Publication Ethics And Conflict of Interest Policy

Publication Ethics

This statement clarifies ethical behaviour of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in our journals, including the authors, the editors, the peer-reviewers and the publisher. This statement is based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Ethical Guideline for Journal Publication
The publication of an article in a double-blind peer-reviewed Journal of Contemporary Rituals and Traditions is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the authors, the journal editors, the peer reviewers, the publisher, and the society.

Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Bethel The Way, Jakarta as the publisher of this Journal takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously and we recognize our ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. In addition, Editorial Boards will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful and necessary.

Publication Decisions
The editors of The Way: Jurnal Teologi dan Kependidikan are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Fair Play
An editor at any time evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual contents without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality
The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.

Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgment of Sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Duties of Authors

Reporting standards
Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention
Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication
An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgment of Sources
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship of the Paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects
If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

Conflict of Interest Policy

The Way: Jurnal Teologi dan Kependidikan, published by Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Bethel The Way, Jakarta, Indonesia, is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, independence, and integrity throughout the scholarly publication process.

The journal recognizes that conflicts of interest may arise when personal, financial, professional, institutional, academic, or other relationships could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the conduct, evaluation, interpretation, or publication of scholarly research.

This policy establishes requirements for the identification, disclosure, assessment, and management of potential conflicts of interest involving authors, editors, reviewers, and other individuals participating in the editorial and publication process.

The policy is informed by the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and internationally recognized standards of responsible scholarly publishing.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when an individual's personal, financial, professional, institutional, academic, or other interests may compromise, or appear to compromise, their impartiality, professional judgment, or responsibilities in the research and publication process.

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily indicate unethical behavior. However, failure to disclose or appropriately manage relevant conflicts may undermine the credibility, transparency, and integrity of scholarly research and editorial decisions.

All parties involved in the publication process are expected to disclose relationships or circumstances that could reasonably be considered relevant to their professional judgment or responsibilities.

2. Types of Conflicts of Interest

The Way: Jurnal Teologi dan Kependidikan recognizes several categories of potential conflicts of interest.

a. Financial Conflicts of Interest

Financial conflicts may arise from financial relationships or benefits connected with research activities, including:

Research grants, sponsorships, or financial support.
Employment, consultancy arrangements, or paid advisory positions.
Honoraria, royalties, or other financial compensation.
Ownership interests or financial investments.
Financial relationships with organizations that may benefit from research findings.

b. Personal Conflicts of Interest

Personal conflicts may arise from relationships that could influence professional judgment, including:

Family relationships.
Close personal friendships.
Personal disagreements or disputes.
Romantic relationships.
Other significant personal associations with individuals involved in the research or publication process.

c. Professional and Institutional Conflicts of Interest

Professional or institutional conflicts may arise from:

Shared institutional affiliations.
Direct supervisory or employment relationships.
Recent or ongoing research collaborations.
Professional competition or organizational interests.
Institutional responsibilities that may affect editorial independence.

d. Academic and Intellectual Conflicts of Interest

Academic or intellectual conflicts may arise when individuals have strong scholarly commitments, professional rivalries, or intellectual interests that could interfere with objective research evaluation.

Differences in theological interpretation, denominational background, educational philosophy, or theoretical perspectives do not automatically constitute conflicts of interest.

However, such differences should be disclosed when they create a significant risk of bias or compromise impartial scholarly judgment.

3. Conflict of Interest Policy for Authors

All authors submitting manuscripts to The Way: Jurnal Teologi dan Kependidikan must disclose any financial or non-financial relationships that could reasonably influence, or be perceived to influence, their research.

Authors are required to:

Declare relevant financial, personal, professional, institutional, and academic conflicts of interest.
Identify research funding sources and disclose the role of funders or sponsors, where applicable.
Provide accurate information concerning relationships that may influence research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or reporting.
Ensure that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the conflict of interest declaration.
Inform the editorial team if a relevant conflict of interest is identified during manuscript evaluation or after publication.

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically disqualify a manuscript from publication.

The editorial team will assess whether the disclosed circumstances require additional transparency, independent review, or other appropriate safeguards.

Conflict of Interest Declaration

All submitted manuscripts must include a Conflict of Interest Declaration before the References section.

