Focus and Scope

Buletin Pengabdian (Bulletin of Community Services) is an open-access scientific journal dedicated to disseminating high-quality research and practice in community engagement and empowerment. The journal provides a platform for academics, researchers, government institutions, private sectors, and industries to share innovative approaches that connect scientific knowledge with community development. The scope includes but is not limited to:

• community service programs (Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat/PENGMAS),

• student community service (Kuliah Kerja Nyata/KKN),

• rural and urban development,

• agricultural extension and technology transfer,

• capacity building and technical training for communities,

• environmental sustainability and local resource management,

• socio-economic and policy studies that support community welfare.
  The journal encourages interdisciplinary studies integrating social, environmental, agricultural, and economic perspectives to promote sustainable community transformation.

Section Policies

Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

Bulletin of Community Services (Bull. Community. Serv.) implements a rigorous peer-review process to ensure the quality, validity, and originality of all published articles.

Authors are encouraged to suggest at least five potential reviewers, including their full names, institutional affiliations, and valid email addresses, during the submission process. However, the final selection of reviewers remains entirely at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board.

All submitted manuscripts are initially screened by the editors for scope, originality, and compliance with the journal’s guidelines. Manuscripts that pass this initial assessment are then sent for double-blind peer review. Based on the reviewers’ recommendations, the editor will make one of the following decisions: acceptance, minor revision, major revision, or rejection.

After final acceptance, the approved manuscript proofs will be prepared and made available for author review (galley proof) as early as possible, following final proofreading and approval by the Editor-in-Chief.

Publication Frequency

Buletin Pengabdian: Bulletin of Community Services is published three times a year by the Institute for Research and Community Services (LPPM), Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK), Indonesia.

Since its establishment in 2021, the journal has maintained a regular publication schedule with issues released in:

• April

• August

• December

Each issue is published online and made available immediately under the journal’s open access policy. The journal is committed to timely publication and continuous improvement of editorial quality in accordance with international scholarly publishing standards.

Open Access Policy

Buletin Pengabdian: Bulletin of Community Services is an open-access journal. All articles published in this journal are freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without any subscription or access fees.

The journal is committed to the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge and enhances the impact of scholarly and community-based research.

Readers are allowed to:

• Read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles

• Use the articles for any lawful purpose

without asking prior permission from the publisher or the authors, provided that proper attribution is given.

All articles published in Buletin Pengabdian are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including for commercial purposes, as long as the original work is properly cited.

Archiving

Buletin Pengabdian: Bulletin of Community Services uses the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) system to create a distributed archiving network among participating libraries.

This system allows libraries to:

• Collect and preserve permanent copies of journal content;

• Ensure long-term digital preservation and accessibility;

• Restore journal content in the event of data loss or system failure.

By participating in the LOCKSS program, Buletin Pengabdian ensures that its published content remains secure, accessible, and preserved for future scholarly use.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Background

Buletin Pengabdian is committed to ensuring that all published works adhere to the highest standards of ethical academic publishing. Establishing clear ethical guidelines for all stakeholders—authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher—is essential to foster a transparent, accountable, and professional scholarly environment and to prevent potential conflicts of interest or misconduct.

This document outlines the journal’s policies on publication ethics and malpractice, serving as guidance for all parties involved in the publication process.

Publication and Authorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant contributions to the conception, design, implementation, data acquisition, data analysis, or interpretation of the manuscript. All individuals who have contributed substantially but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be properly acknowledged.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all eligible co-authors are appropriately included in the manuscript and that no inappropriate individuals are listed as authors. The corresponding author must confirm, on behalf of all co-authors, that:

• All authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript; and

• All authors have agreed to submit the manuscript for publication in Buletin Pengabdian.

Authors’ Responsibilities

Authors must comply with the peer-review process established by Buletin Pengabdian. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts are original, accurate, and free from plagiarism or fabricated data.

Authors must be prepared to provide raw data or supporting materials when requested by the editors. Manuscripts submitted to Buletin Pengabdian must not be under consideration or published elsewhere. If any part of the manuscript has been previously published, this must be clearly disclosed, and the original source must be properly cited.

When reproducing data, figures, or tables from other sources, authors must obtain the necessary permissions and provide appropriate attribution. Research involving animals must comply with recognized ethical standards and animal welfare regulations.

All potential conflicts of interest must be clearly disclosed. Authors are also expected to cooperate in issuing corrections, clarifications, retractions, or apologies when necessary.

Reviewers’ Responsibilities

Reviewers play a critical role in improving manuscript quality through objective, constructive, and timely evaluations. Reviewers must notify the editor if they identify any similarity between the manuscript under review and previously published or submitted work.

Reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest related to the manuscript, authors, or funding sources and must decline review if such conflicts exist. All information obtained during the peer-review process must be treated as confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Editors’ Responsibilities

Editors have full authority to accept or reject manuscripts based on their academic merit. Editorial decisions must be made objectively and fairly, without discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, or geographical origin of the authors.

Editors must not have conflicts of interest concerning the manuscripts they handle. Editorial decisions must be free from commercial influence. Editors are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and anonymity of reviewers in accordance with the journal’s double-blind peer-review policy.

Integrity of the Academic Record

Authors, reviewers, and editors share responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the academic record throughout the publication process. Commercial or institutional interests must not compromise ethical and intellectual standards.

For ethical issues not explicitly addressed in this statement, Buletin Pengabdian adheres to international best practices and refers to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Generative AI Policy

Buletin Pengabdian: Bulletin of Community Services acknowledges the growing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in academic writing and research activities. The journal establishes the following policy to ensure transparency, accountability, and integrity in scholarly publishing.

1. Use of Generative AI by Authors

Authors may use generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT or similar technologies) only as supportive tools for language editing, grammar correction, or improving clarity and readability of the manuscript.

Generative AI tools must not be used to:

• Generate original research ideas, hypotheses, methods, or results;

• Analyze or interpret research data;

• Create figures, tables, or images that represent original research findings;

• Replace critical intellectual contributions of the authors.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the content of their manuscripts.

2. Disclosure Requirement

If generative AI tools are used at any stage of manuscript preparation, authors must disclose this use in the manuscript, preferably in the Acknowledgements or Methods section, stating the purpose of AI assistance (e.g., language editing).

Failure to disclose the use of generative AI may be considered a breach of publication ethics.

3. Authorship

Generative AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors, as they do not meet authorship criteria, cannot take responsibility for the work, and cannot manage conflicts of interest.

4. Use of Generative AI by Reviewers

Reviewers must not upload or share submitted manuscripts or any part thereof to generative AI tools or external platforms, as this may compromise confidentiality and intellectual property.

5. Use of Generative AI by Editors

Editors may use generative AI tools for administrative purposes (e.g., plagiarism screening support or language checking) but must ensure that editorial decisions are made solely by human judgment and academic evaluation.

6. Ethical Compliance

All use of generative AI must comply with the journal’s Publication Ethics, Peer Review Process, and relevant guidelines issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).