Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Pro Food: Jurnal Ilmu dan Teknologi Pangan is a peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal published by the Faculty of Food Technology and Agroindustry, University of Mataram, Indonesia. The journal is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, editorial independence, transparency, fairness, and accountability throughout the scholarly publishing process.

This Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement establishes the ethical responsibilities of the publisher, editorial office, editors, peer reviewers, authors, and other parties involved in the publication of scientific articles. It is informed by the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, and relevant international standards of responsible research and scholarly communication.

1. Fundamental Principles of Publication Ethics

Pro Food upholds three fundamental principles of ethical scholarly publishing:

  1. Neutrality and Editorial Independence: Editorial decisions must be free from improper influence, discrimination, personal interests, financial considerations, institutional pressure, and conflicts of interest.
  2. Fairness and Academic Accountability: All contributors must receive appropriate recognition for their intellectual contributions. Manuscripts must be evaluated fairly, consistently, and objectively according to their scientific merit.
  3. Honesty and Research Integrity: All parties must uphold honesty, accuracy, transparency, and responsible scientific conduct. Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, and other forms of research misconduct are unacceptable.

These principles apply to every stage of the publication process, including manuscript submission, editorial screening, peer review, revision, acceptance, production, publication, and post-publication evaluation.

2. Responsibilities of the Publisher and Editorial Office

The publisher and editorial office are responsible for supporting the integrity, independence, continuity, and professional management of Pro Food.

Their responsibilities include:

  1. Maintaining an effective editorial management system that supports transparent manuscript submission, peer review, revision, and publication procedures.
  2. Publishing articles that have completed the required editorial assessment, independent peer review, scientific editing, and production processes.
  3. Safeguarding academic freedom and protecting editors and reviewers from inappropriate institutional, commercial, political, or personal influence.
  4. Supporting the confidentiality of manuscripts, reviewer identities, editorial correspondence, and personal information.
  5. Respecting intellectual property rights, copyright, authorship, and the licensing conditions applicable to published articles.
  6. Maintaining accurate information regarding the journal's editorial board, peer review policies, publication frequency, article processing charges, and other publishing requirements.
  7. Supporting the investigation and resolution of publication ethics concerns, including allegations raised before or after publication.
  8. Facilitating corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or other appropriate actions when necessary to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.
  9. Supporting the accessibility, preservation, and discoverability of published scientific articles and their associated metadata.

The publisher respects the editorial independence of Pro Food. Decisions concerning the scientific suitability of submitted manuscripts remain the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately authorized editor.

3. Responsibilities of Editors

3.1 Editorial Decisions

Editors are responsible for evaluating submitted manuscripts and making editorial decisions based on scientific quality, originality, methodological soundness, relevance to the journal's Focus and Scope, and compliance with ethical publishing standards.

Editorial decisions must consider the recommendations of independent reviewers while maintaining the editor's responsibility for the final decision.

Decisions must not be influenced by the authors' race, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, institutional affiliation, political views, or other characteristics unrelated to scientific merit.

3.2 Confidentiality

Editors must maintain the confidentiality of unpublished manuscripts and information obtained during editorial evaluation. Manuscript content may be disclosed only to individuals legitimately involved in editorial assessment, peer review, publication administration, or authorized research integrity investigations.

Editors must not use unpublished findings, research data, or confidential information for personal research, financial benefit, professional advantage, or other unauthorized purposes.

3.3 Fairness and Impartiality

Editors must ensure that all manuscripts receive fair and consistent treatment. Acceptance or rejection decisions must be supported by scientific and editorial considerations rather than personal relationships, institutional preferences, or financial interests.

Editors must avoid inappropriate manipulation of citations, reviewer selection, manuscript evaluation, or publication outcomes.

3.4 Conflicts of Interest

Editors must disclose any financial, professional, personal, or institutional relationship that may compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, their impartiality.

When a conflict of interest exists, the manuscript must be reassigned to another qualified editor who can manage the evaluation independently.

