A. AUTHOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Authors should ensure that their work is entirely original, and if the work and/or words of others have been used, this has been appropriately acknowledged. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable. Authors should agree to any necessary originality checks that the manuscript may need to undergo during the evaluation or production process.
2. Authors must carefully read the “Notes to Contributors” of TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World before submitting their manuscript.
3. Authors must ensure that the manuscript has not been submitted or is being considered for publication elsewhere. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
4. Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. 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.
5. Authors should obtain permission to reproduce any content (diagrams, tables, images, etc.) from other sources. Any breach of copyright laws will result in the rejection of the submitted manuscript or retraction after publication.
6. Authors should disclose any funding support.
7. If at any point of time, authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in submitted manuscript, then the error or inaccuracy must be reported to the editors. If the editors learn from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the authors to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.

B. REVIEWER’S RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorised by the editors.
2. Reviewers must not have conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative, or other relationships between reviewers and authors) regarding the reviewed manuscript. If such conflicts of interest exist, reviewers should alert the editors and if necessary, withdraw from reviewing for that manuscript.
3. Reviewers should contribute to the decision-making process and assist in improving the quality of the published article by reviewing the manuscript objectively and in a timely manner. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Views expressed by reviewers should be supported with clear arguments.
4. Reviewers should inform the editors of any published or submitted content that is substantially similar to the manuscript under review.
5. In the event that a reviewer feels it is not possible to complete review of manuscript within the stipulated time, this must be communicated to the editors, so that the manuscript can be reassigned to another reviewer.

C. EDITOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Editors should act in a balanced, objective, and fair manner while fulfilling their duties, without discrimination on the grounds of gender, religious or political beliefs, ethnicity, or geographical origin of authors.
2. Editors should evaluate submissions exclusively on the basis of their academic merit. Editors should not use unpublished information in their own research without the express written consent of the authors.
3. Editors should ensure the integrity of the publication review process. Therefore, they should not disclose the identity of authors to reviewers, nor the identity of reviewers to authors.
4. Editors should ensure that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential until publication.
5. Editors should adopt and follow reasonable procedures in the event of ethical or conflict-related complaints.
6. Editors should gather evidence and avoid spreading any allegations beyond those who need to know in the event of an investigation of complaints.
7. Editors should give authors a reasonable opportunity to respond to any complaints. All complaints should be investigated no matter when the original publication was approved. Documentation associated with any such complaints should be retained.

D. EDITORIAL BOARD’S RESPONSIBILITIES

1. TAFHIM Editorial Board is collectively responsible for deciding which of the submitted articles should be published. Unless decided otherwise by the Board, this collective decision shall be finalised during the scheduled meeting(s) of the Board, or any of its other meetings which TAFHIM Editor-in-Chief—or during his absence from duty, TAFHIM Managing Editor—deems pertinent to realise such responsibility.
2. The Editorial Board must ensure that information regarding manuscripts submitted by the authors is kept confidential.
3. The Editorial Board is accountable for all articles published in the journal and, as such, has complete responsibility and authority to reject/accept an article. However, the published manuscript does not represent the stand or opinion of the Editorial Board and the Management Team of TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World, or the Institute of Islamic Understanding of Malaysia (IKIM).
4. The Board should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints are raised regarding a submitted manuscript or published article. They shall conduct proper and fair investigation into ethical complaints.

E. TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT

TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World accepts manuscripts that have not been published elsewhere and are not under consideration for publication by any other print or electronic media. Authors agree to transfer copyright to the editorial office of TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World. However, the work may be reprinted with proper acknowledgment of its original publication in TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World.

F. PLAGIARISM POLICY

1. Plagiarism is a scientific misconduct and is an unacceptable violation of publication ethics. TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World takes scientific misconduct seriously and will deal with it promptly and fairly. TAFHIM Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board, and Reviewers are the primary means of detecting plagiarism in manuscripts submitted to TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World. Given the serious nature of a charge of plagiarism, it is required that confidentiality be maintained throughout the process. The charge of plagiarism, as well as its supporting materials and outcome, is only to be made known to those persons who are involved in the review process.
2. Plagiarism and self-plagiarism are not allowed;
3. The authors should ensure that they have authored entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
4. 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;
5. 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.
6. Editorial Team checks manuscripts by using iThenticate or any other software. If similarities are found (more than 30%), the Editorial Board shall reject it immediately.

G. DEALING WITH MISCONDUCT

1. Penalties and Sanctions

1. TAFHIM Editorial Board has the sole responsibility and authority to determine the proper sanction.
2. Due process and confidentiality are important in all cases of alleged plagiarism, falsification, and other unethical conduct. Such cases will be handled according to the Publication Code of Ethics of the Editorial Board.
3. In cases where the Editorial Board determined that an unethical conduct occurred, the manuscript will be rejected. If the article has been published, it will be retracted promptly. The author(s) involved may be barred from submitting to TAFHIM for a period of time (one to three years) depending on the nature of the misconduct.
4. TAFHIM reserves the right to evaluate issues of misconduct such as plagiarism and redundancy, etc. on a case-by-case basis.

H. COMPLAINTS REGARDING EDITORIAL DECISIONS

1. TAFHIM supports editorial independence and will not comment on the decision made by a TAFHIM editor, unless there is evidence that the article was not handled in accordance with best practice.
2. If your article has been rejected and you believe that there are grounds to appeal the decision, such as new evidence or a reviewer’s misunderstanding of your article, you may appeal the editorial decision.
3. To do this, you must submit in writing to TAFHIM Managing Editor at [email protected].
4. The complaint will be considered by TAFHIM Editorial Board.
5. The complaint will be acknowledged within 7 days of receipt, and the Board aims to resolve it within 90 days.
6. The decision will be in writing and will be final. You may not appeal more than once about the same article.