1. Policy Statement

The Physical Therapy Journal of Indonesia (PTJI) is dedicated to offering an open, impartial, and prompt editorial process. We acknowledge the author's ability to appeal judgments pertaining to manuscript rejection or significant publishing ethics violations, even if the Editor-in-Chief's (EiC) decision is typically final. All appeals follow the rules established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and are treated with the utmost confidentially.

2. Appeal Scope
This policy is applicable to the following appeals made by the corresponding author:
2.1. Rejection Appeal
An author may only file an appeal of a rejection if they think the review process contained a basic defect or inaccuracy, such as:
- Bias Evidence: shown that the editor or reviewers were biased in a personal, professional, or financial way.
- Procedural error: A major disregard for the journal's declared peer review procedure or a misinterpretation of the conflict of interest policy.
- Misunderstanding of Data/Science: Proof that the manuscript's scientific substance, methods, or results were fundamentally misinterpreted by the reviewers or editors, and that this misinterpretation was the direct cause of the rejection.
Note: Generally speaking, appeals based only on disagreement with the subjective evaluation of originality, significance, or scope are not taken into consideration.
2.2. Ethical or Editorial Misconduct Appeal
The PTJI Ethics Committee shall follow COPE principles in handling appeals pertaining to alleged ethical violations (e.g., plagiarism claims, authorship disputes, undeclared conflicts of interest) against a published article or an Editorial Board member.

3. Filing an Appeal
The appeal procedure is very formal and needs to be started right away.
3.1. Deadline for Filing an Appeal
After obtaining the final rejection judgment, appeals must be filed within 14 calendar days. After this date, appeals will not be taken into consideration.
3.2. Requirements for Appeal Documents
A formal appeal request must be sent by email with the subject line "Formal Appeal: Manuscript Number/DOI and Manuscript Title" to the PTJI editorial team at editorptji@gmail.com. The request for an appeal must contain:
- A thorough, point-by-point response that addresses every objection and justification mentioned in the letter of rejection.
- The grounds for appeal (Bias, Procedural Error, or Scientific Misunderstanding) should be clearly stated.
- Particular proof to back up the allegation of prejudice or procedural error (e.g., screenshots, email logs, comparison of reviewer reports).
- If necessary, a rewritten article that demonstrates track modifications to illustrate how the appeal resolves the scientific issues brought up.

4. Appeal Review Process
4.1. Initial Assessment (Editorial Office)
Within 10 business days, the EiC will evaluate the appeal document to see if it satisfies the requirements specified in Sections 2 and 3.2. If the requirements are not satisfied, the first rejection ruling will be maintained and the appeal will be promptly dismissed.  The appeal will go to the Appeals Committee if the requirements are fulfilled.
4.2. Appeals Committee Review
An ad hoc Appeals Committee, usually made up of one Senior Editor and/or two members of the Editorial Board who were not involved in the initial review or decision-making process, will be appointed by the EiC.
The Committee on Appeals will examine:
- The initial draft of the work.
- Reports from the reviewers.
- The first choice to reject.
- Evidence and a thorough appeal letter from the author.
4.3. Final Decision
The EiC will receive a recommendation from the Appeals Committee. The EiC will make one of the following final conclusions in light of this recommendation:
- Appeal Upheld The initial denial is withdrawn. The manuscript will either be accepted for publication pending final edits, or it will re-enter a revamped peer review process (often with new, independent reviewers).
- Rejected Appeal: The initial rejection ruling is maintained.
Within 30 business days of the date the appeal was duly filed, the author will be informed of the outcome (Section 4.1). This ruling is final, and PTJI will not entertain any more appeals pertaining to the same text.