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 Editors must not use unpublished information in the editors’ own research without the express written consent of the authors.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.

 

D. 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 behavior and is unacceptable. Authors should agree to any necessary originality checks that the manuscript may have 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 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 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.

 

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 other print or electronic media. The authors agree to transfer the copyright to TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World editorial office. However, it can be reprinted with a proper acknowledgement that it was published in TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World.