Allegations of Misconduct

Research misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, or plagiarism when conducting, performing, or reviewing research, writing an article by authors, or reporting research results. When authors are determined to have engaged in research misconduct or other significant irregularities regarding articles published in scientific journals, editors must maintain the scientific record's accuracy and integrity.

In cases of suspected misconduct, the editors and editorial board will resolve the complaint and address the misconduct fairly. It will include an investigation of the allegation by the editors. A submitted manuscript that is found to contain such misconduct will be rejected. In cases where a published paper contains such misconduct, a retraction can be published and linked to the original article.

The first step involves determining the allegation's validity and assessing whether the allegation is consistent with the definition of research misconduct. This initial step also involves determining whether the individuals alleging misconduct have relevant conflicts of interest.

Suppose scientific misconduct or other substantial research irregularities are possible. In that case, the allegations are shared with the corresponding author, who is requested to provide a detailed response on behalf of all co-authors. After the response is received and evaluated, additional review and involvement of experts (such as statistical reviewers) may be obtained. For cases in which it is unlikely that misconduct has occurred, clarifications, additional analyses, or both, published as letters to the editor, and often including a correction notice and correction to the published article, are sufficient.

Institutions are expected to conduct an appropriate and thorough investigation of allegations of scientific misconduct. Ultimately, authors, journals, and institutions have an essential obligation to ensure the accuracy of the scientific record. By responding appropriately to concerns about scientific misconduct and taking necessary actions based on evaluating these concerns, such as corrections, retractions with replacement, and retractions, CAHAYA: Journal of Research on Science Education will continue to fulfil the responsibilities of ensuring the validity and integrity of the scientific record.