Publication Ethics

Midwife Care Journal (MICARE) is a peer-reviewed national journal, available online and published two times a year. This statement clarifies the ethical behavior of all parties involved in the publication of an article in this journal, including the author, the chief editor, the Editorial Board, the peer-reviewers, and the publisher. This statement is based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publication

The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed Midwife Care Journal (MICARE) is an essential building block in the development of a respected network of knowledge in midwifery and maternal health care. It reflects the quality of the authors’ work and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. Therefore, it is important to agree upon standards of ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, the publisher, and the society.

Universitas Bhakti Asih Tangerang, as the publisher of Midwife Care Journal (MICARE), takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing seriously and recognizes its 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, Universitas Bhakti Asih Tangerang and the Editorial Board will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers when necessary.

Publication Decisions

The editor of Midwife Care Journal (MICARE) is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work and its importance to researchers and readers must always guide these decisions. The editors may be guided by the journal's editorial board's policies and legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making these decisions.

Fair Play

An editor evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content 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 communications with the author may help improve the manuscript.

Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research or knows that a prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse themselves 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. Reviewers 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 or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. Reviewers should also call the editor's attention to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript 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 review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards
Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Data should be represented accurately, and the manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit replication. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Originality and Plagiarism
Authors should ensure that their work is original, and if they use the work or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication
An author should not submit manuscripts describing essentially the same research to more than one journal. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgment of Sources
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have influenced the nature of the research.

Authorship of the Paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have significantly contributed to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All significant contributors should be listed as co-authors, while others who participated should be acknowledged as contributors. The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Authors should disclose any financial or substantive conflicts of interest that could influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All financial support sources for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works
If authors discover a significant error in their published work, it is their obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.