Ethical Oversight

JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Ethical Oversight

Ensuring that engineering research involving people, communities, organisations, animals and the environment is conducted responsibly and with the appropriate approvals and permissions.

Engineering research affects people, communities and the environment: workers who answer a questionnaire, residents living near a monitored slope, a company whose plant is studied, and the ecosystem from which samples are taken. The Journal of Engineering and Technological Sciences (JETS) expects every study it publishes to have been carried out responsibly and with the permissions that its subject matter requires.

Shared ethical responsibility

Researchers design and conduct the work ethically; their institutions and ethics committees review and approve it; JETS checks that the necessary approvals and consents are in place and reported, and acts when they are not.

This policy follows the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

General Principle

All research submitted to JETS must comply with the laws and regulations of the country where it was carried out, the requirements of the authors' institutions and funders, and recognised international ethical standards.

Where these differ, the stricter requirement applies.

Authors are responsible for knowing which approvals their work needs and for obtaining them before the research begins. Approval cannot be obtained retrospectively for work already carried out.

Approval and Permits

Does My Study Need Ethical Approval or a Permit?

The following guide covers situations most often met in JETS submissions. If in doubt, consult your institution's ethics committee before starting the work and explain the situation in your manuscript.

Usually Requires Approval from a Research Ethics Committee

Surveys, interviews, focus groups or observation of people, where personal or sensitive information is collected.
Ergonomic, physiological, thermal-comfort, acoustic or lighting studies that measure human participants.
Experiments in which people are exposed to any risk, discomfort or deception.
Studies using identifiable personal records.
Any work involving live vertebrate animals.

Usually Requires a Permit or Written Permission

Field sampling, drilling, instrument installation or surveys in protected areas, forests, marine zones or on private, customary or company land.
Collection, transfer or export of biological, geological or environmental samples.
Research in Indonesia by researchers from foreign institutions.
Flying drones for aerial survey or photography.
Access to, and publication of data from, a company's plant, process or records.

Usually Does Not Require Ethics Approval

Laboratory work on materials, structures or chemicals, provided appropriate safety procedures are followed.
Numerical modelling and simulation.
Analysis of published or openly licensed data.
Anonymous, low-risk questionnaires to professionals about technical matters, where the ethics committee or institutional policy exempts them.

If you consider that your study did not need approval, say so in the manuscript and explain why, citing the relevant institutional policy or an exemption letter from the ethics committee.

Human Participants

Research Involving People

3.1 Informed Consent

Participants must be told the purpose of the study, what taking part involves, any risks, how their data will be used and stored, and that they may withdraw without penalty. Consent must be given freely and recorded in writing or in another documented form approved by the ethics committee.

For participants who cannot give consent themselves, consent must come from a legally authorised representative.

3.2 Workers and Employees

Workers studied at their workplace may feel unable to refuse if their employer supports the research. Authors should explain how participation was kept voluntary, for example by recruiting independently of supervisors and ensuring that individual responses were not shared with the employer.

3.3 Vulnerable Groups

Research involving children, people with disabilities, informal or low-income workers, disaster-affected communities or others who may be at particular risk requires additional care. Authors must justify their inclusion, describe the extra safeguards used, and confirm that the ethics committee approved these arrangements.

3.4 Privacy and Personal Data

Authors must handle personal data in accordance with applicable data-protection law, including, for research conducted in Indonesia, Law No. 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection.

Published articles should not contain names, contact details, precise home locations or other information that could identify participants unless it is essential and the individuals have given specific consent for publication.

3.5 Consent for Publication

Consent to take part in a study is not the same as consent to be identified in a publication. Separate written consent for publication is required for any photograph, video still, verbatim quotation or detailed description from which a person could be recognised.

This includes people visible in field, site or drone photographs. Where consent cannot be obtained, faces and other identifying features must be obscured.

Industrial Research

Companies, Plants and Industrial Data

Studies carried out at, or using data from, a company, utility, contractor or government facility require the written permission of that organisation, both to conduct the research and to publish the results.

Authors must state in the manuscript that permission was obtained.

