Author Guidelines

Journal of Islamic Mubādalah publishes scholarly manuscripts that contribute to the development of knowledge in Islamic studies, mubādalah studies, gender justice, Islamic family law, Islamic legal thought, social justice, and other related fields within the journal’s aims and scope. Manuscripts submitted to the journal must demonstrate originality, academic rigor, methodological clarity, ethical compliance, and a clear contribution to scholarly discussion.

All manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with these Author Guidelines and the official journal template. Manuscripts that do not comply with the journal’s focus and scope, manuscript structure, formatting requirements, citation style, publication ethics, or technical preparation standards may be returned to the authors or rejected at the initial editorial screening stage before peer review.

1. General Submission Requirements

Manuscripts submitted to Journal of Islamic Mubādalah must be original scholarly works that have not been published previously and are not under consideration by another journal, book, proceeding, repository publication, or other publishing platform at the same time.

By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that:

  1. The manuscript is original and has not been published elsewhere;

  2. The manuscript is not being reviewed or considered by another journal or publisher;

  3. All authors have approved the final version of the manuscript;

  4. All authors have agreed to submit the manuscript to Journal of Islamic Mubādalah;

  5. All sources have been properly cited;

  6. The manuscript does not contain plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, citation manipulation, or other forms of research and publication misconduct;

  7. All conflicts of interest, funding sources, ethical approvals, and acknowledgments have been properly disclosed.

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission system. Authors must ensure that all required metadata, including the title, abstract, keywords, author names, affiliations, corresponding author email, references, and supplementary files, are entered accurately during the submission process.

2. Article Types

Journal of Islamic Mubādalah primarily accepts scholarly research articles, conceptual articles, and literature-based studies that are relevant to the journal’s aims and scope. The journal prioritizes manuscripts that offer clear theoretical contribution, empirical relevance, methodological soundness, and analytical depth.

The journal does not accept manuscripts that are purely opinion-based, lack scholarly references, do not follow academic standards, or fall outside the focus and scope of the journal.

3. Manuscript Language and Academic Style

Manuscripts must be written in clear, formal, and academic language. Authors must use a coherent, analytical, and argumentative writing style. The manuscript should not be merely descriptive, overly enumerative, or written as a collection of disconnected points.

Authors are encouraged to present arguments systematically, supported by relevant theories, previous studies, empirical data, legal materials, textual sources, or other scholarly evidence according to the nature of the research.

Foreign terms or words adopted from languages other than the primary language of the manuscript must be written in italics. Technical, legal, and religious terms must be used consistently throughout the manuscript.

4. Manuscript Length

The total length of the manuscript, including references, should generally range between 8,000 and 10,000 words. This length is intended to provide sufficient space for a comprehensive introduction, clear methodological explanation, substantial findings, critical discussion, and well-supported conclusions.

Manuscripts that are significantly shorter or longer than this range may be returned to the authors for adjustment unless the Editorial Board determines that the length is academically justified.

5. Manuscript Structure

A manuscript submitted to Journal of Islamic Mubādalah should contain the following components:

  1. Title;

  2. Author names;

  3. Author affiliations;

  4. Corresponding author information;

  5. Abstract;

  6. Keywords;

  7. Introduction;

  8. Method;

  9. Results or Findings;

  10. Discussion;

  11. Conclusion;

  12. Recommendations, if necessary;

  13. Acknowledgments, if any;

  14. Funding information, if any;

  15. Conflict of interest statement;

  16. References;

  17. Supplementary materials, if any.

Authors must ensure that each section is written coherently and contributes directly to the overall argument and scholarly purpose of the article.

6. Title

The article title must be concise, clear, informative, and directly relevant to the main issue discussed in the manuscript. The title should reflect the focus, object, and context of the study. It should avoid unusual abbreviations, ambiguous phrases, overly broad expressions, and unnecessary words.

The title should not exceed 18 words. It must be written in bold and left-aligned according to the journal template.

7. Author Names, Affiliations, and Corresponding Author

Author names must be written clearly and accurately. Each author must be linked to the correct institutional affiliation using superscript numbering where necessary.

The corresponding author must be clearly identified with an asterisk symbol. The corresponding author is responsible for all communication with the journal during submission, peer review, revision, copyediting, proofing, and post-publication correspondence.

The corresponding author must ensure that all listed authors meet the criteria for authorship, have approved the submitted manuscript, and agree with the order of authorship.

8. Abstract

The abstract must provide a concise and comprehensive overview of the article. It should be written in one paragraph and should not exceed 200 words.

