Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

Focus

VOCATECH: Vocational Education and Technology Journal is a peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the advancement of vocational studies and appropriate technology that address real-world challenges through practical, sustainable, and locally adaptable innovations. The journal serves as a platform for researchers, educators, engineers, and practitioners to share applied research findings, technological developments, and best practices that strengthen the linkage between education, technology, and community empowerment.

Scope

The scope of VOCATECH includes research and innovation in the design, development, application, and evaluation of technologies appropriate to local contexts, especially in support of vocational education, sustainable industry, and societal advancement. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Appropriate Technology and Applied Engineering

  • Development and optimization of mechanical, civil, electrical, and information technologies suited to local needs. 
  • Design and analysis of low-cost, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly technologies. 
  • Technology innovations in renewable energy, waste management, and sustainable infrastructure. 
  • Experimental and simulation studies related to heat transfer, fluid mechanics, structural design, and automation.

Vocational and Technological Innovation

  • Integration of technology into vocational and technical education.
  • Digital transformation and Industry 4.0/5.0 in vocational learning environments.
  • Development of tools, devices, and systems to enhance technical competencies and workforce readiness.
  • Application of AI, machine learning, and data-driven decision systems in vocational and industrial settings.

Sustainable and Community-Based Development

  • Implementation of appropriate technology for local industries, rural areas, and community empowerment.

  • Green engineering and low-impact development for sustainable environments.

  • Social and behavioral studies on technology adoption, user awareness, and environmental responsibility.

Technology Policy, Management, and Evaluation

  • Evaluation of technology effectiveness, cost-efficiency, and sustainability impact.

  • Decision support systems, optimization, and data analytics for public service and infrastructure management.

  • Smart city and smart building designs promoting efficiency, safety, and inclusivity.

Special Emphasis

The journal places a special emphasis on “appropriate technology”—technological innovation that is:

  • Affordable and locally producible,

  • Environmentally responsible and resource-efficient,

  • Educationally transferable, and

  • Sustainable for small industries, vocational institutions, and community development.


 

Section Policies

Articles

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

Double-Blind Peer Review

All submitted manuscripts will be initially screened whether the manuscript has followed the journal scope and author guidelines. If the manuscript does not meet the selection criteria, the manuscript will be rejected, the editor will send it back to the author. The authors are allowed to resend it to the journal after revising it according to the journal's selection criteria.

All submitted manuscript that meets the selection criteria will be screened using Turnitin for plagiarism checking before being sent to reviewers. Manuscript exceeding 25% similarity in a plagiarism check will be automatically rejected.

The journal employs a Double-blind peer-review mechanism where each submitted article should be anonymously reviewed by two reviewers appointed by the editor.  The review process takes time about 3 - 4 weeks after the manuscript received by the reviewer, and the editor is responsible for the process.

The manuscript will go through Editorial Review afterward to check the quality of revision according to the reviewers' comments. This process usually takes up 2 weeks.

The editorial decision would be based on the advice from the reviewers and the quality of the revision. It could categorize into: (1) Acceptable for publication without changes; (2) Acceptable for publications after minor revisions; (3) Acceptable for publication after major revisions; (4) Not acceptable for publication, but author(s) should be encouraged to resubmit; and (5) Reject.

 

Publication Frequency

Vocatech is scheduled for publication two times a year, in April and October. 

Each volume contains eight research and review articles, written in Indonesian or English.

Special Publication Schedule for 2025

In 2025, VOCATECH will temporarily publish three issues to realign its volume and issue numbering system so that all issues of one volume are published within the same calendar year.

VolumeIssuePublication DateNotes
Vol. 6 Issue 2April 2025Regular issue 
Vol. 7 Issue 1August 2025Transitional issue 
Vol. 7 Issue 2December 2025Regular issue (end of realignment) 

Starting from 2026 onward, VOCATECH will resume its regular biannual publication schedule in April and October.

 

Open Access Policy

Vocational Education and Technology Journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. This journal is an open-access journal, which means that all the content of the journal is available on the internet to all users immediately upon publication. Non-commercial use and distribution in any medium are permitted, provided the author and the journal are properly credited. All published articles will be online and accessible to readers. Readers can view abstracts (html format) and download full papers (pdf format) for free.

 

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

 

Publication Ethics

This statement clarifies ethical behaviour of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in our journals, including the authors, the editors, the peer-reviewers and the publisher. This statement is based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Ethical Guideline for Journal Publication
The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed EduLite Journal is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the authors, the journal editors, the peer reviewers, the publisher and the society.  

Language and Communication Science Faculty of Universitas Islam Sultan Agung as the publisher of this Journal takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously and we recognize our ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. In addition, Editorial Boards will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful and necessary.

Publication Decisions
The editors of the EduLite journal are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Fair Play
An editor at any time evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual contents without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality
The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of Sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Duties of Authors

Reporting standards
Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention
Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication
An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgement of Sources
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship of the Paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Author Contributions
For transparency, we encourage authors to submit an author statement file outlining their individual contributions to the paper using the relevant CRediT roles: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Resources; Software; Supervision; Validation; Visualization; Roles/Writing - original draft; Writing - review & editing. Authorship statements should be formatted with the names of authors first and CRediT role(s) following. More details and an example.

Changes to Authorship
Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects
If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

 

Gen AI Policy

As an academic journal committed to the highest standards of integrity and scholarly excellence, we outline our policy on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in manuscript preparation and submission.

1. Transparency in AI Assistance

Authors are strongly advised to disclose any AI tool usage in their manuscript preparation, specifying the nature and extent of AI involvement in the acknowledgments section.

2. Originality and Authorship

The manuscript's core ideas and content must originate from human authors, ensuring the originality and integrity of the work are maintained.

3. Ethical Use of AI

AI tools must be used ethically and legally, complying with data protection and privacy laws, especially when processing personal or sensitive data.

4. Quality and Accuracy

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and quality of their submissions, including AI-generated content, ensuring they meet the journal's scholarly standards.

5. Citation and References

All AI-generated data, models, algorithms, or code must be appropriately cited, with proper attribution to publicly available tools or datasets used.

6. AI-Generated Data

Authors should clearly describe AI methodologies used to generate data, including tools and parameters, and discuss limitations and assumptions for critical evaluation.

7. Peer Review and Editorial Scrutiny

Manuscripts utilizing AI tools are subject to rigorous peer review, with the editorial team reserving the right to inquire further into AI tool specifics.

8. Adherence to Community Standards

Authors are encouraged to adhere to evolving best practices and ethical guidelines in their research community regarding AI tool usage.

The authors agree to comply with this AI Tools Usage Policy before submitting a manuscript. Non-compliance may result in manuscript rejection or retraction, impacting future submission eligibility.