Ethics and Malpractice Statement
ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT
TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World is a double blind peer-reviewed international journal committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. In meeting this commitment, the prevention of publication malpractice is one of the important responsibilities of the Editorial Board. To that purpose, all parties involved in the publication of TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World are expected to fully adhere to our policy regarding publication ethics and malpractice, and respect the following statements:
A. EDITOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Editors should act in a balanced, objective and fair manner while carrying out their expected duties, without discrimination on the grounds of gender, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of authors.
2. Editors should handle submissions exclusively on the basis of their academic merit. Editors must not use unpublished information in the editors’ own research without the express written consent of the authors.
3. Editors should ensure the integrity of the publication review process. As such, editors should not reveal either the identity of authors of manuscripts to the reviewers, or the identity of reviewers to authors.
4. Editors must ensure that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential before publishing.
5. Editors should adopt and follow reasonable procedures in the event of complaints of an ethical or conflict in nature.
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.
B. EDITORIAL BOARD’S RESPONSIBILITIES
1. The Editorial Board is responsible for deciding which of the submitted articles should be published.
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, thus he/she has complete responsibility and authority to reject/accept an article. However, the published manuscript would 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 Editorial Board should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published article. They shall conduct proper and fair investigation into ethical complaints.
C. 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) with respect to the reviewed manuscript. If such conflicts of interest exist, reviewers should alert the editors and if necessary, withdraw their services 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 alert the editors to any published or submitted content that is substantially similar to that under review.
5. In the event that a reviewer feels it is not possible for him/her to complete review of manuscript within the stipulated time, then this information must be communicated to the editors, so that the manuscript could be sent to another reviewer.