Publication Ethics
TATOHI: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by the Faculty of Law, Universitas Pattimura. The journal is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, research integrity, transparency, and editorial independence. All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher, are expected to uphold the principles of honesty, fairness, accountability, and respect for intellectual property. The journal takes reasonable measures to prevent and address publication malpractice, including plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, redundant publication, authorship manipulation, and other forms of research or publication misconduct. This policy is informed by the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publication
The publication of scholarly articles in a peer-reviewed journal contributes to the development, evaluation, and dissemination of legal knowledge. TATOHI: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum recognizes that the credibility of scholarly publishing depends on the integrity of research, the fairness of editorial decisions, the independence of peer review, and the reliability of the published scholarly record. Accordingly, all parties involved in the publication process must adhere to established ethical standards.
The Faculty of Law, Universitas Pattimura, as the publisher of TATOHI: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum, is committed to supporting responsible scholarly publishing. The publisher and editorial team will take appropriate measures to identify, assess, and address suspected ethical violations. Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly merit, originality, relevance to the journal's Focus and Scope, methodological or legal reasoning quality, ethical compliance, and the outcomes of peer review.
The journal's editorial decisions must not be influenced by advertising, commercial interests, institutional pressure, personal relationships, political considerations, or other non-scholarly factors. The journal will apply its policies consistently and fairly while respecting confidentiality, applicable laws, and the rights of authors and other parties.
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Allegations of Research Misconduct
Research and publication misconduct may include, but is not limited to, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, citation manipulation, redundant or duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship, manipulation of the peer-review process, undisclosed conflicts of interest, unethical research practices, and misleading presentation or interpretation of research findings.
When an allegation of research or publication misconduct is received, the editorial team will assess the information carefully, fairly, and confidentially. The initial assessment will consider the nature of the allegation, the evidence provided, its relevance to research or publication integrity, and any actual or potential conflicts of interest involving the parties concerned. Allegations will not be dismissed solely because they are submitted anonymously; however, the available evidence must be assessed appropriately.
Where further clarification is required, the journal may contact the corresponding author or other relevant parties and request a reasoned explanation or supporting documentation. Depending on the nature and seriousness of the allegation, the journal may consult independent experts, seek advice from the relevant institution, contact the publisher, or refer the matter to an appropriate research-integrity body.
A manuscript found to contain serious ethical violations may be rejected. If concerns arise after publication, the journal may issue a correction, an expression of concern, a retraction, or another appropriate editorial notice. Any action will be proportionate to the evidence and the potential effect on the integrity of the scholarly record.
Where an institutional investigation is necessary, the journal may request assistance from the relevant institution. Authors and institutions are expected to cooperate with legitimate inquiries into research integrity. The journal will seek to protect the confidentiality and procedural fairness of the parties concerned while taking appropriate steps to safeguard the scholarly record.
Procedures concerning the correction, retraction, withdrawal, removal, or replacement of published content are governed by the journal's applicable policies, including its Retraction, Withdrawal, and Correction Policy, where available.
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Research Ethics and Ethical Clearance
TATOHI: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum expects authors to conduct and report research in accordance with applicable legal requirements, recognized ethical standards, and relevant institutional rules. Ethical considerations must be addressed in a manner appropriate to the research design, methodology, subject matter, and potential impact on individuals or communities.
For research involving human participants, interviews, surveys, personal data, vulnerable populations, confidential institutional information, or other activities requiring ethical review, authors must obtain approval from the relevant ethics committee or authorized institution before conducting the research, where such approval is required.
Where ethical clearance has been obtained, authors should identify the approving committee or institution and provide the approval reference and date or year in the manuscript, where applicable. Authors must also obtain informed consent when required and explain any relevant safeguards concerning confidentiality, privacy, and the protection of research participants.
For normative or doctrinal legal research that does not involve human participants or activities requiring formal ethical approval, ethical clearance may not be applicable. In such cases, authors should comply with the applicable legal and scholarly standards, including accurate citation, responsible interpretation of legal materials, and respect for confidentiality and intellectual property.