The abstract should clearly include:

  1. The core research problem;

  2. The objective or research question;

  3. The theoretical perspective or analytical framework;

  4. The method or approach used;

  5. The main findings or conclusions;

  6. The main recommendation or contribution, where relevant.

The abstract should not contain citations, footnotes, tables, figures, or undefined abbreviations. Authors should ensure that the abstract can stand alone and accurately represent the content of the article.

9. Keywords

Authors must provide 3 to 7 keywords that reflect the main concepts, objects, and focus of the article. Keywords should support indexing, discoverability, and retrieval of the article in scholarly databases.

Keywords should avoid overly broad terms, repeated concepts, plural expressions, and unnecessary conjunctions such as “and” or “of.” Each keyword should be specific, relevant, and consistent with the article’s subject matter.

10. Introduction

The introduction must clearly present the background, research problem, scholarly context, research gap, novelty, and objective of the study. It should be written analytically and argumentatively, not merely descriptively.

The introduction should include the following elements:

  1. A clear explanation of the broader issue or global, national, or disciplinary context relevant to the study;

  2. An explanation of the specific empirical, conceptual, normative, or textual problem addressed in the manuscript;

  3. Evidence supporting the urgency and significance of the problem;

  4. A review of relevant previous studies;

  5. Identification of limitations or gaps in previous research;

  6. The novelty or scholarly contribution of the present study;

  7. The research question or research objective;

  8. A closing statement explaining the academic, social, legal, policy, or practical relevance of the study.

Authors must ensure that the research gap is not stated superficially. It must be supported by relevant previous studies, current academic debate, empirical evidence, legal developments, policy issues, or theoretical limitations.

11. Method

The method section must explain how the research was conducted. It should not merely define research methods according to methodological textbooks. Instead, it must describe the actual research design, data sources, data collection process, and analytical procedure used in the study.

The method section should be written in paragraph form and should include, where applicable:

  1. Type of research;

  2. Research approach;

  3. Research location and justification;

  4. Research period;

  5. Research subjects, participants, or informants;

  6. Primary and secondary data sources;

  7. Data collection techniques;

  8. Interview, observation, documentation, survey, textual, doctrinal, or literature analysis procedures;

  9. Data validity or credibility techniques;

  10. Data analysis techniques;

  11. Ethical considerations;

  12. Limitations encountered during the research process.

For field research, authors must explain who was interviewed or observed, why they were selected, how the data were collected, and how the data were analyzed. If certain informants declined to participate or could not be interviewed, this should be stated transparently when relevant.

For normative, doctrinal, textual, or literature-based studies, authors must explain the legal materials, religious texts, documents, literature, or sources analyzed, the criteria for selecting them, and the analytical framework used.

12. Results or Findings

The results or findings section presents the data, evidence, or main findings obtained from the research. This section should not contain raw data without interpretation. Findings must be organized systematically and presented in a way that is meaningful, concise, and relevant to the research objectives.

For qualitative research, the findings may include themes, patterns, interview results, observation findings, textual interpretations, document analysis, or case descriptions. For quantitative research, the findings may include descriptive statistics, assumption tests, hypothesis tests, or other relevant statistical results. For literature-based or conceptual studies, the findings may include conceptual mapping, theoretical synthesis, doctrinal analysis, or critical interpretation.

Tables, figures, graphs, and images may be used when they help clarify the findings. However, they must not stand alone. Each table or figure must be accompanied by an analytical explanation that connects it to the argument of the article.

13. Discussion

The discussion section must analyze the findings in relation to the research question, theoretical framework, previous studies, and broader scholarly debate. This section should not simply repeat the findings. It must explain the meaning, implications, relevance, and contribution of the findings.

The discussion should address:

  1. How the findings answer the research question;

  2. How the findings relate to previous studies;

  3. Whether the findings support, extend, challenge, or revise existing theories or arguments;

  4. The academic, legal, social, religious, cultural, or policy implications of the findings;

  5. The contribution of the study to the relevant field of knowledge.

Authors are encouraged to use recent and relevant scholarly references, especially peer-reviewed journal articles, to strengthen the discussion.

14. Conclusion

The conclusion must provide a clear answer to the research question or research objective. It should not merely summarize the article. Instead, it must present a synthesis of the findings and discussion.

The conclusion should be written in paragraph form and should include:

  1. The main answer to the research problem;

  2. The key scholarly finding;

  3. The novelty or contribution of the article;

  4. The broader implication of the study;

  5. Possible limitations or future research directions, where relevant.

The conclusion must be concise, coherent, and directly connected to the introduction, method, results, and discussion.

