Allegation of research misconduct
Plexus Medical Journal takes every allegation of research or publication misconduct seriously and handles it in line with the COPE flowcharts.
What counts as misconduct. Research misconduct includes, but is not limited to:
- fabrication: making up data or results;
- falsification: manipulating research materials, processes, data, or images;
- plagiarism (see Plagiarism Policy);
- unauthorized authorship, including gift, guest, or ghost authorship and listing a person without consent;
- undisclosed conflicts of interest;
- duplicate submission or redundant publication;
- citation manipulation;
- research carried out without the required ethical approval or informed consent;
- use of AI tools contrary to the AI Policy.
How to report a concern. Anyone may report a concern to the Editor-in-Chief at [pmjfkuns@mail.uns.ac.id]. A report should identify the article or manuscript and describe the concern with supporting evidence. The identity of the person raising the concern is kept confidential. Anonymous reports are considered if they contain sufficient evidence.
Procedure. The journal handles each allegation in five documented steps:
- Preliminary assessment of the evidence by the Editor-in-Chief.
- Clarification: the authors are told of the concern and invited to respond.
- Investigation: if the response is not satisfactory, the journal asks the authors' institution to investigate, and may consult independent experts.
- Decision by the Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the Editorial Board and the publisher.
- Corrective action, which may include rejecting the manuscript, publishing a correction or an expression of concern, retracting the article, or informing the authors' institution or funder.
The journal keeps a written record of every step and cooperates with other journals and with the national accreditation authority when misconduct involves more than one publication.
