Publication Ethics

Journal of Islamic Mubādalah is a peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, transparency, and accountability. This Publication Ethics statement applies to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, the Editorial Board, the publisher, and all individuals or institutions contributing to the journal’s scholarly activities.

The journal is guided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and recognized standards of ethical scholarly publishing. The purpose of this policy is to ensure the integrity, credibility, reliability, and transparency of the scholarly record and to prevent misconduct in the submission, review, editing, publication, indexing, and dissemination of scholarly works.

Journal of Islamic Mubādalah does not tolerate research misconduct, publication misconduct, plagiarism, citation manipulation, data fabrication, data falsification, authorship manipulation, peer review manipulation, duplicate publication, redundant publication, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or any other practice that may compromise the integrity of scholarly communication.

1. General Principles of Publication Ethics

Publication in Journal of Islamic Mubādalah must be based on honesty, originality, scholarly merit, methodological soundness, proper attribution, and respect for ethical standards. All manuscripts submitted to the journal must be original works that have not been published elsewhere and are not under consideration by another journal or publisher at the same time.

The journal is committed to ensuring that editorial decisions are made independently, fairly, objectively, and without improper influence from commercial interests, institutional pressure, personal relationships, political considerations, religious affiliation, gender, nationality, ethnicity, academic status, or other non-scholarly factors.

The acceptance or rejection of manuscripts is based solely on academic quality, relevance to the journal’s aims and scope, originality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, peer review results, and the final editorial assessment.

2. Editorial Responsibilities

The Editor-in-Chief, editors, and Editorial Board of Journal of Islamic Mubādalah are responsible for maintaining the quality, integrity, and fairness of the editorial and publication process. Editors are responsible for deciding which manuscripts are suitable for publication based on scholarly merit, peer review recommendations, journal policies, and ethical standards.

Editors must ensure that all submitted manuscripts are evaluated fairly and objectively. Manuscripts must be assessed based on their intellectual and scholarly content without discrimination based on the author’s religion, gender, ethnicity, nationality, institutional affiliation, political opinion, academic position, or personal background.

Editors must protect the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts. Information about a manuscript under review may only be disclosed to the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers, the publisher, or other parties directly involved in the editorial process when appropriate.

Editors must not use unpublished materials, data, ideas, arguments, or interpretations contained in a submitted manuscript for their own research or personal advantage without written permission from the author.

Editors are responsible for identifying and preventing misconduct before publication and for correcting the scholarly record after publication when necessary. If editors become aware of allegations of research or publication misconduct, they must respond appropriately, investigate the matter fairly, and take necessary editorial action in accordance with the journal’s policies.

3. Editorial Independence

Journal of Islamic Mubādalah maintains editorial independence in all publication decisions. The publisher, sponsors, institutions, advertisers, or other external parties must not interfere with editorial decisions, peer review outcomes, manuscript acceptance, rejection, correction, or retraction.

Any financial, institutional, or collaborative relationship involving the journal must not influence the editorial process. Editorial decisions must remain based on scholarly merit, ethical compliance, and the integrity of the academic record.

4. Reviewer Responsibilities

Peer reviewers play an essential role in maintaining the quality and credibility of scholarly publication. Reviewers assist editors in making editorial decisions and provide constructive feedback to authors for improving the quality of manuscripts.

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly, and professionally. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate. Reviewers should provide clear, reasoned, and evidence-based comments that help editors and authors assess the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript.

Reviewers must decline a review invitation if they feel unqualified to evaluate the manuscript, are unable to complete the review within the required timeframe, or have a conflict of interest that may affect their objectivity.

All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not share, discuss, copy, distribute, cite, or use any part of the manuscript before publication without permission from the editor.

Reviewers should identify relevant published works that have not been cited by the authors. Reviewers should also inform the editor if they detect substantial similarity, overlap, plagiarism, duplicate publication, data concerns, citation manipulation, or any other ethical issue related to the manuscript.

Information or ideas obtained through peer review must not be used for personal advantage. Reviewers must maintain confidentiality and must not use unpublished material from the manuscript for their own research without written permission from the author.

5. Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts submitted to Journal of Islamic Mubādalah are original, accurate, ethical, and properly documented. Authors must present their research findings honestly and must provide sufficient detail, evidence, and references to allow scholarly evaluation and, where applicable, verification or replication.

Authors must not submit manuscripts containing fabricated data, falsified information, manipulated evidence, misleading analysis, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or unethical research practices. Fraudulent or deliberately inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Authors must ensure that all sources used in the manuscript are properly cited. When authors use the words, ideas, data, findings, arguments, interpretations, images, tables, or other intellectual contributions of others, proper acknowledgment must be given. Direct quotations must be clearly marked and accompanied by appropriate citation.

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Submitting the same manuscript simultaneously to multiple journals, publishing the same research in more than one publication without proper disclosure, or dividing one study into several overlapping publications without scholarly justification is considered unethical.

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support, institutional support, sponsorship, or funding related to the research. Authors must also disclose any conflict of interest that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the results, interpretation, or presentation of the manuscript.

When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their published work, they are required to notify the journal immediately and cooperate with the editor to issue a correction, clarification, retraction, or other appropriate editorial action.

6. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the conception, design, execution, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing, or critical revision of the manuscript. All individuals who meet the criteria for authorship must be listed as authors.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors have made appropriate contributions, have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript, and have agreed to submit the manuscript for publication in Journal of Islamic Mubādalah.

Individuals who contributed to the research or manuscript but do not meet the criteria for authorship may be acknowledged in the acknowledgment section with their consent.

The journal does not permit guest authorship, gift authorship, honorary authorship, ghost authorship, or any form of authorship manipulation. Any dispute regarding authorship must be resolved by the authors and, when necessary, by their institution before the manuscript can proceed in the editorial process.

7. Originality, Plagiarism, and Similarity Screening

All manuscripts submitted to Journal of Islamic Mubādalah must be original scholarly works. The journal screens submitted manuscripts using similarity detection tools, such as Turnitin or other appropriate software, to help identify possible plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, redundant publication, or improper citation.

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

Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism, self-plagiarism, citation manipulation, duplicate publication, or unethical textual overlap may be rejected, returned for revision, or subjected to further investigation according to the journal’s publication ethics policy.

8. Conflicts of Interest

All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, and editorial board members, must disclose any conflict of interest that may affect or appear to affect their objectivity, judgment, or decision-making.

Conflicts of interest may include financial relationships, employment, institutional affiliation, academic competition, personal relationships, funding arrangements, consultancy, political or ideological interests, or other circumstances that may influence the publication process.

Editors and reviewers must decline involvement in any manuscript where they have a conflict of interest. Authors must disclose conflicts of interest in the manuscript. If no conflict of interest exists, authors should state that there is no conflict of interest.

9. Data Integrity, Data Sharing, and Reproducibility

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and reliability of the data, evidence, and analysis presented in their manuscripts. Data must not be fabricated, falsified, manipulated, or selectively presented in a misleading manner.

Where applicable, authors should retain original data, research instruments, interview records, field notes, documentation, or other supporting materials for a reasonable period after publication. Authors may be asked to provide supporting data or clarification during the editorial process or after publication if concerns arise.

The journal encourages transparency in research methods, data sources, and analytical procedures. Authors should provide sufficient methodological explanation to allow readers, reviewers, and editors to understand how the research was conducted and how conclusions were reached.

10. Ethical Oversight

Research involving human participants, interviews, personal data, sensitive information, institutional data, or vulnerable groups must be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards. Authors are responsible for obtaining informed consent, protecting confidentiality, respecting privacy, and securing ethical approval from the relevant institution or ethics committee when required.

Authors must clearly state in the manuscript how ethical considerations were addressed. Research must not expose participants to unnecessary harm, coercion, discrimination, privacy violation, or misuse of personal information.

For research involving documents, legal materials, religious texts, public data, institutional records, or social practices, authors must ensure that interpretation and presentation are conducted responsibly, accurately, and respectfully.

11. Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct

Research and publication misconduct includes, but is not limited to, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, citation manipulation, data manipulation, image manipulation, duplicate submission, duplicate publication, redundant publication, peer review manipulation, authorship misconduct, undisclosed conflicts of interest, unethical research practices, or intentional interference with an investigation.

