Editorial Independence and Responsibilities

Independent Scholarly Decisions

Journal Marine Services (JMS) is published by Politeknik Pelayaran Banten. The institution provides organizational support, but manuscript acceptance, revision, rejection, and post-publication decisions must be made by appropriately appointed editors on scholarly and ethical grounds.

Role of the Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief oversees the editorial direction, policy implementation, reviewer network, quality-control procedures, and fair handling of contested decisions. The Editor-in-Chief must protect independence from institutional prestige, sponsorship, project ownership, or pressure to publish internal activities.

Role of Handling Editors

Editors evaluate scope and reporting quality, select independent reviewers, consider potential conflicts, assess review evidence and author revisions, and produce reasoned decisions. Editorial handling should not be assigned solely because an author has an official position or an established relationship with the publisher.

Papers Involving Editors or Publisher Personnel

An editor who is a manuscript author must have no role in assigning its reviewers, viewing confidential reviewer reports beyond the normal author access, or making its acceptance decision. An independent handling editor should be appointed, and the reassignment recorded in OJS. The same approach applies when the manuscript is submitted by the editor's close collaborator, supervisor, or another person whose relationship presents a material conflict.

Role of Reviewers and the Publisher

Reviewers provide independent technical and methodological criticism but do not control final acceptance. The publisher supports sound infrastructure, safety, lawful data handling, and financial transparency without dictating which articles are published. No payment, sponsorship, or publication quota may override ethical requirements or peer-review judgment.

Potential concerns about editorial independence can be reported under the Complaints and Appeals Policy.