Authors must not disclose confidential, privileged, personally identifiable, or legally restricted information unless disclosure is lawful, ethically justified, and appropriately authorized. Where relevant, authors should explain how ethical risks were assessed and managed.
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Data Sharing and Reproducibility
TATOHI: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum recognizes that the nature of research data and supporting materials varies according to the methodology and subject matter of legal research. The journal encourages transparency and responsible access to research materials where such access is lawful, ethically appropriate, and feasible.
For empirical, socio-legal, interdisciplinary, or other research involving research data, authors are encouraged to make relevant datasets, research instruments, interview protocols, coding materials, analytical materials, or other supporting resources available through an appropriate repository or other suitable means, where feasible and appropriate.
For normative or doctrinal legal research, supporting materials may include legislation, regulations, court decisions, official documents, legal databases, treaties, and other legal sources. Authors should provide accurate and sufficiently detailed citations to enable readers to identify and verify the legal materials on which their analysis is based.
Research materials containing personal data, confidential information, privileged information, legally restricted materials, or third-party intellectual property must not be publicly disclosed where disclosure would violate applicable legal, ethical, contractual, or institutional requirements.
Where research materials cannot be shared openly because of privacy, confidentiality, legal restrictions, intellectual property rights, or other legitimate limitations, authors should identify the relevant restrictions and, where possible, explain whether access may be provided through lawful and appropriate procedures.
The journal may request access to relevant supporting materials during editorial assessment or peer review when reasonably necessary to assess the reliability, integrity, or transparency of the research. Such requests must be handled in accordance with applicable confidentiality and ethical requirements.
The journal does not require authors to disclose materials that cannot lawfully or ethically be shared. Data-sharing expectations should remain proportionate to the nature, methodology, and subject matter of the research.
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Duties of Editors
Editors are responsible for evaluating submitted manuscripts and making editorial decisions in accordance with the journal's policies. Decisions must be based on scholarly quality, originality, relevance to the journal's Focus and Scope, the quality of legal reasoning or research methodology, ethical compliance, and relevant peer-review assessments.
Editors must evaluate manuscripts fairly and without discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, gender, religious belief, political opinion, institutional affiliation, citizenship, or other characteristics unrelated to scholarly merit.
Editors and editorial staff must treat submitted manuscripts and associated communications as confidential. Manuscript information may be shared only with individuals who are legitimately involved in the editorial or review process, or where disclosure is otherwise authorized or legally required.
Editors must protect the confidentiality of unpublished research and must not use information, data, arguments, or ideas obtained through editorial access for personal research, professional advantage, or other purposes without the author's express permission.
Editors must avoid handling manuscripts where an actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest could compromise their impartiality. Where necessary, the manuscript must be reassigned to another qualified editor who can make an independent assessment.
Editors are responsible for taking appropriate action when credible concerns arise about plagiarism, research misconduct, authorship disputes, peer-review manipulation, or other ethical issues. Such action may include requesting clarification, obtaining expert advice, contacting relevant institutions, or initiating procedures under the journal's applicable policies.
Editorial decisions must remain independent of commercial, financial, institutional, political, and personal pressures. Editors must not accept improper influence intended to secure the acceptance, rejection, or preferential treatment of a manuscript.
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Duties of Reviewers
Peer review assists editors in assessing the quality, originality, accuracy, relevance, and ethical integrity of submitted manuscripts. Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, evidence-based, and timely assessments that help editors make informed decisions and may assist authors in improving their work.
Reviewers should accept assignments only when they have appropriate expertise and can complete the review within the agreed timeframe. A reviewer who feels unqualified or unable to provide a timely assessment must notify the editor and decline the assignment.
Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not share, reproduce, distribute, or discuss manuscript contents with unauthorized persons. Unpublished information obtained through peer review must not be used for personal, academic, commercial, or professional advantage.