When an allegation of misconduct is received, Journal of Islamic Mubādalah will assess the allegation carefully, fairly, and confidentially. The Editor-in-Chief and/or Editorial Board will determine whether the allegation is specific, credible, and relevant to the definition of research or publication misconduct.

If the allegation appears to have sufficient basis, the journal may request clarification from the corresponding author, request original data or supporting documents, consult reviewers or independent experts, and contact the author’s institution, ethics committee, funder, or relevant authority when necessary.

If misconduct is confirmed, the journal may take appropriate editorial action, including requesting correction, rejecting the manuscript, withdrawing acceptance, publishing a correction notice, issuing an expression of concern, retracting the article, notifying the relevant institution, or taking other measures necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

12. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

Journal of Islamic Mubādalah is committed to correcting the scholarly record when necessary. Corrections may be issued when errors are identified in a published article but the errors do not invalidate the overall findings, arguments, or conclusions.

A retraction may be issued when there is clear evidence that a published article is unreliable, invalid, unethical, seriously flawed, plagiarized, duplicated, or the result of research or publication misconduct.

An expression of concern may be issued when serious concerns are raised about the integrity or reliability of a published article, but the available evidence is not yet sufficient to issue a correction or retraction.

All correction notices, retraction notices, and expressions of concern will be made freely available, clearly linked to the original article, and issued in a transparent manner to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

13. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, institutions, or other parties may submit complaints or appeals regarding editorial decisions, peer review processes, publication ethics, corrections, retractions, or other journal-related matters.

All complaints and appeals will be handled fairly, objectively, and confidentially. The journal will review the complaint or appeal based on available evidence, journal policies, editorial records, reviewer comments, and ethical standards.

Appeals against editorial decisions must provide clear reasons and supporting arguments. The submission of an appeal does not guarantee that the editorial decision will be changed. The final decision remains the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief and/or Editorial Board.

14. Intellectual Property and Open Access

All articles published in Journal of Islamic Mubādalah are made available under the journal’s open access and copyright policies. Authors retain copyright to their work and grant the journal the right of first publication.

Published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0), which permits sharing, redistribution, adaptation, and reuse of the work in accordance with the terms of the license.

Authors must ensure that their manuscripts do not infringe the intellectual property rights, copyright, privacy rights, or legal rights of others. Any copyrighted material used in the manuscript must be properly cited and, where necessary, used with permission.

15. Post-Publication Discussion

Journal of Islamic Mubādalah welcomes scholarly discussion, academic critique, and responsible post-publication correspondence regarding published articles. Readers, authors, or other parties may contact the editorial office to raise concerns, request clarification, or submit academic comments related to published content.

Post-publication discussions must be conducted respectfully, objectively, and based on evidence. If a post-publication concern indicates a possible error or ethical issue, the journal will evaluate the matter in accordance with its correction, retraction, and publication ethics policies.

16. Confidentiality

All parties involved in the editorial and peer review process must maintain confidentiality. Submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, author responses, and unpublished materials must not be disclosed to unauthorized parties.

Confidential information obtained through the publication process must not be used for personal, academic, financial, or professional advantage.

17. Publisher Responsibilities

The publisher of Journal of Islamic Mubādalah is responsible for supporting the integrity, sustainability, transparency, and independence of the journal. The publisher must ensure that editorial decisions are not influenced by commercial interests, advertising, institutional pressure, or other improper considerations.

The publisher supports editors in handling ethical concerns, maintaining digital access, preserving published content, correcting the scholarly record, and ensuring that journal policies are clearly displayed and consistently implemented.

18. Final Statement

Journal of Islamic Mubādalah is committed to upholding the principles of ethical scholarly publishing. The journal seeks to ensure that all manuscripts are processed through a fair, transparent, accountable, and academically responsible publication system.

By submitting a manuscript to Journal of Islamic Mubādalah, authors acknowledge and agree to comply with this Publication Ethics policy, the journal’s author guidelines, peer review policy, plagiarism screening policy, open access policy, copyright notice, and other editorial policies established by the journal.

Through this policy, Journal of Islamic Mubādalah affirms its commitment to protecting authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and the wider scholarly community by maintaining the integrity, accuracy, credibility, and reliability of the academic record.