Research Ethics
SCALE requires every article that reports research involving people, such as students, teachers, pre-service teachers, or parents, to show that the research was conducted ethically. Authors report this in Section 2.6 (Research Ethics) and in the Declarations of the SCALE Article Template. Formal ethics committee approval is not required for every study: many institutions have no ethics committee for educational research, and SCALE accepts a signed ethics compliance statement in such cases.
| Download the guide: SCALE Research Ethics Guide — international edition (.docx) · Panduan Etika Penelitian — edisi penulis Indonesia (.docx) Each guide contains the Ethics Compliance Statement form, a participant consent form, a template letter of permission to use research data, and sample statements. |
Choose one pathway
| Situation | What authors upload as the Ethics Document | What the article states |
|---|---|---|
| A. Approval from an ethics committee or IRB | The approval letter | The committee's name and the approval number and date |
| B. No ethics approval; new study | The signed Ethics Compliance Statement (participants' consent forms are kept by the researcher) | Permission, consent, the right to withdraw, and confidentiality |
| C. No ethics approval; data already collected without written consent | The signed Ethics Compliance Statement, existing evidence of permission, and, where possible, the school's letter of permission to use the data for publication | An honest account of how permission and consent were obtained |
| D. No human participants (e.g., literature or document analysis) | A short signed statement that the study involved no human participants | That ethical approval was not required |
Four elements of a sound ethics statement
- Permission: who authorized the study, such as the school principal, the education authority, or the head of the study program.
- Consent: how participants agreed to take part (in writing, verbally, or through the school). Participants under 18 need consent from a parent or guardian, or permission from the school when the activities are part of regular lessons.
- Right to decline or withdraw: participants could decline or stop without consequence. If the researcher is also the participants' lecturer, teacher, or mentor, state that participation did not affect grades.
- Confidentiality: identities are replaced with codes, faces in photos are blurred, and data are used only for research.
Data collected without written consent
This is common in thesis and classroom action research, and such data can still be published. Accepted evidence includes a research permission letter, a letter from the principal confirming that the research took place, and a letter of permission to use the data for publication. Describe permission and consent exactly as they happened.
Never backdate documents. A consent form or permission letter produced now but dated in the past is a falsified document. Manuscripts relying on such documents will be rejected or retracted. Use a letter that carries its real date.
Example statement (pathway C)
This study was conducted in 2025 with written permission from the principal of SMP Negeri X Semarang (letter No. 421/123/2025) as part of regular mathematics lessons. Before data collection, students were informed verbally of the purpose of the study and that they could decline to have their work used without any effect on their grades. All data were anonymized before analysis. In 2026, the school granted written permission to publish the anonymized data (letter dated 10 November 2026).
How the ethics review works
At submission, authors upload the Ethics Document using the file type “Ethics Document”; this file is required and is seen only by the editors. Reviewers assess the ethics statement in the manuscript using the SCALE Reviewer Assessment Form, and the editor verifies the Ethics Document before acceptance. For manuscripts without committee approval, this editorial approval serves as the ethics clearance.
