Ethics and Malpractice

Kertas of Information and Communication Science (KICS) is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. We are committed to ensuring integrity, transparency, and fairness throughout the peer-review and publishing process. Any form of publication malpractice is strictly prohibited, and all reasonable measures will be taken to prevent misconduct.

KICS serves the academic and professional community by publishing original, high-quality work that contributes to the fields of information and communication science. We expect the same ethical commitment from our authors, reviewers, and editors. The journal adheres to the principles and guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and maintains best practices in addressing ethical issues, retractions, and corrections.

Editorial Responsibilities

  • Editors are responsible for deciding which manuscripts are suitable for publication based on originality, scholarly quality, and relevance to the journal’s scope.

  • Editorial decisions are made impartially, without consideration of the authors' race, gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, political views, or institutional affiliation.

  • Editors must ensure a rigorous, fair, and confidential peer-review process.

  • Editors must not disclose any manuscript information except to those involved in the review and publication process.

  • Editors must avoid conflicts of interest and must not use unpublished material for personal research.

  • Editors are responsible for safeguarding the integrity of the academic record by issuing corrections or retractions when necessary and investigating allegations of misconduct.

Editorial Board Responsibilities

  • Editorial board members must maintain the confidentiality of all manuscript submissions.

  • They are required to disclose any conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from editorial decisions where such conflicts arise.

  • Board members must evaluate manuscripts solely on scholarly merit and uphold transparent, consistent editorial processes.

Reviewer Responsibilities

  • Reviewers must treat all submissions as confidential documents and must not share or discuss them with others.

  • Reviews should be objective and constructive, offering clear and evidence-based feedback.

  • Reviewers should highlight relevant work not cited by the authors and alert the editors to potential ethical issues such as plagiarism or data manipulation.

  • Reviewers unable to complete their review in a timely manner or who identify a conflict of interest must notify the editors promptly.

  • Reviewers must refrain from evaluating submissions where a conflict of interest exists due to relationships with authors or institutions.

Author Responsibilities

  • Authors must submit original work conducted ethically and in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines.

  • The manuscript must not have been published elsewhere and should not be under consideration by another journal.

  • All listed authors must have made significant contributions to the work and must accept joint responsibility for the content.

  • Proper citation of others’ work is required, and all sources of funding and potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed.

  • Authors must clearly describe their research methods and provide sufficient detail to allow replication of findings.

  • If a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered in a published article, authors must notify the editorial office promptly for correction or retraction.

Copyright and Licensing

By submitting a manuscript to KICS, authors affirm that the work is original and unpublished elsewhere. Upon acceptance, authors agree to transfer copyright to the publisher. KICS supports open access publishing, and all articles are published under a Creative Commons license to promote free and global dissemination of research.

A copyright transfer form is available for download and must be completed upon acceptance.