Reviewers are strictly prohibited from using artificial intelligence (AI) tools or AI-assisted systems to conduct, prepare, generate, evaluate, summarize, translate, or otherwise assist in the peer-review process. This prohibition includes uploading or submitting manuscripts, manuscript excerpts, unpublished research findings, reviewer comments, or confidential editorial communications to AI systems. Reviewers must independently assess the manuscript and prepare their review reports using their own scholarly expertise and judgment, while maintaining confidentiality, impartiality, and accountability.
This restriction is intended to protect manuscript confidentiality, intellectual property, research integrity, and the independence of peer review. Reviewers must comply with the journal's AI Tools Usage Policy, which sets out the journal's requirements concerning the use of artificial intelligence in scholarly publishing.
Reviews must focus on the manuscript's scholarly substance, legal analysis, methodology, evidence, originality, use of sources, clarity, and relevance to the journal. Personal criticism, discriminatory remarks, and unsupported allegations are inappropriate.
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited and inform the editor of substantial similarity, possible plagiarism, duplicate publication, questionable research practices, or other ethical concerns of which they become aware.
Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest before accepting or undertaking a review. Conflicts may arise from financial, personal, institutional, professional, collaborative, competitive, or other relationships with the authors or parties connected to the manuscript.
If a conflict of interest becomes apparent after a reviewer has accepted an assignment or begun the review, the reviewer must promptly inform the editor and refrain from further review activities until receiving instructions. The editor will determine whether the reviewer should be replaced or whether another appropriate measure is necessary.
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Duties of Authors
Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted manuscripts present an accurate, honest, and appropriately supported account of their research, legal analysis, and conclusions. Manuscripts must contain sufficient information, legal authorities, references, data, or supporting materials to enable readers to understand and evaluate the work.
Authors must ensure that their submissions are original scholarly works. The work, words, arguments, data, and materials of others must be appropriately cited, quoted, or acknowledged. Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, misleading attribution, and other forms of research misconduct are unacceptable.
Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal. Redundant or duplicate publication, including substantial undisclosed overlap with previously published work, is unacceptable unless a legitimate form of republication has been transparently disclosed and appropriately authorized.
Authors must provide accurate citations to relevant scholarly publications, legislation, regulations, court decisions, official documents, and other legal authorities. Citations must not be manipulated merely to increase citation counts or improperly promote particular authors, journals, or institutions.
All authors must disclose relevant funding, conflicts of interest, ethical approvals where applicable, and other information required by the journal's submission guidelines. Authors must cooperate reasonably with editorial inquiries concerning the accuracy, originality, ethics, or integrity of their submissions.
Authors who use artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted tools in preparing, translating, editing, analyzing, or generating manuscript content must comply with the journal's applicable AI Tools Usage Policy and disclosure requirements. AI tools must not be listed as authors. Authors remain responsible for verifying the accuracy of the manuscript, the validity of citations, and compliance with research ethics and intellectual property requirements.
Authors must promptly notify the journal if they discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their submitted or published work and cooperate with the editorial team to correct the scholarly record where necessary.
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Authorship and Contributorship
Authorship must reflect substantial scholarly contributions to the conception or design of the research, the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data or legal materials, or the drafting or substantive revision of the manuscript. Authors must have participated sufficiently in the work to take responsibility for their contributions and must approve the final version submitted for publication.
The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating communication with the journal, ensuring that all appropriate co-authors are identified, confirming that all listed authors have approved the submitted and final versions, and ensuring that relevant declarations have been provided.
Individuals who contributed to the research or manuscript preparation but do not meet the applicable criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately, subject to their consent where required. Honorary authorship, gift authorship, ghost authorship, and the omission of individuals who qualify for authorship are unacceptable.
For manuscripts with multiple authors, the journal encourages an Author Contributions statement describing each author's role in the research and preparation of the manuscript. Where appropriate, authors may use the CRediT contributor role taxonomy to describe individual contributions.
