Ethical Oversight Policy

Austronesian: Journal of Language Science & Literature is committed to upholding ethical standards throughout the research, peer-review, and publication processes. The journal requires authors to conduct and report research in accordance with applicable ethical principles, legal requirements, and disciplinary standards. Ethical oversight encompasses research involving human participants, vulnerable populations, animals where applicable, informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property, and culturally sensitive materials.

1. Ethical Approval and Research Authorization

Authors conducting research involving human participants, animals, or other activities requiring ethical review must obtain approval from an appropriate research ethics committee or institutional review body before commencing the relevant research activities, where required by applicable regulations and disciplinary standards.

Manuscripts must identify the approving institution or committee and provide the approval reference number and date, where applicable. Authors must also disclose any formal exemption from ethical review and identify the body granting the exemption, where such documentation exists.

If formal ethical approval is not required for a particular study, authors must explain the basis for this determination when requested. The journal reserves the right to request supporting documentation or clarification regarding ethical compliance.

2. Mandatory Ethics Statement

All submitted manuscripts must include an Ethics Statement describing the ethical considerations relevant to the research. Depending on the research design, this statement must identify the applicable ethical approval, the approving institution or committee, and the approval reference number, where applicable.

For studies involving human participants, authors must describe the procedures used to obtain informed consent and, where relevant, consent to publication. For studies that do not require formal ethical approval, authors must provide a brief justification when appropriate.

For theoretical, conceptual, literature-based, and bibliometric studies that do not involve human participants or other activities requiring ethical approval, authors should explicitly indicate that formal ethical approval was not applicable to the study, where appropriate.

The Ethics Statement must accurately reflect the research procedures and comply with applicable ethical standards. The editorial office may request additional information or supporting documentation whenever necessary.

3. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants must respect their dignity, autonomy, privacy, safety, and rights. Authors are responsible for ensuring that participation is voluntary and that research procedures comply with applicable ethical requirements.

Informed consent must be obtained before participation, where required. Participants should receive appropriate information about the research objectives, procedures, potential risks, confidentiality protections, and intended use of their contributions.

For research involving children or individuals who cannot independently provide legally valid consent, permission must be obtained from a parent, legal guardian, or other authorized representative, as applicable, together with the participant's assent where appropriate.

Authors must describe their consent procedures in the manuscript and provide supporting documentation when reasonably requested by the editorial team.

4. Consent to Publication

Consent to participate in research is distinct from consent to publish identifiable information. Authors must obtain specific consent for publication when manuscripts include identifiable personal information, photographs, audio or video recordings, or other materials for which publication consent is required.

Authors must ensure that published materials do not unnecessarily expose participants to identification, discrimination, reputational damage, or other foreseeable harm. Consent documentation must be retained securely and made available to the editorial office when requested, subject to applicable confidentiality requirements.

5. Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Research involving vulnerable individuals or communities requires particular ethical care. Authors must demonstrate that appropriate safeguards have been implemented to minimize potential harm, protect participants' rights, and ensure that participation is voluntary and informed.

The journal recognizes that vulnerability may arise from age, disability, social or economic circumstances, unequal power relationships, legal status, or other contextual factors.

Authors must explain how relevant risks were assessed and managed. Research involving vulnerable populations must not exploit participants or expose them to unnecessary risks, and any additional consent or protective procedures required by applicable ethical standards must be observed.

6. Indigenous Communities and Culturally Sensitive Research

The journal recognizes the ethical responsibilities associated with research involving Indigenous Peoples, minority-language communities, endangered languages, oral traditions, traditional knowledge, sacred narratives, and culturally restricted materials.

Authors must respect community protocols, relevant permissions, cultural ownership, and applicable Indigenous data governance principles. Where necessary, researchers should consult relevant community representatives and obtain appropriate consent before collecting, analyzing, or publishing sensitive linguistic or cultural materials.

The publication of traditional knowledge, recordings, narratives, or other culturally sensitive materials must not violate community restrictions, confidentiality agreements, intellectual property rights, or legitimate expectations of privacy. Authors must explain any restrictions on access or publication and ensure that research findings are presented respectfully and without misrepresentation.

