Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics

Islamicate Futures: Knowledge, Ethics, and Muslim Societies (ISSN: XXXX-XXXX (online), ISSN: XXXX-XXXX (print)) is a peer-reviewed journal published by Bahtera Al Fikr Press, part of Institut Bahtera Studi Islam. This statement clarifies the ethical responsibilities of all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, editorial board members, reviewers, and the publisher. This statement is based on the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the Code of Practice for Journal Publishers.

Ethical Guideline for Journal Publication

The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal is a fundamental component in the development of a credible and respected body of knowledge. It reflects the quality of the work of authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the principles of scholarly research, academic integrity, transparency, methodological rigor, and intellectual responsibility.

Islamicate Futures: Knowledge, Ethics, and Muslim Societies, as published by Bahtera Al Fikr Press, part of Institut Bahtera Studi Islam, is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards at all stages of publication. The publisher ensures that any commercial interests, including advertising, sponsorship, institutional affiliation, or financial support, do not influence editorial decisions.

In managing its publication, the journal upholds three fundamental ethical principles:

Neutrality – ensuring freedom from conflicts of interest in editorial and review decisions.

Fairness – providing equal opportunity to authors based on academic merit, originality, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal’s scope.

Integrity – ensuring originality and preventing plagiarism, duplication, data fabrication, data falsification, citation manipulation, authorship manipulation, peer review manipulation, unethical use of artificial intelligence, and other forms of publication misconduct.

These principles apply to all parties involved in the publication process.

Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding which submitted articles should be published. Decisions are based on the article’s academic merit, originality, methodological soundness, theoretical contribution, relevance to the journal’s Focus and Scope, ethical compliance, and contribution to scholarly discourse in Islamicate futures studies, Islamic knowledge traditions, Islamic ethics, maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah, Qur’anic and Hadith studies, digital Islam, Muslim societies, Islamic education, sustainability, public policy, and global futures.

Editorial decisions are also guided by legal and ethical considerations, including copyright, plagiarism, defamation, research integrity, publication ethics, data protection, and responsible use of artificial intelligence. The Editor-in-Chief may consult reviewers, section editors, and editorial board members in making publication decisions.

Fair Play

Editors evaluate submitted articles solely based on their intellectual content, scholarly contribution, methodological quality, originality, theoretical rigor, and relevance to the journal’s scope. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by the authors’ race, gender, religion, nationality, ethnicity, institutional affiliation, political beliefs, academic seniority, personal relationships, or ideological position.

The journal is committed to providing a fair and transparent editorial process for all authors. Manuscripts are assessed according to academic standards and their potential contribution to international scholarship.

Confidentiality

Editors, editorial staff, and editorial board members must not disclose any information about a submitted article to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

All submitted articles must be treated as confidential documents. Editors and reviewers must not use unpublished materials, arguments, data, translations, manuscript descriptions, digital corpora, research findings, or theoretical frameworks from submitted articles for personal, academic, institutional, or professional advantage without the express written consent of the authors.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest (Editors)

Editors must avoid handling articles in which they have a conflict of interest. Conflicts of interest may include personal, institutional, academic, financial, political, religious, ideological, or collaborative relationships with the authors or their institutions.

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted article must not be used by editors or editorial board members for their own research without written permission from the authors. If an editor has a conflict of interest, the article should be assigned to another qualified editor.

Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards

Authors must present an accurate, objective, and academically responsible account of the research conducted. The article must contain sufficient detail to allow readers, reviewers, and editors to understand and evaluate the research process, data sources, analytical method, theoretical framework, and scholarly contribution.

For textual, historical, philological, hermeneutical, legal, philosophical, empirical, bibliometric, systematic review, or digital humanities research, authors must clearly explain the sources, method, corpus, analytical procedure, and limitations used in the article. Any form of fabrication, falsification, manipulation, selective reporting, misleading translation, or misrepresentation of data, texts, sources, digital materials, or findings is considered unethical and unacceptable.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that their article is entirely original. If the work, words, ideas, arguments, translations, data, figures, tables, concepts, or findings of others are used, they must be properly cited and acknowledged.

Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. This includes direct copying, improper paraphrasing, unattributed translation, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, text recycling, and the use of another scholar’s ideas, data, textual analysis, or theoretical argument without proper acknowledgment.

The journal may use plagiarism detection software to evaluate the originality of submitted articles. Articles with serious plagiarism, excessive similarity, fabricated references, or unethical textual overlap will be rejected.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors must not submit the same article to more than one journal at the same time. Authors must also not publish the same research in multiple venues without proper justification, citation, and editorial approval.

