AFRE (Accounting and Financial Review) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and research integrity. The journal strictly enforces zero-tolerance policies against any form of academic dishonesty and research misconduct. All allegations of misconduct are handled with utmost seriousness, confidentiality, and rigor, strictly adhering to the guidelines and flowcharts established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

What is Research Misconduct?

Research misconduct refers to actions or practices that deviate from accepted ethical standards in scholarly research and publishing. In the context of AFRE, misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

• Plagiarism Copying text, ideas, figures, or data from other sources without proper attribution or permission.
• Duplicate or Redundant Submission/Publication Submitting the same manuscript (or substantially similar work) to multiple journals simultaneously or republishing previously published work without disclosure.
• Data Fabrication and Falsification Fabricating non-existent research data/findings or manipulating research materials, equipment, processes, or statistical output to present inaccurate conclusions.
• Image and Graphic Manipulation Altering visual depictions of data to misrepresent research outcomes.
• Citation Manipulation Inducing or coercing authors to include unwarranted citations to specific journals, reviewers, or articles to artificially inflate citation metrics.
• Authorship Misconduct Inclusion of "ghost", "guest", or "gift" authors who have not made significant intellectual contributions, or omitting individuals who contributed substantially to the research.
• Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest Failing to declare financial, personal, or academic conflicts of interest that could influence the research objectivity.

Reporting Mechanism and Whistleblower Protection

Allegations of research misconduct may be raised by editors, reviewers, readers, or external parties at any stage of the publication process (pre-publication or post-publication).

• How to Report Allegations must be submitted in writing directly to the Editor-in-Chief at [email protected].
• Evidentiary Requirement Reports should contain clear, detailed, and verifiable evidence (such as comparative text analysis, original datasets, or documented correspondence) supporting the claim.
• Confidentiality & Protection The journal maintains strict confidentiality regarding the identities of both the whistleblower (complainant) and the accused party (respondent) throughout the investigation process. Anonymous complaints will be evaluated if sufficient objective evidence is provided.

Investigation and Due Process

AFRE ensures a transparent, impartial, and balanced due process for all parties involved:

1. Preliminary Inquiry: The Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief conduct an initial review within 14 working days to assess whether the allegation is grounded and backed by sufficient evidence.
2. Formal Investigation: If the claim warrants further action, the Editor-in-Chief forms an ad-hoc Ethics Committee comprising internal editors and independent external reviewers.
3. Right to Respond: The author(s) against whom the allegation is made will be notified in writing and given a period of 14 to 30 days to provide a detailed explanation, raw data, or supporting documentation.
4. Resolution: The Ethics Committee evaluates all evidence and responses to determine whether misconduct occurred and decide on the appropriate outcome.

Sanctions and Corrective Actions

Depending on the severity and nature of the proven misconduct, AFRE may execute the following measures:

• Manuscript Rejection Immediate rejection and return of manuscripts currently under review.
• Formal Retraction Post-publication retraction of the article accompanied by a published Retraction Notice detailing the reasons, in line with COPE Retraction Guidelines.
• Expression of Concern or Corrigendum Publication of an Expression of Concern (if an investigation is inconclusive) or a formal Correction notice (for minor inadvertent errors).
• Institutional Escalation Reporting the formal findings to the author’s affiliated institution (e.g., Universitas Merdeka Malang or external university/institution), research ethics committee, or funding body.
• Submission Ban Imposing a temporary or permanent prohibition on future submissions from the author(s) involved to AFRE.