Publishing ethics

Terra Alimentaria, published by Nusaxis Pustaka Mandiri, is dedicated to maintaining the highest ethical standards in academic publishing. We strictly adhere to the guidelines and Core Practices set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly merit and are not affected by the origins of the manuscript, including the nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, or religion of the authors. All parties involved in the publishing process must conform to these rigorous ethical standards.

Duties of the Editors

  • Fair Play and Independence: Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their academic merit, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope.
  • Confidentiality: The Editor-in-Chief and the editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and the publisher.
  • Publication Decisions: The Editor-in-Chief is ultimately responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published, driven by the validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers.

Duties of the Reviewers

  • Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editors in making editorial decisions and assists authors in improving their manuscripts.
  • Promptness: Any invited referee who feels unqualified to review the research or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should immediately notify the editor and decline the invitation.
  • Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others.
  • Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
  • Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors and report any substantial similarity between the manuscript and any other published paper to the editor.

Duties of the 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. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior.
  • Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original works. If the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited. Plagiarism, including text recycling (self-plagiarism), is unacceptable.
  • Multiple or Redundant Publication: Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior. Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal.
  • Authorship of the Paper: Authorship must be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. The corresponding author ensures that all contributing co-authors are included and have approved the final version.
  • Hazards and Human/Animal Subjects: If the work involves unusual hazards, chemicals, or human/animal subjects, authors must clearly state compliance with relevant institutional and legal ethical guidelines (e.g., WMA Declaration of Helsinki, ARRIVE guidelines). Informed consent must be explicitly stated.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must be limited strictly to those who have made a significant intellectual contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. Terra Alimentaria prohibits "Ghost," "Guest," or "Gift" authorship.

  • Contributorship (CRediT): We highly recommend authors use the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) to detail the specific contributions of each author in the manuscript. Individuals who participated in certain substantive aspects of the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship (e.g., funding acquisition, general supervision, or language editing) should be recognized in the Acknowledgements section.
  • Corresponding Author Responsibilities: The corresponding author must ensure that all appropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission.
  • Authorship Changes: Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be scientifically justified and approved in writing by all original authors. The journal does not adjudicate authorship disputes; such matters must be resolved by the authors' institution(s).
  • AI and Authorship: Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools cannot take accountability for research and therefore cannot be listed as authors. Any use of AI in writing or data analysis must be transparently disclosed in the manuscript.

Complaints and Appeals

We are committed to providing a fair, robust, and transparent process for authors and readers to voice their concerns.

  • Appealing Editorial Decisions: Authors have the right to appeal a manuscript rejection if they believe the decision was based on a demonstrable scientific misunderstanding, biased review, or procedural error. Appeals must be submitted via email to the Editorial Office within 30 days of the decision, accompanied by a detailed, evidence-based rebuttal letter. The Editor-in-Chief, or an assigned independent adjudicator from the Editorial Board, will review the appeal and make a final, non-reversible determination.
  • General Complaints: Complaints regarding the journal’s processes (e.g., excessively long review times, perceived reviewer bias, or administrative failures) should be submitted directly to the Publisher or the Editorial Office. All complaints will be formally acknowledged within 5 business days, investigated impartially, and resolved within 30 days.

Allegations of Research Misconduct

Terra Alimentaria takes all allegations of research and publication misconduct very seriously. Misconduct includes, but is not limited to, data fabrication, data falsification, plagiarism, citation manipulation, identity theft, fraudulent peer review, and systemic manipulation (e.g., paper mills).

  • Handling Allegations: Allegations may be brought to the attention of the Editor-in-Chief at any time by anyone, including anonymous whistleblowers. The journal handles all allegations strictly in accordance with COPE flowcharts.
  • Investigation and Resolution: The Editor-in-Chief will initiate a confidential assessment. The accused author(s) will be given a fair opportunity to respond and provide supporting raw data. If misconduct is proven, the journal will take definitive action, which may include publishing a correction, issuing an Expression of Concern, executing a full Article Retraction, and formally notifying the authors' institutions or funding bodies.