Articles submitted to Islamicate Futures: Knowledge, Ethics, and Muslim Societies must not have been previously published in any language or format. If the article is derived from a thesis, dissertation, conference paper, working paper, preprint, research report, or pre-existing academic work, this must be clearly disclosed, and the submitted article must be substantially revised and developed into an original journal article.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Authors must properly acknowledge all sources that have influenced their work. Relevant Qur’anic verses, Hadith texts, tafsir works, syarah works, classical Islamic sources, manuscripts, translations, legal documents, fatwas, academic books, journal articles, digital databases, field data, interview materials, online platforms, and other scholarly materials must be cited accurately.

Authors should avoid selective citation, misleading citation, excessive self-citation, citation manipulation, coercive citation, or the use of references that are not directly relevant to the article. All references must follow the journal’s required citation style.

Authorship of the Article

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made significant scholarly contributions to the research. Such contributions may include conceptualization, research design, data collection, textual analysis, interpretation, methodology, drafting, critical revision, or final approval of the article.

All co-authors must approve the final version of the article and agree to its submission. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors have contributed appropriately and that no eligible contributor has been excluded.

The journal does not allow honorary authorship, guest authorship, gift authorship, ghost authorship, or any form of authorship manipulation. Individuals who contribute only to proofreading, technical assistance, administrative support, data collection, or general supervision without substantial intellectual contribution should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section rather than listed as authors.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest (Authors)

Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, academic, personal, political, religious, ideological, or professional conflicts of interest that could influence the results, interpretation, or presentation of their research.

If there is no conflict of interest, authors should state:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Authors must also disclose all sources of funding, sponsorship, institutional support, grant numbers, or financial assistance related to the research, authorship, or publication of the article.

Research Ethics and Human Participants

Authors conducting research involving human participants, interviews, surveys, ethnographic fieldwork, digital communities, online religious groups, social media users, religious minorities, students, institutional data, or vulnerable communities must follow appropriate research ethics standards.

Authors must provide information regarding ethical approval, informed consent, confidentiality, anonymization, and data protection where applicable. Research involving sensitive religious communities, political-religious debates, online fatwas, minority groups, gender issues, migration, humanitarian issues, or digital religious practices must be handled with particular ethical care.

If ethical approval is not required, authors should provide a clear explanation in the manuscript.

Data Integrity and Transparency

Authors must present data, sources, textual evidence, translations, digital materials, field notes, legal documents, manuscripts, fatwas, and analytical findings accurately and transparently. Data fabrication, falsification, manipulation, selective reporting, misleading interpretation, or suppression of contradictory evidence is considered serious ethical misconduct.

For empirical, bibliometric, digital, or data-driven research, authors are encouraged to include a data availability statement. If data cannot be shared due to privacy, legal, ethical, religious, or institutional restrictions, the limitation should be clearly explained.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors may use AI-assisted tools for grammar checking, language refinement, reference organization, or preliminary idea mapping. However, AI tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the integrity, originality, and accuracy of scholarly work.

If AI-assisted tools are used in manuscript preparation, authors must disclose their use transparently. Authors remain fully responsible for the final content of the manuscript, including arguments, citations, translations, data, interpretations, and references.

AI-generated references, fabricated quotations, false citations, unsupported claims, invented data, or misleading analysis are strictly prohibited.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works

If authors discover significant errors, inaccuracies, or ethical problems in their published work, they must promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate with the editorial team in correcting or retracting the article.

Corrections, clarifications, expressions of concern, or retractions may be issued when necessary to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Reviewers assist editors in making editorial decisions and help authors improve the quality of their articles through objective, constructive, and evidence-based feedback. Reviews should evaluate the article’s originality, relevance, methodology, theoretical framework, use of sources, analysis, argumentation, ethical compliance, and contribution to the field.

Reviewers are expected to assess whether the manuscript contributes meaningfully to future-oriented Islamic and Islamicate studies, especially in relation to Islamic knowledge traditions, ethics, digital transformation, religious authority, sustainability, public policy, or Muslim social change.

Promptness

Reviewers who feel unqualified to review an assigned article or unable to complete the review within the required time should notify the editor promptly and decline the review invitation.

Reviewers should submit their reports within the agreed timeframe. If additional time is needed, reviewers should communicate with the editorial office.

Confidentiality

Reviewers must treat all articles received for review as confidential documents. They must not share, discuss, copy, cite, distribute, or use any part of the article without authorization from the editor.

Reviewers must not upload unpublished manuscripts, reviewer reports, confidential data, or author information into public artificial intelligence tools or external platforms that may store, process, or reuse the material.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly, respectfully, and with supporting arguments. Review comments should focus on improving the academic quality of the article.

Reviewers should avoid hostile, discriminatory, defamatory, or personal language. Criticism should be directed at the scholarly content of the manuscript, not at the author’s identity, background, institution, nationality, religion, or academic status.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors where appropriate. Reviewers should also inform the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the article under review and any other published or unpublished work known to them.