15. Recommendations

Recommendations may be included when relevant. Recommendations should be based on the findings and conclusions of the study. They may include academic recommendations, policy implications, practical follow-up, institutional suggestions, or directions for future research.

Recommendations must not introduce new arguments or claims that have not been discussed in the article.

16. Tables, Figures, Images, and Supplementary Materials

Tables, figures, graphs, images, photographs, and supplementary materials must be relevant to the manuscript and must support the argument or analysis. They must be clear, readable, and of sufficient quality for publication.

All tables and figures must be numbered consecutively and given clear titles. Each table or figure must be referred to in the text and accompanied by an explanation of its relevance.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that any image, table, figure, or material taken from another source is properly cited and, where necessary, used with permission. Materials that may infringe copyright, privacy, confidentiality, or ethical standards must not be submitted.

17. Citation and Reference Style

Journal of Islamic Mubādalah uses the American Psychological Association (APA) Style with an in-text citation system. Authors are required to use a reference management application, such as Mendeley, Zotero, EndNote, or other appropriate software, to ensure consistency and accuracy.

All sources cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and all sources listed in the references must be cited in the manuscript. Authors must ensure that references are accurate, complete, traceable, and scholarly credible.

References should prioritize recent and relevant sources, especially those published within the last five years, except for classical, foundational, authoritative, or seminal works that remain academically significant.

At least 70% of references should come from peer-reviewed journal articles, theses, dissertations, or national and international conference proceedings. Scholarly books may be used where relevant, but should not dominate the reference list. Non-academic sources, including Wikipedia, personal blogs, and unreliable websites, are not acceptable as scholarly references.

Authors are strongly encouraged to cite relevant reputable international journal articles where appropriate to the topic. Each journal article reference should include complete bibliographic metadata, including author name, year of publication, article title, journal name, volume, issue, page range, and DOI. If a DOI is not available, the official URL of the article should be provided.

18. Legal, Religious, and Technical Terminology

Authors must use legal, religious, and technical terminology accurately and consistently. Terms such as Article, Islam, the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sunnah should be capitalized where appropriate.

Qur’anic references should be cited consistently according to the journal template. Geographical names must be written in full and capitalized appropriately, for example: Ganjar Asri Village, Metro Regency, Lampung Province, Indonesia.

Abbreviations for statutory regulations may be used as long as they are introduced clearly and used consistently throughout the manuscript. Omissions in direct quotations must be indicated using ellipses in square brackets: […].

19. Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

Research involving human participants, interviews, personal data, institutional information, vulnerable groups, sensitive topics, or private documents must comply with applicable ethical standards.

Authors are responsible for obtaining ethical approval, research permission, informed consent, or institutional authorization when required. Authors must protect participant confidentiality, privacy, dignity, and safety.

The manuscript should include a statement explaining how ethical considerations were addressed, especially for empirical studies involving interviews, observations, surveys, fieldwork, personal narratives, or sensitive data.

20. Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, personal, academic, political, ideological, or professional conflict of interest that may influence or be perceived to influence the research, interpretation, or publication of the manuscript.

If there is no conflict of interest, authors should include the following statement:

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.

21. Funding Statement

Authors must disclose all sources of funding, sponsorship, institutional support, grants, or financial assistance related to the research or publication of the manuscript.

If the research received no funding, authors should include the following statement:

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

22. Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments may be included to recognize individuals, institutions, or organizations that contributed to the research or manuscript but do not meet the criteria for authorship.

Authors must obtain permission from individuals named in the acknowledgment section.

23. Authorship and Author Contributions

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, drafting, or critical revision of the manuscript.

All listed authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors meet the criteria for authorship and that no eligible contributor is omitted.

The journal does not permit guest authorship, gift authorship, honorary authorship, ghost authorship, or any form of authorship manipulation.

Where appropriate, authors may include an author contribution statement to clarify each author’s role in the research and writing process.

24. Plagiarism and Similarity Screening

All manuscripts submitted to Journal of Islamic Mubādalah are subject to plagiarism and similarity screening using Turnitin or other appropriate similarity detection tools.

The similarity report is used as an editorial screening tool and will be assessed by the Editorial Board. The similarity percentage is not the only basis for editorial decision-making. Editors will also consider the source of similarity, citation accuracy, quotation practices, paraphrasing quality, methodology-related terminology, references, and overall context.

Manuscripts containing plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, redundant publication, citation manipulation, or improper attribution may be rejected or handled according to the journal’s publication ethics policy.

25. Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of all content submitted to the journal. Artificial intelligence tools may not be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the submitted work.