The organisation may be named only with its agreement; otherwise it should be described in general terms, for example "a palm-oil mill in Riau Province". Confidential process parameters, commercial information and security details must not be published without permission.

Section 5 of the JETS Data and Reproducibility policy explains how to handle data that cannot be shared.

Fieldwork and Environment

Fieldwork, Communities and the Environment

5.1 Permits and Permissions

Fieldwork must have all permits required by national, regional and local authorities, and the permission of landowners or land managers.

Where research takes place on customary (adat) land or directly affects a local community, authors should describe how the community was informed and its consent obtained.

5.2 Researchers from Foreign Institutions

Research carried out in Indonesia by researchers affiliated with foreign institutions must hold the research permit required under Indonesian regulations, currently administered by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

Authors should state the permit number in the manuscript. Equivalent requirements in other countries must also be respected.

5.3 Environmental Impact

Field and laboratory work should minimise harm to the environment. Authors should describe how hazardous waste, contaminated samples and disturbed sites were managed where relevant.

5.4 Samples and Biological Materials

The collection and transfer of biological materials, including microorganisms, plant material and environmental samples containing living organisms, must comply with national regulations on biological resources and with the Nagoya Protocol where it applies.

Material Transfer Agreements should be in place for samples moved between institutions or countries.

Safety

Biosafety, Chemical Safety and Hazards

Research involving pathogenic microorganisms, genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, toxic or explosive substances, high-energy equipment or radiation must follow the relevant biosafety and safety regulations.

Where work involves unusual hazards, the manuscript should briefly describe the precautions taken, so that others repeating the work can do so safely.

Animal Research

Animals

Research involving live vertebrate animals is rare in JETS, but where it occurs it must be approved in advance by an animal ethics committee and comply with national and institutional guidelines on animal care and use.

The manuscript must name the committee, give the approval number, and describe how pain and distress were minimised.

Research Security

Dual-Use and Security-Sensitive Research

Some engineering research could be misused to cause harm, for example work on explosives or energetic materials, autonomous systems, vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure such as power grids, dams or communication networks, or methods for defeating security systems.

Authors should consider whether publishing particular details would create a risk, and discuss this with the editor if unsure.

The editors may seek expert advice and may ask authors to remove or generalise sensitive details. In rare cases where the risk clearly outweighs the benefit, JETS may decline to publish.

Manuscript Requirements

What to Include in the Manuscript

Every research article must include an "Ethics Statement" section, placed with the other declarations after the Acknowledgements.

The name of the ethics committee and the approval number and date, or the reason approval was not required.

How informed consent was obtained.

That consent for publication was obtained for any identifiable images or information.

The permits obtained for fieldwork, sampling, drone flights or foreign research, with permit numbers.

That permission was obtained from any organisation whose facilities or data were used.

Examples

"This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of [institution] (approval no. XXX/2026, 12 March 2026). All participants gave written informed consent before taking part."

"Field sampling was conducted under permit no. XXX issued by [authority]. Permission to access the site was granted by [landowner or manager]."

"This study involved no human participants, animals or field sampling, and ethical approval was not required."

Editorial Screening

How JETS Checks

Initial Screening Editors review the Ethics Statement of every manuscript at the initial screening.

Peer Review Reviewers are asked to alert the editor to any ethical concerns they notice.

Verification JETS may ask authors to provide copies of approval letters, permits, consent forms or organisational permissions.

Manuscripts that lack a required statement are returned to the authors before review. Failure to provide requested documents may lead to the manuscript being declined.

Concerns and Misconduct

When Problems Are Found

If a study appears to have been conducted without required approvals or consents, or in breach of accepted ethical standards, the editors will investigate under the JETS policy on allegations of misconduct.

Before publication The manuscript may be declined.

After publication The journal may publish a correction or an expression of concern.

Serious cases JETS may inform the authors' institution or retract the article.

JETS Research Integrity

Responsible Research Starts Before Publication

JETS expects authors to obtain the approvals, permissions and consents required for their research and to report them transparently in the published article.

Journal of Engineering and Technological Sciences · Institut Teknologi Bandung