Reviewers must not use the peer review process to impose irrelevant citations, excessive self-citation, or citation manipulation.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest (Reviewers)

Reviewers must declare any conflict of interest before accepting a review invitation. If a reviewer has a personal, institutional, academic, financial, political, religious, ideological, or collaborative relationship with the authors or their institutions, the reviewer must decline the review.

Reviewers must not use unpublished materials from the article for their own research or personal advantage.

Duties of Editors

Editorial Responsibility

Editors are responsible for maintaining the academic quality, ethical integrity, and editorial independence of the journal. Editors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are evaluated fairly, confidentially, and based on scholarly merit.

Editorial decisions should be based on originality, relevance to the journal’s Focus and Scope, methodological quality, theoretical contribution, clarity of argument, ethical compliance, and international scholarly relevance.

Editorial Independence

Editors must make decisions independently from commercial, institutional, political, personal, or financial influence. The publisher, sponsors, institutions, or external parties must not interfere with editorial decisions.

Confidentiality and Ethical Handling

Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and reviewer identities. Unpublished materials contained in submitted manuscripts must not be used by editors for their own research without written permission from the authors.

Editors are responsible for assigning qualified and independent reviewers, managing conflicts of interest, evaluating reviewer reports, making editorial decisions, and handling publication ethics cases appropriately.

Duties of the Publisher

The publisher is responsible for supporting editorial independence, ethical publication practice, long-term accessibility of published articles, and the integrity of the journal’s publishing process. The publisher must not interfere with editorial decisions based on commercial, institutional, political, or personal interests.

The publisher works with the editorial team to prevent and address publication misconduct, including plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, fake peer review, citation manipulation, authorship manipulation, and unethical use of artificial intelligence.

The publisher also supports the journal in maintaining publication metadata, digital preservation, journal accessibility, indexing preparation, archiving, and transparency of journal policies.

Ethical Misconduct

Any suspected ethical misconduct will be investigated by the editorial team. The journal may request clarification, documentation, source materials, raw data, ethics approval documents, similarity reports, or written statements from authors, reviewers, editors, or institutions involved.

If misconduct is confirmed, the journal may reject the article, withdraw the manuscript from the editorial process, retract the publication, issue a correction, publish an expression of concern, notify the authors’ institution, or take other appropriate actions according to the severity of the case.

Examples of ethical misconduct include plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate submission, redundant publication, data fabrication, data falsification, citation manipulation, fake peer review, undisclosed conflicts of interest, false authorship, misuse of participant data, unethical use of artificial intelligence, copyright violation, and serious errors that affect the validity of the published work.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The journal is committed to preserving the integrity of the scholarly record. If errors or ethical concerns are identified in a published article, the editorial team may issue a correction, clarification, expression of concern, or retraction.

A correction may be issued when an honest error affects the accuracy or clarity of the article but does not invalidate the main argument or findings.

An expression of concern may be issued when serious concerns have been raised but the investigation is incomplete or inconclusive.

A retraction may be issued when the article contains major errors, plagiarism, fabricated data, falsified evidence, unethical research, duplicate publication, or other misconduct that invalidates the integrity of the published work.

Retraction notices will be clearly linked to the original article and will explain the reason for retraction.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, or institutions may submit complaints regarding editorial decisions, peer review process, publication ethics, conflicts of interest, plagiarism, data integrity, or journal conduct.

Complaints must be submitted in writing to the editorial office with a clear explanation and supporting evidence. The journal will handle complaints confidentially, fairly, and transparently.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision if they believe that there has been a factual error, procedural irregularity, conflict of interest, or reviewer bias. Appeals will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and, where necessary, by members of the editorial board who were not involved in the original decision. The final decision after appeal is binding.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors who publish with Islamicate Futures: Knowledge, Ethics, and Muslim Societies retain copyright of their work and grant the journal the right of first publication.

All published articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, reproduction, and adaptation in any medium, provided that the original author(s) and source are properly cited.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted materials such as figures, tables, images, manuscripts, datasets, translations, archival materials, digital materials, and other third-party content.

Open Access and Archiving

Islamicate Futures: Knowledge, Ethics, and Muslim Societies provides immediate open access to its published content. The journal supports the principle that making research freely available to the public promotes global exchange of knowledge, increases scholarly visibility, and strengthens academic collaboration.

Authors are permitted to deposit the submitted version, accepted version, and published version of their article in institutional repositories, personal websites, academic networks, and scholarly databases, provided that proper citation to the published version is included.

Commitment to Ethical Publishing

Islamicate Futures: Knowledge, Ethics, and Muslim Societies is committed to building a credible, transparent, and internationally respected scholarly platform for future-oriented Islamic and Islamicate studies. The journal upholds publication ethics as a fundamental requirement for academic excellence, public trust, and global scholarly communication.