If authors use artificial intelligence tools for language editing, translation support, grammar improvement, or technical assistance, the use must be disclosed where appropriate. Authors remain fully responsible for verifying all content, references, citations, data, arguments, and conclusions.

Artificial intelligence tools must not be used to fabricate data, create false references, manipulate findings, generate misleading analysis, or conceal plagiarism.

26. Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing

All articles published in Journal of Islamic Mubādalah are made immediately and permanently available to the public under the journal’s open access policy. Readers may access the full text of published articles free of charge without subscription, registration, or embargo.

Authors retain copyright to their work and grant Journal of Islamic Mubādalah the right of first publication.

Published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). This license allows users to share, copy, redistribute, adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the work in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s), a link to the license is provided, any changes made are indicated, and derivative works are distributed under the same license.

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts do not infringe copyright, privacy rights, confidentiality obligations, or other legal rights of third parties.

27. Article Processing Charges and Other Author Fees

Authors must read the journal’s Article Processing Charge (APC) and Author Fees Policy before submitting a manuscript. Any fee or charge related to submission, editorial processing, publication, page charges, color charges, language editing, withdrawal, or other publication-related services must be clearly stated on the journal website.

Editorial decisions, peer review outcomes, and acceptance decisions are not influenced by author fees, waiver status, institutional affiliation, sponsorship, or any financial arrangement.

28. Peer Review and Editorial Decision

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial screening will be processed through the journal’s peer review system. Journal of Islamic Mubādalah applies a Double Anonymous Peer Review process. This means that the identity of the author is not disclosed to reviewers, and the identity of reviewers is not disclosed to the author.

Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise. Reviewers evaluate the manuscript based on originality, relevance, methodological soundness, theoretical contribution, clarity of argument, quality of analysis, ethical compliance, and suitability for publication.

The final decision is made by the editor or Editorial Board based on reviewers’ recommendations, author revisions, journal standards, and editorial assessment. The journal does not guarantee acceptance or unusually short review times.

29. Revision and Proofreading

Authors who receive a revision decision must revise the manuscript carefully according to the comments of reviewers and editors. The revised manuscript must be accompanied by a response letter explaining how each comment has been addressed.

After acceptance, manuscripts may undergo copyediting, layout editing, metadata checking, and proofreading. Authors are responsible for checking the final proof carefully and responding within the timeframe determined by the editorial office.

Only minor corrections may be made at the proof stage. Major changes to content, authorship, data, or conclusions after acceptance are not permitted unless approved by the editor for valid reasons.

30. Manuscript Withdrawal

Authors may request manuscript withdrawal only for valid and clearly explained reasons. Withdrawal requests must be submitted formally by the corresponding author and must include the manuscript title, manuscript ID if available, author names, and reason for withdrawal.

A manuscript is considered withdrawn only after the editorial office issues an official written confirmation. Authors must not assume that a manuscript has been withdrawn before receiving confirmation from Journal of Islamic Mubādalah.

Withdrawal of a manuscript because it has been submitted to or accepted by another journal is considered unethical.

31. Post-Publication Corrections and Retractions

Authors are required to notify the journal immediately if they discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their published article.

Post-publication issues will be handled according to the journal’s Correction, Retraction, and Expression of Concern Policy. The journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, retraction, withdrawal, or other editorial notice when necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

32. Final Submission Checklist

Before submitting a manuscript, authors must ensure that:

  1. The manuscript is within the aims and scope of the journal;

  2. The manuscript is original and not under consideration elsewhere;

  3. The manuscript follows the official journal template;

  4. The title, abstract, and keywords are complete;

  5. All author names, affiliations, and email addresses are accurate;

  6. The manuscript structure is complete;

  7. All citations and references follow APA Style;

  8. All references cited in the text are listed in the reference list;

  9. All tables, figures, and images are clear, cited, and explained;

  10. Conflict of interest and funding statements are included;

  11. Ethical approval or informed consent information is included where required;

  12. All authors have approved the manuscript;

  13. The manuscript has been checked for language, formatting, citation accuracy, and plagiarism.

Submission of a manuscript to Journal of Islamic Mubādalah indicates that the authors have read, understood, and agreed to comply with these Author Guidelines, the journal’s Publication Ethics, Peer Review Process, Open Access Policy, Copyright Notice, Plagiarism Screening Policy, and other editorial policies.

Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in return of the manuscript, request for revision, rejection at desk review, rejection after peer review, withdrawal of acceptance, or other editorial action in accordance with the journal’s policies.