reviewers must protect manuscript confidentiality.

Confidential manuscripts, data, or unpublished content should not be uploaded to external AI systems in ways that could compromise confidentiality, intellectual property, or data protection.

Reviewers remain responsible for the content and scientific quality of their reviews.

14. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for ensuring that the peer-review process is fair, timely, confidential, and appropriately managed.

Editors should select reviewers based on relevant expertise and should avoid reviewers with significant conflicts of interest.

Editors must not use confidential manuscript information for personal benefit.

Editors should take reasonable steps to protect author and reviewer identities under the journal's double-blind review policy.

Editors should respond appropriately to ethical concerns raised before or after publication.

15. Research and Publication Misconduct

Buletin Penelitian Kesehatan takes allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously.

Potential misconduct may include:

• Plagiarism
• Fabrication or falsification of data
• Inappropriate image manipulation
• Duplicate or redundant publication
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest
• Inappropriate authorship
• Citation manipulation
• Peer-review manipulation
• Unethical research practices
• Other actions that threaten the integrity of the scientific record

The journal may request explanations, original data, ethical documents, or other supporting information when investigating ethical concerns.

When appropriate, the journal may contact the authors' institution, Ethics Committee, research integrity office, funder, or other relevant organization.

16. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, and readers may submit complaints concerning editorial procedures, publication ethics, or other journal practices.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe an important scientific or procedural issue was overlooked.

Complaints and appeals should include a clear explanation and relevant supporting information.

An appeal does not automatically reverse an editorial decision.

17. Post-Publication Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

The journal is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the published scientific record.

When a significant error is identified after publication, the journal may publish a correction or other appropriate notice.

When serious concerns exist but an investigation is incomplete, an Expression of Concern may be issued when appropriate.

Articles may be retracted when findings are seriously unreliable, major misconduct is identified, plagiarism or redundant publication substantially affects the work, unethical research is identified, or other circumstances make retraction necessary.

18. Intellectual Property and Copyright

Authors must respect copyright and intellectual property rights.

Material reproduced from other sources must have appropriate attribution and, when required, permission from the copyright holder.

The journal's copyright, licensing, and Article Processing Charge policies must be communicated clearly to authors and readers.

19. Commercial Considerations and Fast Track

Article Processing Charges, Fast Track services, sponsorship, advertising, or other commercial activities must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected.

20. Commitment to Publication Integrity

Buletin Penelitian Kesehatan and Poltekkes Kemenkes Palu are committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record and promoting responsible research and publication practices.

When ethical issues arise, the journal will consider relevant COPE guidance, flowcharts, and good publication practices in determining an appropriate response.

This policy should be read together with the journal's Author Guidelines, Peer Review Process, Copyright and Licensing Policy, Plagiarism Policy, and other applicable editorial policies.