Manuscripts submitted by editorial board members or individuals closely associated with the journal must undergo an independent editorial evaluation. Editors must not participate in decisions concerning their own manuscripts.

4. Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers play an essential role in maintaining the scientific quality and integrity of published research. Their evaluations assist editors in making informed editorial decisions and help authors improve their manuscripts.

4.1 Objectivity and Scientific Evaluation

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly, and constructively, based on scientific evidence and relevant disciplinary expertise.

Reviews should address the originality, significance, methodology, experimental design, statistical analysis, data interpretation, scientific discussion, and conclusions of the manuscript.

Personal criticism, discriminatory language, unsupported allegations, and inappropriate or coercive citation requests are unacceptable.

4.2 Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for peer review must be treated as confidential scholarly documents. Reviewers must not share, reproduce, distribute, or disclose manuscript content without authorization from the editorial office.

Unpublished research findings and data must not be used for personal or professional advantage.

4.3 Competence and Timeliness

Reviewers should accept assignments only when they possess appropriate expertise and can complete the assessment within the agreed review period. Reviewers who cannot provide a timely or competent evaluation must inform the handling editor promptly.

4.4 Conflict of Interest

Reviewers must disclose any potential conflict of interest involving the authors, research project, funding sources, institutions, or subject matter of the manuscript.

Reviewers must decline assignments when a conflict could reasonably affect their independence or objectivity.

4.5 Identification of Ethical Concerns

Reviewers should inform the editor when they identify potential plagiarism, substantial textual overlap, duplicate publication, fabricated or falsified data, inappropriate image manipulation, questionable research methods, or other ethical concerns.

Reviewers are not expected to guarantee the absence of misconduct and should not independently investigate suspected violations without editorial authorization.

Reviewers are expected to follow the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

5. Responsibilities of Authors

5.1 Originality and Accuracy

Authors are responsible for submitting original, accurate, and scientifically reliable research. Manuscripts must present research methods, results, analyses, and conclusions honestly and transparently.

Authors must not engage in plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate image manipulation, duplicate publication, or deliberate misrepresentation of research findings.

5.2 Reporting Standards

Authors must provide sufficient methodological information to allow readers to understand, evaluate, and, where reasonably possible, reproduce the reported research.

Experimental designs, sample characteristics, analytical procedures, statistical methods, replication, controls, and limitations must be reported accurately and appropriately for the study.

5.3 Appropriate Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must acknowledge the intellectual contributions of other researchers through accurate citation and referencing. All borrowed ideas, methods, data, figures, and other research materials must be appropriately attributed.

Authors must avoid citation manipulation, fabricated references, misleading citations, and unnecessary references intended solely to increase citation counts.

5.4 Multiple and Simultaneous Submissions

Authors must not submit substantially the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously. Previously published research must not be presented as a new and original publication without appropriate disclosure and editorial consideration.

Relevant preprints, conference papers, prior publications, and related manuscripts must be disclosed when their content substantially overlaps with the submitted work.

5.5 Cooperation with Editorial Procedures

Authors must respond to editorial and reviewer comments professionally, provide requested clarifications and supporting information, and make necessary revisions within the specified deadlines.

Authors may be asked to provide original research data, ethical approval documentation, permissions, or other evidence relevant to the scientific integrity of the manuscript.

5.6 Proofreading and Editorial Changes

Authors are expected to review manuscript proofs carefully and cooperate with reasonable language editing, formatting, and production adjustments. Editorial changes must not alter the scientific meaning of the manuscript without appropriate author consultation.

6. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must accurately reflect substantive intellectual contributions to the research. All listed authors must have participated meaningfully in the scholarly work and must accept appropriate responsibility for its content.

Pro Food recognizes the principles outlined in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations.

Authorship should be based on all of the following:

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the research, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of research data.
  2. Drafting the manuscript or critically reviewing its important intellectual content.
  3. Approval of the final version submitted for publication.
  4. Agreement to take responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the work and to cooperate in resolving questions concerning the research.