Example when no conflict of interest exists:

"The authors declare that they have no financial, personal, professional, or institutional conflicts of interest that could have influenced the research or the preparation of this manuscript."

Example when a conflict of interest exists:

"The authors declare that [name of author] has a [financial/professional/institutional] relationship with [name of organization]. This relationship has been disclosed to the editorial team and is described here to ensure transparency regarding potential conflicts of interest."

For single-authored manuscripts, the declaration should use "The author" rather than "The authors."

4. Conflict of Interest Policy for Editors

Editors of The Way: Jurnal Teologi dan Kependidikan must maintain independence, impartiality, and fairness in evaluating manuscripts and making editorial decisions.

Editors must disclose any relationships or circumstances that could compromise their objectivity.

Editors must not manage or make editorial decisions concerning manuscripts when they have significant conflicts of interest involving:

Personal or family relationships with the authors.
Direct financial or professional interests connected to the research.
Recent or ongoing research collaborations with the authors.
Direct supervisory relationships or other significant professional dependencies.
Other circumstances that could reasonably compromise independent editorial judgment.

When an editor identifies a relevant conflict of interest, the editor must withdraw from the manuscript's assessment and decision-making process.

The manuscript should be assigned to another qualified editor without a relevant conflict of interest.

Manuscripts submitted by members of the editorial team must undergo independent editorial handling and the journal's established double-blind peer-review process.

Editorial board membership does not provide preferential treatment or guarantee manuscript acceptance.

5. Conflict of Interest Policy for Reviewers

Reviewers are responsible for providing objective, independent, confidential, and academically rigorous assessments of submitted manuscripts.

Before accepting a review invitation, reviewers must evaluate whether any relationships or interests could affect their impartiality.

Reviewers must disclose potential conflicts of interest involving:

Financial or professional relationships with the research or individuals concerned.
Personal relationships or significant disputes involving authors.
Recent or ongoing research collaborations.
Direct institutional, supervisory, or employment relationships that may compromise independence.
Academic competition or other circumstances that may significantly affect objectivity.

Reviewers who identify a substantial conflict of interest must decline the review invitation or inform the editorial team before proceeding.

If a conflict becomes apparent during the review process, the reviewer must promptly notify the editorial team.

Reviewers must not use confidential manuscript information for personal, professional, institutional, or financial advantage.

The editorial team reserves the right to withdraw a review assignment when a relevant conflict of interest is identified.

6. Management of Conflicts of Interest

The Way: Jurnal Teologi dan Kependidikan applies appropriate measures to manage disclosed or identified conflicts of interest.

Depending on the nature and severity of the circumstances, these measures may include:

Requesting additional conflict of interest disclosures.
Publishing relevant author disclosures with the article.
Assigning manuscripts to independent editors.
Selecting reviewers without relevant conflicts of interest.
Replacing editors or reviewers when impartiality may be compromised.
Requesting independent assessments or institutional clarification.
Taking corrective editorial action when undisclosed conflicts affect the integrity of a published article.

All decisions regarding conflict management must be proportionate to the circumstances and based on reasonable evidence.

7. Institutional and Publisher Independence

The Way: Jurnal Teologi dan Kependidikan is published by Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Bethel The Way, Jakarta, Indonesia.

The journal recognizes the importance of maintaining editorial independence from institutional, administrative, financial, and other external influences.

The publisher, journal administrators, editorial board members, and other affiliated parties must respect the scholarly independence of the editorial decision-making process.

Editorial decisions must be based on manuscript quality, originality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, relevance to the journal's aims and scope, and peer-review evaluations.

Institutional affiliation, academic position, denominational background, personal relationships, and financial considerations must not be used to provide inappropriate publication advantages.

8. Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

When a previously undisclosed conflict of interest is identified, the editorial team will assess its significance and potential impact on the research or editorial process.

For manuscripts under consideration, the journal may request clarification, revise editorial assignments, obtain independent assessments, or take other appropriate actions.

For published articles, the journal may require an updated conflict of interest declaration or issue a formal correction when necessary.

If an undisclosed conflict is associated with serious research or publication misconduct, the matter may be addressed under the journal's Allegations of Research Misconduct policy.

Any corrective action will be determined according to the available evidence and the seriousness of the concern.