Any request to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be explained and agreed upon by all affected authors. The editorial team may request written confirmation from the authors before considering the change. Disputed authorship must be addressed fairly, and the journal may seek assistance from the relevant institution when necessary.
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Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
A conflict of interest or competing interest is any financial, personal, professional, academic, institutional, or other relationship or circumstance that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, interpretation of findings, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication of a manuscript. Conflicts may be actual, potential, or perceived.
Authors must disclose relevant financial and non-financial interests, relationships, activities, and sources of support that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their research or its publication. Disclosure is required even when authors believe that the relevant relationship did not affect their work or conclusions.
Where no relevant conflict exists, authors should provide an explicit statement, such as: "The authors declare that there are no financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could have influenced, or could reasonably be perceived to have influenced, the research, interpretation of the findings, or publication of this article."
Editors and reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts relating to a manuscript. A reviewer must decline an assignment when a conflict could compromise, or reasonably be perceived to compromise, the objectivity or fairness of the review.
An editor who has a conflict of interest involving a manuscript, its authors, or other relevant parties must recuse themselves from the editorial evaluation and decision-making process. Where appropriate, the manuscript must be assigned to another qualified editor who can handle it independently.
The editorial team will assess disclosed conflicts and determine appropriate measures to protect the integrity of peer review and editorial decisions. Measures may include requesting additional disclosure, replacing a reviewer, recusing an editor, assigning another editor, or taking other appropriate action.
If an undisclosed conflict is identified during editorial processing or after publication, the journal will assess its nature and potential effect on the manuscript or published work. Depending on the circumstances, the journal may request additional disclosure, publish a correction or expression of concern, retract the article, or take other appropriate action under the applicable journal policies.
Relevant conflict-of-interest disclosures should be documented clearly and consistently in published articles where applicable.
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Fundamental Errors in Published Works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, the author must promptly notify the Editor-in-Chief or editorial office and provide sufficient information to identify and assess the problem.
Authors are expected to cooperate with the editorial team in evaluating the error and determining the appropriate response. Depending on the nature and significance of the error, the journal may publish a correction, issue an expression of concern, retract the article, or take another appropriate action to preserve the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.
The journal may also assess credible reports of significant errors raised by readers, reviewers, institutions, or other parties. Any editorial action will be based on an appropriate assessment of the available evidence and the potential effect on the published work.
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Complaints and Appeals
TATOHI: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum welcomes substantiated complaints and appeals concerning editorial decisions, peer review, publication ethics, authorship, research integrity, or other aspects of the journal's publication process.
Complaints should be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief or editorial office and should identify the issue clearly, provide relevant details, and include supporting evidence where available. Complaints concerning the Editor-in-Chief should be directed to the publisher, the Faculty of Law, Universitas Pattimura.
Complaints and appeals will be assessed fairly, impartially, and confidentially. Where necessary, the journal may request additional information, consult an independent expert, involve another qualified editor, or seek advice from the publisher or relevant institution.
An appeal against an editorial decision must explain the grounds for reconsideration and provide relevant evidence or substantive reasons. Disagreement with an editorial decision alone does not guarantee that the decision will be reversed. Appeals will be considered according to their merits and the journal's applicable procedures.
The journal will take reasonable steps to prevent conflicts of interest from compromising the handling of complaints. Retaliation against individuals who raise legitimate concerns in good faith is not acceptable.
The journal's procedures will be informed by relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and applicable institutional requirements.
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Intellectual Property
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts respect copyright, privacy rights, confidentiality obligations, and other applicable intellectual property rights. Text, tables, figures, images, datasets, legal documents, and other materials obtained from third-party sources must be properly attributed and cited.
Where permission is required to reproduce copyrighted or otherwise protected material, authors must obtain the necessary authorization before publication and provide evidence of permission when requested by the journal.
