Our ethical statements are formulated with the journal's purpose in mind. Yet we are also considering some practices crafted by COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors to ensure the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct in our publication process.

Ethical Guideline for Journal Publication

The publication of all articles in OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra arranges guidelines to ensure the articles' quality and the journal's integrity. As the publisher of this journal, the Center of Language Development of Institut Agama Islam Negeri Madura is responsible for justifying ethical standards and other duties in the publication of all academic articles. All parties should follow ethical guidelines, including the editorial board, peer reviewers, authors, and publishers.

The Duties of the Editorial Board
Publication decisions
The editor-in-chief of OKARA, Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra decides the manuscripts that are published. This decision is made based on the validation of the submitted works and their significance to researchers and readers. The editor-in-chief must follow and respect the policies of the journal’s editorial board and must adhere to legal requirements concerning libel, infringement of copyright, and plagiarism. The editor-in-chief also consults with associate editors or reviewers when making this decision.

Fair play
The OKARA's editors will assess each manuscript based on their intellectual content without considering the authors' religious beliefs, region, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, or political views.

Confidentiality
The editor-in-chief and the editors of OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra will keep information about a submitted manuscript confidential, disclosing it only to the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as necessary.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest
OKARA's editor-in-chief and editor will never use unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript in their research without the author's explicit written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained before and after peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal purposes. Editors will disqualify or automatically reject themselves from considering manuscripts with conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any authors, companies, or institutions associated with the papers. Editors require all authors to disclose relevant competing interests and state them implicitly in the text body before submission. The editors will publish corrections if such interests are revealed after publication. Other appropriate actions, such as issuing a retraction or expressing concern, will be taken if necessary.

Participation and collaboration in investigations
The editor-in-chief will take appropriate actions when ethical complaints are notified by the contributors and other related parties regarding a submitted manuscript or published articles in collaboration with other editorial boards and publishers. These actions typically involve contacting the author of the manuscript or paper to consider the complaint or claims thoroughly. Additionally, further communication with relevant institutions and research bodies may be necessary. If the complaint is substantiated, appropriate measures such as issuing a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other relevant notice will be conducted. All reported unethical publishing behavior must be investigated, even if discovered years after publication.

Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer reviewers support the editor in providing expert review of the submitted manuscripts' contents, making editorial decisions based on their expertise, and communicating them back to the editorial board, which contacts the authors to help them improve their manuscripts through editorial feedback. It is a crucial element of formal scholarly communication and central to the scientific method. The reviewers also have to agree with the widespread belief that all scholars who wish to contribute to publications are responsible for participating fairly in the peer review process.

Promptness
The reviewers are experts in specific fields and will only review based on their expertise. Suppose a selected reviewer feels unqualified to assess the research in a manuscript or knows they cannot review it promptly. In that case, they should inform the editor and withdraw from the review process. In addition, the reviewers will complete their review within the agreed-upon timeframe to avoid delays in the publication process. Reviewers should also promptly communicate any issues or concerns regarding their ability to complete the review on time. If additional information or clarifications are requested by the editor, reviewers should respond as soon as possible.

Confidentiality
All submitted manuscripts sent for review must be treated as confidential. They should not be shared with or discussed with anyone other than those authorized by the editor-in-chief.

Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted impartially, avoiding any personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should present their opinions clearly and provide well-supported or evidence-based arguments.

Acknowledgment of Sources
Reviewers should identify any relevant published works that the authors have not cited. They may suggest specific sources to help the authors improve their manuscripts. The reviewer should include the appropriate citation if an observation, derivation, or argument has been previously reported. Additionally, suppose the reviewer knows of any significant similarities or overlaps between the manuscript under review and other published papers. In that case, they should bring this to the attention of the OKARA's editors or editor-in-chief.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
Any (unpublished) materials disclosed in a manuscript submitted to OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the author's express written consent. 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 and 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 behavior and are unacceptable.

Originality and Plagiarism
Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works. If the authors have quoted the work and/or words of others or from their own previously published and unpublished work, this has been appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism takes many forms, from passing off another's paper as the author’s paper to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution) to claiming results from research conducted by others. OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra has zero tolerance for plagiarism and unethical behavior concerning publishing. Therefore, plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. The OKARA journal utilizes Turnitin to measure the similarity level with a maximum similarity percentage of 25%. All papers with any plagiarism detections mean an immediate rejection.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication
Authors must ensure that all manuscripts submitted for publication in OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra must be original and must not have been submitted to any other publication. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. 

Acknowledgment of Sources
Acknowledging the work of others is essential. Authors should reference publications that have significantly influenced their reported work. Information acquired privately through conversations, correspondence, or discussions with third parties must not be used or reported without explicit, written consent from the source. Similarly, information gained through confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be utilized without the explicit written permission of the author of the involved work.

Authorship of the Paper
Authorship should be restricted to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All such contributors should be listed as co-authors, and their contributions should be clearly mentioned in the articles. Others who have participated in significant aspects of the research should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author must ensure 1) Transparency and honesty, which means accurate reporting of each author's contribution and ensuring that credit is given where due; 2) No Inappropriate Authors, Avoiding the inclusion of individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria (guest, gift, or ghost authorship); 3) Consent, ensuring that all listed authors have consented to the manuscript's submission and publication; and 4) Responsibility, taking primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the submission, peer review, and publication process. Additionally, all co-authors should have reviewed and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication. Authors should also be able to account for and defend the work's accuracy and integrity.

Hazards and human or animal subjects
If the work involves animal or human subjects, the author must ensure the manuscript includes a statement confirming that all procedures complied with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and were approved by the appropriate institutional committee(s). Authors should also include a statement in the manuscript confirming that informed consent was obtained for experiments involving human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be respected.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
All authors must disclose any financial or substantive conflicts of interest in their manuscript that could potentially influence the results or interpretation of their work. Additionally, all sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed clearly. Potential conflicts of interest to be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications or registrations, and grants or other funding. These conflicts should be disclosed as early as possible. Any disclosure and conflicts of interest should also be clearly stated in the manuscripts.

Fundamental errors in published works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author is obligation to promptly notify the journal editor-in-chief or the editors of OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra and cooperate in the retraction or correction of the paper. If the editor-in-chief or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor-in-chief or the editors of OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra of the correctness of the original paper.

Duties of The Publisher
Handling of unethical publishing behavior
In cases of unethical publishing behaviors, alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate authorship, conflicts of interest, or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and amend the article in question. The journal's editor or publisher immediately and must include sufficient evidence for an investigation. The publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will conduct a confidential and comprehensive investigation, allowing authors to respond to allegations. Confirmed cases of unethical behavior will result in appropriate actions, such as erratum, clarification, correction, or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the published works. The publishers may also take action, such as sending notifications to the author’s institution and funding agencies and banning the author from future submissions to the journal. Corrections will be made for honest errors not amounting to unethical behavior, while retractions will be issued if the integrity of the research is compromised. All communications regarding investigations will be documented and retained, with final decisions and actions communicated to relevant parties, including authors, complainants, and possibly the author’s institution. To avoid this, the publishers, in this case, the journal, will implement educational measures, such as guidelines and workshops, to prevent unethical behavior and inform authors about ethical standards.

Access to journal content
The publisher is committed to the permanent availability and preservation of scholarly research and ensures accessibility by partnering with organizations and maintaining our own digital archive.

Article Withdrawal

OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra is committed to maintaining the integrity of scholarly literature through transparent and accountable practices in managing published articles. To ensure this, our editorial board follows clear procedures for handling article withdrawal, retraction, removal, and replacement. These policies are guided and modified from the Article Correction, Retraction and Removal Policy by Elsevier.