Jurnal SAMBAS (Studi Agama, Masyarakat, Budaya, Adat, Sejarah): Journal of Religious, Community, Culture, Costume, History Studies)

Jurnal SAMBAS (Studi Agama, Masyarakat, Budaya, Adat, Sejarah): Journal of Religious, Community, Culture, Costume, History Studies) welcomes scholarly comments, critiques, and responses concerning published articles from readers, authors, researchers, and the wider academic community. Post-publication discussion aims to deepen scholarly understanding, critically examine research arguments and findings, encourage academic dialogue, and help maintain an accurate and reliable scholarly record.

This policy forms part of the journal's commitment to publication ethics and academic integrity and is implemented with reference to the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Scope of Discussion

Post-publication discussion may address research approaches, methodologies, theoretical frameworks, empirical findings, ethnographic observations, historical interpretations, religious perspectives, cultural practices, customary traditions, traditional costumes, material culture, and the conclusions and implications of published articles.

Comments may also identify factual errors, methodological limitations, inaccurate interpretations, questionable references, or information requiring clarification.

Differences in religious interpretation, theological perspectives, cultural understanding, customary practices, anthropological approaches, historical interpretations, and scholarly viewpoints are recognized as important elements of academic dialogue.

Responses must engage with the substance of the published work through reasoned arguments, relevant evidence, appropriate references, and respectful scholarly discussion while recognizing diverse academic and cultural perspectives.

Where comments concern religious traditions, historical events, customary practices, cultural expressions, indigenous knowledge, or community experiences, contributors should distinguish inaccuracies in the original article from developments, new interpretations, or additional evidence that emerged after the research or publication.

2. Submission of Comments

Comments should be submitted through the official contact details of Jurnal SAMBAS provided on the journal's Contact page.

Contributors should provide their identity and contact information, the title or DOI of the article being discussed, the specific passages or issues being addressed, and supporting evidence or references where appropriate.

Relevant interests, affiliations, relationships, or other circumstances that could influence the discussion concerning the article, its authors, research participants, or institutions discussed must be disclosed.

Comments must be clear, proportionate, respectful, and focused on scholarly issues. Personal attacks, discriminatory language, unsupported accusations, defamatory statements, and promotional material are not acceptable.

Contributors must respect research participant confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property rights, cultural sensitivity, and legitimate restrictions on sensitive religious, customary, historical, or community-related information.

Particular care must be taken when discussing indigenous communities, religious groups, customary institutions, traditional knowledge, and culturally sensitive materials to avoid misrepresentation, stigmatization, or disclosure of information that may cause harm to the communities concerned.

Anonymous reports concerning article integrity may be assessed under the journal's Allegations of Misconduct Policy when the information provided is sufficiently specific and verifiable.

3. Editorial Assessment

Editors assess submitted comments for relevance, clarity, scholarly significance, supporting arguments, and their potential contribution to understanding the published article.

Where necessary, editors may request revisions, further clarification, additional supporting evidence, or assessment by an appropriately qualified independent expert in the relevant field, such as religious studies, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, customary and indigenous studies, history, or cultural heritage studies.

Editors with a relevant conflict of interest must not participate in the assessment or publication decision.

Not all comments will be published. Decisions are based on scholarly value, relevance to readers, academic quality, and compliance with the journal's ethical standards, rather than agreement with the views of the original authors or editors.

Substantiated criticism will not be rejected merely because it challenges the findings, interpretations, theoretical perspectives, or conclusions of a published article.

4. Opportunity for Authors to Respond

Where a comment requires clarification or a response from the original article's authors, the editor will forward the comment to them and provide an opportunity to respond within a specified timeframe.

Responses should address the substantive issues directly and provide relevant evidence, references, explanations, or additional scholarly arguments where appropriate.

Comments and responses may be edited for clarity, language, length, and academic presentation without altering their substantive arguments or intended meaning.

An author's failure or decision not to respond does not, in itself, prevent publication of a comment that has been assessed as suitable for scholarly discussion.

The journal encourages constructive exchanges between contributors and original authors to promote academic dialogue, critical reflection, and the development of knowledge in the fields covered by Jurnal SAMBAS.

5. Publication and Traceability

Accepted comments may be published as scholarly correspondence, letters to the editor, commentaries, or another publication format determined by the editor, accompanied by the original authors' response where available.

Published comments and responses will be linked to the article under discussion so that readers can follow the scholarly exchange in its original context.

Publication of a comment does not imply the journal's endorsement of every opinion or interpretation expressed. Contributors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of their information and arguments.

The original article will not be amended solely because alternative scholarly interpretations or differing academic perspectives have been presented.

New historical evidence, evolving religious interpretations, changes in customary practices, or subsequent cultural developments may warrant further scholarly discussion without necessarily requiring a correction to the original publication, provided that the article accurately represented the evidence and context available at the time of research.

6. Follow-Up on Errors and Allegations of Misconduct

If a post-publication discussion identifies an error that requires an amendment to the article, the editor will assess whether a correction, an expression of concern, or another editorial action is warranted under the journal's Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions Policy.

Substantive changes will not be made silently. All amendments will be appropriately documented and linked to the affected article to maintain transparency and traceability of the scholarly record.

Comments containing allegations of research or publication misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, unethical research practices, misappropriation of traditional knowledge, or misrepresentation of historical and cultural sources, will be handled under the journal's Allegations of Misconduct Policy.

Scholarly discussion does not replace the formal assessment of suspected research or publication misconduct. Similarly, criticism of an article, disagreement with its interpretation, or the presentation of alternative scholarly perspectives does not, in itself, establish an ethical violation.

Jurnal SAMBAS is committed to facilitating constructive, respectful, and evidence-based post-publication discussions while safeguarding academic integrity, cultural sensitivity, and the reliability of the scholarly record.