Authors must accurately identify sources and must not misrepresent the origin, ownership, or legal status of materials used in their manuscripts. Reuse of the authors' own previously published material must also be handled transparently and in accordance with applicable copyright and publication requirements.
Copyright ownership, licensing terms, and permitted reuse of published articles are governed by the journal's Copyright Notice and other applicable publication policies, where available.
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Post-Publication Discussion
TATOHI: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum recognizes the importance of constructive scholarly discussion after publication. Readers, authors, researchers, and other interested parties may raise substantive questions, comments, criticisms, or requests for clarification concerning articles published by the journal.
Post-publication communications should be submitted through the journal's official contact channel and should identify the article concerned, explain the issue clearly, and provide supporting references or evidence where available.
The editorial team will assess submissions fairly and independently. Where a matter is suitable for scholarly discussion, the journal may invite the original author or authors to respond. A critique and corresponding response may be considered for publication as a Letter to the Editor, Commentary, Response, or another appropriate scholarly contribution, subject to editorial assessment and peer review where necessary.
If a post-publication concern indicates a possible factual error, ethical violation, research misconduct, undisclosed conflict of interest, or other issue affecting the reliability of a published article, the journal may initiate an appropriate investigation and take editorial action in accordance with its policies.
Post-publication discussion is intended to promote scholarly accountability, transparency, and the continuous improvement of the published legal scholarship record. Communications must remain evidence-based, respectful, and relevant to the scholarly issues under consideration.
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Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
TATOHI: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum is committed to preserving the accuracy, transparency, and integrity of its published scholarly record. When an article requires a post-publication update, the editorial team will assess the nature and seriousness of the issue and determine the appropriate action in accordance with the journal's applicable policies and recognized publication-ethics guidance.
Corrections may be issued when an error requires amendment or clarification but does not invalidate the overall reliability of the article. Retractions may be considered when substantial errors, plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, serious ethical violations, compromised peer review, or other circumstances render the published work unreliable or otherwise justify retraction.
An expression of concern may be issued when credible concerns exist but an investigation has not yet reached a conclusion, or when circumstances otherwise warrant a public notice to readers. Withdrawal, removal, or replacement of published content will be considered only where justified by the circumstances and permitted under the journal's applicable policies.
Editorial notices should clearly identify the affected article, explain the reason for the action, and be linked to the original publication wherever technically and legally possible. Notices must be factual, transparent, and proportionate to the issue. The journal will seek to ensure that readers can identify the current status of the affected publication.
Detailed procedures and the grounds for correction, retraction, withdrawal, removal, or replacement are set out in the journal's Retraction, Withdrawal, and Correction Policy, where available.
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Institutional Support and Editorial Independence
TATOHI: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum is published by the Faculty of Law, Universitas Pattimura. The publisher provides institutional support and operational resources intended to facilitate the journal's activities, sustainability, and development.
Institutional support may include facilities, infrastructure, personnel support, administrative resources, communication facilities, and other operational assistance necessary for journal management. Such support is intended to maintain the journal's operations and does not constitute a condition for the acceptance or publication of any manuscript.
Editorial decisions are made independently by the editorial team based on scholarly merit, originality, relevance to the journal's Focus and Scope, research quality, ethical compliance, and peer-review assessments. Institutional affiliation, financial considerations, personal relationships, political interests, or other non-scholarly factors must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted, rejected, or published.
The publisher respects the editorial team's responsibility for evaluating manuscripts and maintaining publication standards. The publisher must not improperly interfere with individual editorial decisions, reviewer selection, peer-review outcomes, or the scholarly content of published articles.
The journal recognizes that transparent management and a clear separation between institutional support and editorial decision-making are essential to the credibility of scholarly publishing. These principles are consistent with the publication-ethics practices promoted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Information about the journal's ownership, management structure, and publisher should be made publicly available through the journal's relevant information pages.
Institutional support for the journal is separate from funding for individual research projects or publications. Authors must disclose relevant research and publication funding in accordance with the journal's Author Guidelines and applicable disclosure requirements.