7. Confidentiality, Privacy, and Data Protection

Authors, editors, and reviewers must protect confidential information obtained during research and the editorial process. Personal data and research records must be collected, stored, processed, and shared in accordance with applicable data protection laws, ethical requirements, and consent conditions.

Identifying information must be removed or appropriately protected before research materials are shared publicly, unless disclosure is authorized and ethically justified. Confidential manuscripts, reviewer reports, and unpublished research data must not be disclosed or used for unauthorized purposes.

Where data-sharing restrictions apply, authors must explain the relevant limitations in their Data Availability Statement in accordance with the journal's Data Sharing and Reproducibility Policy.

8. Research Involving Animals

Where applicable, research involving animals must comply with relevant institutional, national, and international standards for animal welfare. Authors must obtain approval from the appropriate animal research ethics committee or authorized body when required and provide details of the approval in the manuscript.

Research procedures must minimize unnecessary pain, distress, and harm. The journal may request supporting documentation or clarification concerning animal welfare and ethical compliance.

9. Verification of Ethical Compliance

The editorial office reserves the right to request supporting documentation to verify compliance with this policy. Such documentation may include ethics approval certificates, exemption letters, informed consent records, consent-to-publication documentation, research permissions, and other relevant evidence.

Authors must provide accurate information and cooperate with reasonable editorial requests concerning ethical compliance. Any documentation submitted to the journal will be handled confidentially and in accordance with applicable privacy and research ethics requirements.

Failure to provide adequate documentation, inaccurate ethical declarations, or unresolved concerns regarding compliance may affect editorial decisions, including rejection of a submission or further investigation where warranted.

10. Ethical Concerns and Editorial Responsibilities

The editorial team is responsible for assessing potential ethical concerns identified during submission, peer review, or after publication. Where concerns arise, the journal may request explanations, ethics approval documents, consent records, data documentation, or other relevant evidence.

Allegations of research or publication misconduct will be assessed fairly and confidentially in accordance with the journal's publication ethics procedures and relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Depending on the nature and severity of the concern, the journal may reject a submission, suspend the editorial process, request corrective action, or issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction for a published article where warranted.

11. Research Integrity and Related Editorial Policies

This Ethical Oversight Policy must be read in conjunction with the journal's other editorial and publication ethics policies, including:

• Conflicts of Interest Policy: requiring authors, editors, reviewers, and editorial staff to disclose relevant competing interests and take appropriate measures to protect impartiality.
• Data Sharing and Reproducibility Policy: promoting responsible data sharing, methodological transparency, and the verification of research findings while protecting confidential and sensitive materials.
• Research Misconduct Policy: addressing allegations of fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and other forms of research or publication misconduct.
• Corrections and Retractions Policy: establishing procedures for correcting the scholarly record when errors or serious integrity concerns are identified.

These policies collectively support responsible research practices, transparent editorial decision-making, and the integrity of the scholarly record.

12. Responsibilities of Authors

By submitting a manuscript to Austronesian: Journal of Language Science & Literature, authors are responsible for:

1. Conducting and reporting research in accordance with applicable ethical standards and legal requirements.
2. Including an accurate Ethics Statement in the manuscript.
3. Obtaining and reporting ethical approval, exemption, and research authorization where applicable.
4. Securing informed consent and consent to publication when required.
5. Protecting participants' privacy, confidentiality, dignity, and welfare.
6. Respecting Indigenous communities, cultural protocols, intellectual property rights, and restrictions on sensitive materials.
7. Providing accurate ethical declarations and supporting documentation when requested.
8. Ensuring that data sharing and publication practices comply with relevant ethical and legal requirements.
9. Responding to reasonable editorial requests for clarification concerning ethical compliance.
10. Reporting potential ethical limitations or concerns transparently.

13. Policy Implementation and Review

The journal applies this policy proportionately, taking into account the research design, disciplinary conventions, applicable ethical requirements, and the nature of the materials involved. The absence of formal ethical approval will not automatically result in rejection when approval was not required and the authors can adequately justify their position.

The editorial team is responsible for implementing this policy consistently throughout the submission, peer-review, and publication processes. The journal may periodically review and update this policy to reflect developments in research ethics, publication standards, data protection, open science, and scholarly publishing.