AKUBIS: Jurnal Akuntansi Bisnis Pelita Bangsa is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by the Directorate of Research and Community Service (DPPM), Universitas Pelita Bangsa, Indonesia. This statement establishes the ethical responsibilities of editors, reviewers, authors, and the publisher. It is informed by the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly merit, originality, relevance to the journal's scope, and adherence to research and publication ethics.

1. Duties of Editors

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board, as identified on the journal's Editorial Team page, oversee the editorial process and are responsible for protecting its integrity.

Publication Decisions. Editors evaluate manuscripts based on scientific quality, methodological soundness, originality, clarity, relevance, and reviewer recommendations. The final publication decision rests with the responsible editor.

Fair Evaluation. Manuscripts must be assessed without discrimination based on authors' personal identity, nationality, institutional affiliation, religion, gender, or political views.

Confidentiality. Editors and editorial staff must protect submitted manuscripts and disclose confidential information only to individuals legitimately involved in editorial assessment.

Conflicts of Interest. Editors must disclose and appropriately manage competing interests. An editor with a relevant conflict should not make the editorial decision for the affected manuscript.

Research Integrity. Editors must assess credible concerns about plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated or falsified data, inappropriate authorship, or unethical research, while providing affected parties a fair opportunity to respond.

2. Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions. Reviewers support editors through constructive, evidence-based assessments and help authors improve the scholarly quality of their work.

Competence and Timeliness. Reviewers should accept assignments only when they possess suitable expertise and sufficient time. Otherwise, they should promptly notify the editor.

Confidentiality. Manuscripts and review materials must not be shared, used for personal advantage, or uploaded to external services without editorial authorization.

Objectivity. Reviews must focus on the manuscript and provide reasoned comments. Personal attacks and discriminatory judgments are unacceptable.

Identification of Sources. Reviewers should identify important missing references and notify editors of suspected substantial overlap with previously published work.

Conflicts of Interest. Reviewers must disclose relationships or interests that could compromise impartial assessment and decline the review when appropriate.

3. Duties of Authors

Accurate Reporting. Authors must describe research methods, findings, and limitations accurately, without fabrication, falsification, or misleading presentation.

Originality and Plagiarism. Submitted manuscripts must be original. Ideas, quotations, data, images, and other third-party materials must be properly cited, and necessary permissions must be obtained.

Multiple and Concurrent Publication. Authors must not submit substantially the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal or conceal overlapping publications.

Authorship and Contributions. Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions. All authors must approve the submitted manuscript and agree to any changes in authorship.

Research Ethics and Informed Consent. Where applicable, authors must disclose ethical approval, informed consent, participant protection, and safeguards for confidential or personal data.

Data Integrity and Availability. Authors should preserve supporting research records and be prepared to provide relevant data or explanations for legitimate editorial assessment, subject to legal, privacy, and ethical restrictions.

Funding and Conflicts of Interest. Authors must disclose funding sources and financial or non-financial interests that could reasonably influence the research or its interpretation.

Corrections and Retractions. Authors who discover significant errors after publication must promptly inform the journal and cooperate in appropriate corrective action.

4. Editorial Assessment and Peer Review

Submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment of scope, completeness, originality, and ethical compliance. Manuscripts considered suitable for further consideration are evaluated by appropriately qualified reviewers.

Editors should ensure that the peer-review process is fair, confidential, timely, and free from undue influence. The type of reviewer anonymity, stages, and editorial procedures are described on the journal's Peer Review Process page. Editors must implement the publicly stated review model consistently in the OJS editorial workflow and protect reviewer and author confidentiality in accordance with that model.

5. Publication Misconduct and Post-Publication Concerns

Allegations involving plagiarism, redundant publication, citation manipulation, authorship disputes, undeclared conflicts of interest, data manipulation, or other breaches of publication ethics must be examined fairly and confidentially.

Editors may request explanations and supporting evidence and, where appropriate, consult relevant institutions or follow COPE guidance. Depending on the evidence and severity of the concern, the journal may issue a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction.

Published records should be updated transparently. Scholarly content should not be silently removed from the publication record.

6. Responsibilities of the Publisher

DPPM Universitas Pelita Bangsa, as the publisher identified in this policy, is responsible for safeguarding editorial independence, supporting transparent journal governance, and facilitating the preservation of the scholarly record.

Financial, commercial, institutional, or other external interests must not improperly influence decisions concerning manuscript acceptance or rejection.

7. Join as a Reviewer and Ethical Concerns

AKUBIS welcomes expressions of interest from qualified academics and researchers specializing in accounting, auditing, taxation, finance, and related business disciplines.

Prospective reviewers and individuals wishing to raise publication-ethics concerns may contact the editorial office through the journal's official Contact page.

Reviewer selection should consider academic expertise, publication experience, availability, independence, and adherence to the ethical standards of scholarly peer review.

8. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, and readers may raise concerns about editorial procedures, publication decisions, ethical conduct, or the integrity of published content through the journal's official contact page. Complaints should describe the issue and provide supporting information where available.

The editorial office should acknowledge and assess complaints objectively, manage conflicts of interest, and seek a response from relevant parties when appropriate. Appeals against editorial decisions should identify the decision under appeal and explain the grounds for reconsideration. An appeal does not guarantee reversal of a decision. Where the concern involves the responsible editor, it should be considered by an uninvolved editor or appropriate publisher representative.

9. Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

When an error materially affects the scholarly record, AKUBIS may publish a clearly identified correction linked to the original article. An expression of concern may be issued if serious concerns remain unresolved while an investigation is underway.

Retraction may be appropriate when findings are unreliable, the article contains serious misconduct, or other circumstances justify withdrawal from the scholarly record in accordance with relevant COPE guidance.

Notices should identify the affected article, describe the reason for the action without unnecessary personal information, and remain publicly accessible. The original scholarly record should be preserved with a clear indication of its status wherever practicable.

10. Artificial Intelligence and Research Integrity

Authors are accountable for every part of their manuscript, including work assisted by artificial intelligence (AI). AI systems must not be listed as authors.

Substantive AI assistance must be disclosed in accordance with the journal's AI Usage Policy. Authors must independently verify factual claims, references, data, analyses, and visual materials. Fabrication of data or citations and deceptive manipulation of images are prohibited.

Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential submissions or review reports to unauthorized AI services. Editorial and peer-review judgments remain the responsibility of qualified human editors and reviewers.

11. Publication Transparency and Related Policies

AKUBIS provides information about manuscript preparation, Author Guidelines, Peer Review Process, publication fees, and copyright and licensing.

Articles published under the journal's adopted CC BY-SA 4.0 policy may be shared and adapted subject to the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The applicable licensing terms for previously published articles should be determined from their original publication records.

The journal and publisher must keep their public policies consistent with actual editorial practice and communicate substantive changes transparently.