Individuals whose contributions do not meet the criteria for authorship should be appropriately acknowledged, with their permission where necessary.

Guest authorship, honorary authorship, ghost authorship, and the deliberate exclusion of eligible contributors are unacceptable.

Authors should provide a clear statement describing their individual contributions. The Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) may be used to describe contributions such as conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, and manuscript preparation.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must include an explanation and written agreement from all affected authors. Unresolved authorship disputes may be referred to the relevant research institution. The journal may suspend editorial processing while a substantive dispute is being addressed.

7. Conflicts of Interest and Funding Disclosure

All authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose relationships or circumstances that may influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their professional judgment.

Conflicts of interest may include financial relationships, employment, consultancy, institutional affiliation, personal relationships, academic competition, or other competing interests.

Authors must disclose relevant funding sources and explain the role of sponsors, where applicable, in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions.

When no relevant conflicts of interest exist, authors should explicitly state that they have no conflicts of interest to declare.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not automatically disqualify a manuscript; however, failure to disclose relevant conflicts may require editorial investigation or corrective action.

8. Peer Review Integrity and Editorial Independence

Pro Food employs a double-anonymized peer review system, in which authors and reviewers do not ordinarily know each other's identities during manuscript evaluation.

The editorial team is responsible for selecting appropriately qualified and independent reviewers, protecting confidential information, and ensuring that decisions are based on scientific merit.

The journal seeks evaluations from at least two independent reviewers for research articles. Additional reviewers may be invited when necessary to resolve conflicting recommendations or significant scientific concerns.

Editors retain responsibility for final decisions and must not delegate scientific decision-making entirely to reviewers, automated systems, publishers, sponsors, or other interested parties.

Manipulation of reviewer identities, fraudulent reviewer accounts, fabricated peer review reports, and attempts to improperly influence editorial decisions are prohibited.

9. Plagiarism, Fabrication, Falsification, and Research Misconduct

Pro Food does not tolerate plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, inappropriate data manipulation, or other serious violations of scholarly integrity.

Manuscripts are screened for textual similarity using Turnitin as part of the initial editorial assessment.

The journal applies a preliminary similarity screening threshold of 15%. Similarity reports are evaluated by the editorial team to determine whether textual overlap is legitimate, appropriately attributed, or indicative of potential misconduct.

A similarity score does not independently establish plagiarism. Manuscripts with inappropriate textual overlap may be returned for clarification or revision or rejected when serious violations are substantiated.

Turnitin is not a standalone tool for detecting or proving research data fabrication, falsification, copyright infringement, or other forms of misconduct.

Suspected violations may be investigated before or after publication. The journal considers the available evidence, seeks explanations from the relevant parties when appropriate, and determines suitable editorial action in accordance with recognized publication ethics principles.

10. Research Ethics and Ethical Oversight

Research submitted to Pro Food must comply with applicable ethical, institutional, professional, and legal requirements relevant to the study.

10.1 Research Involving Human Participants

Studies involving human participants, including sensory evaluation, consumer testing, dietary interventions, and related food science research, must respect participants' rights, dignity, safety, confidentiality, and voluntary participation.

Authors must report relevant ethical approval or exemption information when applicable and describe the informed-consent procedures used in the study.

Participants must be informed of relevant risks, study procedures, and their rights. Researchers must take appropriate precautions concerning food allergies, dietary restrictions, potentially unsafe samples, and other foreseeable risks associated with food testing.

10.2 Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional and national animal welfare requirements. Authors must describe relevant ethical approvals, animal care procedures, and measures taken to minimize unnecessary suffering.

10.3 Biosafety and Food Safety

Research involving pathogenic microorganisms, hazardous chemicals, food contaminants, toxic substances, or potentially unsafe food products must comply with appropriate laboratory safety and research risk management requirements.

Food safety, nutritional, toxicological, and health-related claims must be supported by scientifically appropriate evidence and must not exceed the conclusions justified by the research data.