Conflicts of Interest (Competing Interests)

A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning the validity of research may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain, personal relationships, or professional rivalries).

  • Authors: All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with individuals or organizations that could be viewed as inappropriately influencing their work. All sources of financial support for the research must be explicitly stated in the manuscript.
  • Reviewers: Reviewers must not evaluate manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected to the paper. Reviewers must declare any potential conflict to the editor before accepting an invitation.
  • Editors: Editors must recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest. If an Editor or Editorial Board member submits a manuscript to Terra Alimentaria, they are completely blinded from the review process in the OJS platform, and the manuscript is handled independently by another member of the editorial team to ensure absolute impartiality.

Data Sharing and Reproducibility

To promote transparency, reproducibility, and the advancement of science, Terra Alimentaria encourages authors to share the raw data, models, and code underlying their research.

  • Data Availability Statement: All submitted manuscripts must include a Data Availability Statement. This statement should explain where the data supporting the results reported in the article can be found, ideally including hyperlinks/DOIs to publicly archived datasets (e.g., Zenodo, Figshare, Mendeley Data).
  • Exceptions: If data cannot be shared publicly due to privacy, ethical, or legal reasons, this must be explicitly explained in the Data Availability Statement.

Ethical Oversight

Terra Alimentaria rigorously oversees the ethical conduct of the research it publishes.

  • Human and Animal Subjects: If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the author must ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines (e.g., the WMA Declaration of Helsinki or ARRIVE guidelines).
  • Ethical Approval: Authors must include a statement in the manuscript providing the ethical approval number (e.g., IRB or IACUC) granted by their institutional ethics committee.
  • Informed Consent: For research involving human participants, freely-given, informed consent must be obtained and explicitly stated in the manuscript. Research involving vulnerable populations requires strict adherence to international protection standards.
  • Hazards: If the work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript.

Intellectual Property

We respect and protect the intellectual property of authors and ensure transparent licensing.

  • Copyright Retention: Authors who publish in Terra Alimentaria retain full copyright of their work without restrictions. We do not require authors to transfer their copyright to the publisher.
  • Open Access Licensing: All articles are published Open Access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
  • Pre-Publication Protection: Privileged information or ideas obtained by editors and reviewers through the peer review process must be kept strictly confidential and not used for personal advantage or unauthorized research.

Post-Publication Discussions

Terra Alimentaria encourages academic debate and post-publication discussions regarding the articles we publish.

  • Letters to the Editor: We welcome readers to submit formal "Letters to the Editor" containing scientifically grounded critiques, comments, or discussions of published articles.
  • Right of Reply: When a substantive post-publication critique is received, the original authors will be given the opportunity to respond. Both the critique and the response may be peer-reviewed and published alongside each other.
  • Third-Party Platforms: The journal actively monitors and responds to post-publication discussions raised on verified third-party scientific platforms (such as PubPeer). If severe flaws are identified through these discussions, the journal will initiate a formal investigation.

Corrections and Retractions

Published articles shall remain extant, exact, and unaltered to the greatest extent possible. However, when the scientific record requires correction, we will issue a formal, citable notice permanently linked to the original article.

  • Erratum / Corrigendum: Published when it is required to correct a significant error or omission made by the publisher (Erratum) or the author (Corrigendum), provided the core results and conclusions of the article remain scientifically valid.
  • Expression of Concern: Issued by the Editor if there is inconclusive evidence of research misconduct, or if an institutional investigation is underway but a formal judgment will not be available for a considerable time.
  • Article Retraction: Articles will be formally retracted if there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable due to major error, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, redundant publication, or unethical research. A formal Retraction Notice will be published, and the original article PDF will be retained but visibly watermarked as "RETRACTED" on every page.
  • Article Removal: In extremely rare cases, an article may be completely removed from the online archive. This only occurs if the article is defamatory, infringes others’ legal rights, is the subject of a court order, or poses a serious, immediate health risk to the public. In such cases, the metadata is retained, but the PDF is replaced with a removal notice.