Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics Statement and Malpractice Statement
Al-Athfaal: Journal of Early Childhood Islamic Education is a national peer-reviewed journal, available online, and published twice a year. This statement clarifies the ethical behaviour of all parties involved in publishing articles in this journal, including authors, editor-in-chief, Editorial Board, Starred Partners, and publisher. This statement is based on the COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Publishing Ethics Guidelines
Publishing articles in Intellectual: Journal of Islamic Early Childhood Islamic Education is an important building block in the development of a coherent and respected knowledge network. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. The articles reviewed support and contain the scientific method. Therefore, it is important to agree on the expected standards of ethical behaviour for all parties involved in publishing: authors, journal editors, Starred Partners, publishers, and the public.
The Early Childhood Islamic Education Study Programme of Panca Budi Islamic College of Commerce is the publisher of Al-Athfaal: Journal of Early Childhood Islamic Education is responsible for seriously overseeing all stages of publishing and recognises its ethical and other responsibilities. The institution in addition to being committed to ensuring that reprint advertisements and other commercial income do not impact or influence editorial decisions is also committed to assisting communication with other journals and/or publishers if deemed useful and necessary.

Publishing Decisions
The editor of Al-Athfaal: Journal of Early Childhood Islamic Education are responsible for deciding which articles to publish. The validation of the work and its significance to researchers and readers should always drive the decision. The editor may be guided by the policies of the journal's board of editors and constrained by legal provisions that must be enforced regarding defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Editors may negotiate with other editors or the review team in making these decisions.

Fair Treatment
Editors always assess manuscripts based on their intellectual content without discriminating against the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality, or political philosophy.

Privacy
Editors and editorial staff should not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the author, expert editors, bestary partners, and publisher.
Manuscripts accepted for review should be treated as confidential documents. They should not be shown or discussed with others unless authorised by the editor.

Disclosures and Conflicts of Interest
Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript may not be used in the editor's own research without the written consent of the author.

Contribution to Editorial Decisions
The judgement of the reviewers helps the editors in making editorial decisions and through editorial communication with the authors can also help the authors to improve their writing.

Time Effectiveness
Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to assess the research reported in the manuscript or knows that a rapid review will not be possible, need not notify the editor and excuse him/her from the assessment process.

Confidentiality
Any manuscript received for review should be treated as a confidential document. It should not be shown or discussed with others unless authorised by the editor.

Objectivity Standard
Judgement should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is not allowed. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of Sources
Assessors must identify relevant published works not cited by the authors. Any assertion that an observation, derivation, or argument has been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. Assessors should also ask editors to note any similarities or overlaps between the manuscript and other published articles.
Fair recognition of the work of others should always be given. Authors should cite publications that were influential in determining the nature of the reported work.
Notification and Conflict of Interest

Unpublished material disclosed in the submitted manuscript will not be used in the editor's own research without the written consent of the author.
Confidential information or opinions obtained through peer review will be kept confidential and not used for personal gain. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest arising from a competitive, co-operative, or other relationship or relationships with authors, companies, or institutions associated with the article.
All authors must disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts that might be expected to influence the outcome or interpretation of their manuscript. All financial support for the project must be disclosed.

Reporting Standards
Authors must present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Key data must be accurately represented in writing. A paper should include sufficient detail and references to allow others to repeat the work. Fraudulent or deliberately inaccurate statements are unethical and unacceptable behaviour.

Authenticity and Plagiarism
Authors must ensure that they have written a completely original piece of work, and that they have properly cited if using the work and/or words of others.

Double, Repetitive or Concurrent Publishing
An author should generally not publish a manuscript describing essentially the same research in more than one major journal or publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously is unethical and unacceptable behaviour.

Authorship Authorship
Authorship should be limited to those who made important contributions to the conception, design, conduct, or interpretation of the reported research. All important contributors should be listed as co-authors. If others participated in certain important aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors are included in the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the text and have agreed to submit it for publication.

Fundamental errors in published work
If an author discovers significant errors or inaccuracies in his or her publication, then the author should immediately notify the editor or publisher of the journal and liaise with the editor to retract or correct the paper.