10.4 Confidentiality and Personal Data

Researchers must protect confidential information and personal data obtained during their studies. Identifiable information should not be published without appropriate consent or another valid legal basis.

The journal's handling of personal information is governed by its Privacy Statement and applicable data protection requirements.

11. Research Data, Transparency, and Reproducibility

Authors are responsible for maintaining accurate research records and ensuring that their reported findings are supported by reliable data.

Manuscripts should provide sufficient information regarding experimental design, sampling, materials, analytical methods, statistical procedures, replication, and data interpretation to support scientific evaluation and reproducibility.

Authors must include a data availability statement indicating whether the data supporting their findings are publicly accessible, available upon reasonable request, or subject to ethical, legal, confidentiality, or other justified restrictions.

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to make research data, analytical methods, software, and supporting materials available through reliable repositories, subject to intellectual property rights and applicable ethical requirements.

Editors may request additional information or access to underlying data when substantial concerns about research reliability arise.

Unjustified refusal to provide information necessary to resolve serious integrity concerns may affect editorial decisions or lead to further post-publication assessment.

12. Use of Artificial Intelligence in Scholarly Publishing

Pro Food recognizes the potential benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in supporting scientific research, language editing, and manuscript preparation. However, the use of AI must be transparent, accountable, and consistent with academic integrity.

12.1 Responsibilities of Authors

Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, reliability, ethical compliance, and scientific validity of submitted manuscripts, including material prepared with AI assistance.

Generative AI systems, chatbots, and other automated tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility or accountability for scholarly work.

Authors must disclose substantive use of generative AI in manuscript preparation, data analysis, image generation, or other research-related activities, specifying the tools used and their purposes.

Routine spelling and grammar assistance may be treated differently from substantive content generation, but authors remain responsible for verifying all text and complying with the journal's disclosure requirements.

AI-generated references, research data, analyses, or interpretations must be independently verified. Fabricated citations, falsified results, undisclosed manipulation, and misleading presentation of AI-generated content are prohibited.

12.2 Responsibilities of Reviewers and Editors

Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential manuscripts, unpublished research data, review reports, or editorial correspondence to publicly accessible generative AI systems or other external services that cannot ensure appropriate confidentiality and data protection.

Scientific manuscript evaluation and editorial decisions must remain under the responsibility of qualified human reviewers and editors.

Any authorized use of AI-assisted tools in editorial or production activities must be consistent with confidentiality, transparency, intellectual property, and applicable data protection requirements.

This policy is informed by the ICMJE Recommendations on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Publishing.

13. Complaints, Appeals, and Allegations of Misconduct

Pro Food recognizes the importance of fair, transparent, and responsible procedures for addressing complaints, editorial appeals, and allegations of research or publication misconduct.

Concerns may involve authorship disputes, plagiarism, data integrity, inappropriate peer review practices, editorial misconduct, conflicts of interest, or other violations of publication ethics.

Complaints and appeals should be submitted in writing to the editorial office at redaksi.profood@unram.ac.id, accompanied by relevant information and supporting documentation.

The handling procedure includes:

  1. Receipt and Preliminary Assessment: The editorial office reviews the complaint to determine its nature, relevance, and available supporting evidence.
  2. Conflict-of-Interest Assessment: Individuals with relevant conflicts of interest must not participate in handling the case.
  3. Request for Clarification: The concerned authors, reviewers, editors, or other relevant parties may be invited to provide explanations and supporting information.
  4. Evidence Evaluation: The editorial team assesses the available evidence fairly and may consult independent experts or relevant research institutions when necessary.
  5. Editorial Determination: Appropriate action is determined based on the findings, applicable journal policies, and publication ethics guidance.
  6. Communication and Documentation: The outcome is communicated to the relevant parties as appropriate, and records are maintained subject to confidentiality requirements.

Authors who believe that an editorial decision involved a substantive procedural error or significant factual misunderstanding may submit a reasoned appeal.

Appeals are considered on their merits and do not automatically result in reversal of the original decision.

