Sriwijaya Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (SJOG) — published by Phlox Institute: Indonesian Medical Research Organization and licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed journal committed to the highest standards of integrity in scholarly publishing. This statement defines the ethical responsibilities of every party in the publication process — authors, editors, peer reviewers, and the publisher — and the procedures the journal follows to safeguard the integrity of the published record.

Responsibilities at a Glance

1. Editorial Independence and Governance

Editorial decisions are made solely on the basis of scholarly merit and are free from interference by the publisher, advertisers, sponsors, professional societies, or any commercial interest. Decisions are never influenced by the origin of the work, the standing of the authors, or the Article Processing Charge.

2. Duties of Editors

• Publication decisions: the editors decide which submitted articles are published, guided by the validity of the work and its importance to readers, and constrained by legal requirements on libel, copyright, and plagiarism.
• Fair play: manuscripts are evaluated for intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
• Confidentiality: no information about a submission is disclosed to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
• Conflicts of interest: unpublished material in a submission is never used in an editor’s own research without the author’s written consent.

3. Duties of Reviewers

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and, through constructive communication with the author, may also help the author improve the manuscript. It is an essential component of formal scholarly communication and lies at the heart of the scientific method.

• Promptness: any invited reviewer who feels unqualified, or who knows that a prompt review will be impossible, should notify the editor without delay and decline the invitation.
• Confidentiality: manuscripts received for review are confidential documents; they must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorised by the editor, and copies must not be retained.
• Use of AI in review: reviewers must not upload a submitted manuscript, or any part of it, to generative artificial-intelligence tools or other third-party platforms, as doing so breaches confidentiality. Any AI-assisted use must be disclosed; reviewers remain fully responsible for the content and impartiality of their reports.
• Objectivity: reviews must be objective and supported by specific, evidence-based arguments; personal criticism of authors is strictly prohibited.
• Acknowledgement of sources: reviewers should identify relevant published work not cited by the authors and alert the editor to any substantial overlap with other published work.
• Conflicts of interest: reviewers must decline manuscripts in which they have competitive, collaborative, financial, or other conflicts with the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the work.

4. Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards, Originality & Data

Authors reporting original research must present an accurate account of the work performed together with an objective discussion of its significance; underlying data must be represented accurately and in sufficient detail to permit replication. Reporting should conform to the recognised reporting guideline appropriate to the study design (CONSORT, STROBE, STARD, PRISMA, CARE). The work must be entirely original, with all sources appropriately cited; all submissions are screened with similarity-detection software. Authors must not submit the same research to more than one journal concurrently.

Authorship & CRediT

Authorship is limited to those meeting the four ICMJE criteria; all who qualify must be listed and all others acknowledged. The corresponding author ensures every qualifying author is included and has approved the final version. Any change to authorship after submission requires the written agreement of all authors and the editor’s approval. Contributions are declared using the CRediT taxonomy.

Disclosure of the Use of Artificial Intelligence

Any use of generative AI tools or large language models in preparing a manuscript must be disclosed in the methods or acknowledgements, specifying the tool and the manner of its use. AI tools cannot be listed as authors, since they cannot accept responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, or originality of the work; authors remain fully accountable for all content.

Human Subjects, Ethical Approval & Consent

For studies involving human participants, authors must confirm approval by an appropriate research-ethics committee, cite the approval number, confirm compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and confirm that written informed consent was obtained. Studies in obstetrics and gynecology frequently involve participants who require additional protection:

• Pregnant women, fetuses, and neonates are regarded as vulnerable; the manuscript must describe specific safeguards and the basis for ethical approval.
• Adolescents and minors require appropriate assent together with consent from a parent or legal guardian; where a participant lacks decision-making capacity, consent must be obtained from a legally authorised representative.
• Identifiable clinical material — including facial, ultrasound, operative, histopathologic, neonatal, or perineal images — may be published only with explicit written consent for publication, which may not be inferred from consent to treatment.
• Sensitive conditions (pregnancy loss, infertility, sexually transmitted infection, gynecologic malignancy) demand the strictest confidentiality to protect patient dignity.

Clinical Trial Registration, Funding & Errors

In accordance with ICMJE policy, clinical trials must be prospectively registered in a recognised public registry before recruitment of the first participant, and the registration number must appear in the abstract. All authors must disclose any financial or other conflict of interest and all sources of funding, including the role of any sponsor. An author who discovers a significant error in their published work must promptly notify the editor and cooperate in its correction or retraction.

5. Duties of the Publisher

Phlox Institute, as the publisher of SJOG, safeguards the integrity of the scholarly record, respects the editorial independence of the journal, provides the editorial and technical infrastructure necessary to detect and respond to research and publication misconduct, assists in communications with other journals and institutions where required by an investigation, and is committed to the permanent preservation and continued availability of published scholarship through reliable digital archiving.

6. Plagiarism Screening & Competing Interests

Every submitted manuscript is screened for textual similarity before peer review and again before acceptance; manuscripts containing plagiarised or improperly recycled content are handled per COPE guidance and may be rejected or, if published, corrected or retracted (see the Plagiarism Policy). All parties — authors, reviewers, and editors — must declare any relationship or interest that could be perceived to bias their work; declared interests are managed transparently to protect editorial objectivity.

7. Misconduct, Corrections & Retractions

SJOG welcomes substantive appeals and complaints, addressed to the Editor-in-Chief. Allegations of misconduct are investigated impartially per the relevant COPE flowcharts, whenever the concern is raised; authors are given a fair opportunity to respond, confidentiality is protected, and matters may be referred to institutions or regulators where appropriate. The journal maintains the published record through timely corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern, each linked to the original article, clearly labelled, and freely available.

8. Data Sharing, IP, Advertising & Reporting Concerns

• Data sharing: authors include a data-availability statement describing whether, where, and under what conditions the underlying data can be accessed, consistent with patient privacy and applicable law.
• Intellectual property & open access: articles are distributed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; authors retain copyright. Permission must be obtained for any reused material.
• Advertising: any advertising is kept entirely separate from editorial decision-making and has no influence on content.
• Reporting concerns: concerns regarding publication ethics may be raised in confidence with the editorial office at sjog.editor@gmail.com; all concerns are handled in accordance with this statement.