Complaints involving the Editor-in-Chief should be referred to an appropriate independent editorial representative or the publisher to avoid conflicts of interest.

The journal may seek assistance from relevant institutions when an allegation requires access to research records, laboratory documentation, or investigative authority beyond the journal's responsibilities.

14. Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

Pro Food is committed to preserving the accuracy, transparency, and integrity of the scholarly record after publication.

When errors or substantial ethical concerns are identified in published articles, the editorial team evaluates the available evidence and determines an appropriate response.

14.1 Corrections

A correction may be issued when an article contains an error or omission that requires amendment but does not fundamentally undermine the reliability of its main findings.

Corrections should clearly describe the relevant changes and be linked to the original publication.

14.2 Expressions of Concern

An expression of concern may be issued when serious questions concerning the integrity or reliability of a published article remain unresolved and readers should be informed while further evaluation is conducted.

14.3 Retractions

Retraction may be considered when substantial plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated or falsified data, unreliable findings, serious ethical violations, or other significant problems make the published article unsuitable for continued presentation as a reliable contribution to the scholarly record.

Retraction is intended to correct the scientific literature and protect research integrity rather than punish authors.

Retraction notices must clearly identify the affected article, explain the reason for retraction, and remain publicly accessible. Retracted articles should remain identifiable as retracted, with appropriate links to the notice and relevant bibliographic records.

These procedures are informed by the COPE Retraction Guidelines (2025).

15. Copyright, Intellectual Property, and Licensing

Pro Food respects intellectual property rights and expects authors to comply with applicable copyright and licensing requirements.

Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions for third-party material, including images, tables, figures, photographs, and other copyrighted works, when required by law or the applicable license.

The ownership, reuse, distribution, and adaptation of published articles are governed by the copyright and licensing statements displayed on the journal website and the respective articles.

Published research must be appropriately attributed, and the conditions of the applicable publication license must be respected.

The journal supports the responsible dissemination of scientific knowledge through its open-access publishing model.

16. Publication Fees and Editorial Independence

Pro Food maintains a transparent approach to article processing charges and publication-related financial arrangements.

Any applicable article processing charges must be communicated clearly to authors through the journal's official website.

Payment of publication fees does not guarantee manuscript acceptance, preferential editorial treatment, expedited scientific evaluation, or exemption from peer review.

Editorial decisions must remain independent of payment arrangements, sponsorship, institutional relationships, advertising, or other commercial considerations.

Authors should consult the journal's official website for current information on applicable fees and payment procedures.

17. Post-Publication Discussion and Scientific Accountability

Pro Food recognizes that scientific evaluation may continue after an article has been published.

Readers, researchers, and other interested parties may communicate substantiated concerns regarding published findings, research methods, data interpretation, ethical compliance, or other issues affecting the reliability of the scholarly record.

The editorial team evaluates relevant concerns and may invite clarification from the authors, obtain additional scientific assessments, or take appropriate editorial action when necessary.

Constructive scientific criticism and evidence-based discussion are encouraged. Personal attacks, harassment, discriminatory communication, and unsupported allegations are unacceptable.

18. Policy Implementation and Continuous Improvement

The editorial team and publisher are responsible for implementing this Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement consistently across the journal's editorial and publication activities.

Policies and editorial procedures may be reviewed and updated to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, research integrity, publication ethics, applicable regulations, and international best practices.

All parties involved in scholarly publication are expected to understand their responsibilities and cooperate in maintaining the scientific credibility and integrity of Pro Food.

Ethical Guidelines and References

This statement is informed by the following scholarly publishing and research ethics resources:

Contact Information

Questions, complaints, appeals, and reports concerning publication ethics may be directed to:

Editorial Office
Pro Food: Jurnal Ilmu dan Teknologi Pangan
Faculty of Food Technology and Agroindustry
University of Mataram, Indonesia
Jl. Majapahit No. 62, Mataram,
West Nusa Tenggara 83115, Indonesia
Email: redaksi.profood@unram.ac.id
Website: https://profood.unram.ac.id/index.php/profood