Publication Ethics

Research Journal Al-Qamar is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, research integrity, academic honesty, editorial transparency, and responsible scholarly communication. The journal expects authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and all persons involved in the publication process to follow ethical principles in every stage of submission, review, revision, production, publication, correction, and archiving.

Publication ethics protects the credibility of scholarly research. It ensures that published work is original, properly referenced, fairly reviewed, accurately presented, and ethically prepared. Any form of plagiarism, false authorship, fabricated data, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, peer-review manipulation, or unethical research practice is unacceptable.

Purpose of Publication Ethics Policy

The purpose of this policy is to guide authors, reviewers, editors, and readers regarding ethical responsibilities in academic publishing. This policy helps the journal maintain trust, fairness, transparency, and academic reliability.

The policy applies to:

1. Authors
2. Co-authors
3. Corresponding authors
4. Reviewers
5. Editors
6. Editorial Board members
7. Advisory Board members
8. Copyeditors and production staff
9. Readers and complainants
10. Institutions and research bodies

All submissions to Research Journal Al-Qamar must follow this policy.

General Ethical Principles

The journal follows the following ethical principles:

1. Originality of research
2. Honesty in scholarship
3. Proper citation of sources
4. Respect for intellectual property
5. Accurate presentation of evidence
6. Fair and unbiased peer review
7. Editorial independence
8. Confidentiality of manuscripts
9. Transparency in authorship
10. Disclosure of conflicts of interest
11. Responsible correction of errors
12. Protection of the scholarly record

All parties involved in publication must act with integrity and professionalism.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscript is original, accurate, properly referenced, ethically prepared, and not submitted elsewhere at the same time.

Authors must ensure that:

1. The manuscript is original and unpublished.
2. The manuscript is not under consideration by another journal.
3. All sources are properly cited.
4. Direct quotations are clearly identified.
5. Paraphrased ideas are acknowledged.
6. Data, references, translations, and quotations are accurate.
7. All authors have made genuine scholarly contributions.
8. All authors have approved the final version.
9. Ethical approval has been obtained where required.
10. Conflicts of interest have been disclosed.
11. Funding sources have been declared.
12. Permissions have been obtained for copyrighted material.
13. The manuscript follows the journal’s author guidelines.

Authors remain fully responsible for the integrity and accuracy of their work after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism

All manuscripts submitted to Research Journal Al-Qamar must be original. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable.

Plagiarism includes:

1. Copying text from another source without citation.
2. Using another person’s ideas without acknowledgment.
3. Paraphrasing too closely without proper citation.
4. Copying from online sources without reference.
5. Using another author’s argument as one’s own.
6. Translating material from another language without acknowledgment.
7. Using unpublished material without permission.
8. Copying from theses, reports, books, articles, or websites without citation.
9. Presenting AI-generated or copied text as original scholarship.
10. Submitting another person’s work under one’s own name.

Manuscripts with serious plagiarism may be rejected. If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

Self-Plagiarism and Duplicate Publication

Authors must not submit material that has already been published elsewhere. Reusing substantial parts of one’s own previously published work without proper citation is considered self-plagiarism.

Duplicate publication includes:

1. Submitting the same article to more than one journal.
2. Publishing the same research in different journals without disclosure.
3. Reusing large sections of previously published work without citation.
4. Submitting a translated version of a published article without permission and disclosure.
5. Dividing one study into multiple weak publications without academic justification.
6. Presenting already published material as new research.

If a manuscript is based on a thesis, conference paper, working paper, or earlier version, the author must clearly disclose this at the time of submission.

Authorship Ethics

Authorship must be based on genuine scholarly contribution. Every listed author must have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the manuscript.

An author should normally have contributed to one or more of the following:

1. Conceptualization of the study
2. Research design
3. Methodology
4. Data collection or textual investigation
5. Analysis and interpretation
6. Draft writing
7. Critical revision
8. Final approval
9. Accountability for the work

All listed authors must approve the final manuscript before submission.

Unethical Authorship Practices

The journal does not accept unethical authorship practices, including:

1. Gift authorship
2. Guest authorship
3. Ghost authorship
4. Forced authorship
5. Honorary authorship
6. False contribution claims
7. Exclusion of deserving contributors
8. Addition of authors without consent
9. Removal of authors without consent
10. Unauthorized change in author order

Any change in authorship after submission must be supported by a written explanation and consent of all authors.

Corresponding Author Responsibility

The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal and must ensure that all author information is accurate.

The corresponding author must confirm that:

1. All authors have approved the submission.
2. All authors agree with the author order.
3. The manuscript is original.
4. The manuscript is not under review elsewhere.
5. Required declarations have been submitted.
6. Revisions are approved by all authors.
7. The final proof is checked carefully.
8. Any post-publication correction is communicated honestly.

The corresponding author must not submit a manuscript without the knowledge and consent of all co-authors.

Acknowledgment of Contributions

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged separately with their permission.

Acknowledged contributions may include:

1. General supervision
2. Technical assistance
3. Language editing
4. Proofreading
5. Administrative support
6. Library assistance
7. Data entry support
8. Financial support
9. Institutional support
10. Fieldwork assistance

Acknowledgment does not replace authorship and does not imply responsibility for the article.

Research Integrity

Authors must present their research honestly and accurately. They must not fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent evidence, data, references, quotations, translations, or findings.

Research misconduct includes:

1. Fabrication of data
2. Falsification of evidence
3. Misrepresentation of sources
4. Selective quotation that distorts meaning
5. Manipulation of results
6. Fake references
7. Invented citations
8. False claims about methodology
9. Misleading translation
10. Suppression of relevant evidence

The journal may reject or retract work that contains serious research integrity violations.

Citation and Reference Ethics

Accurate citation is an essential part of publication ethics. Authors must give proper credit to all sources used in the manuscript.

Authors must ensure that:

1. All quoted material is cited.
2. All paraphrased ideas are cited.
3. References are complete and accurate.
4. Page numbers are correct.
5. DOI or URL details are verified where applicable.
6. Qur’anic references are accurate.
7. Hadith references are accurate.
8. Classical sources are properly identified.
9. Legal references are complete where relevant.
10. Bibliography includes only sources actually used.

Fake, unverifiable, careless, or misleading references are not acceptable.

Citation Manipulation

The journal does not allow citation manipulation. Citations should be used because they are relevant to the manuscript, not to artificially increase citation counts.

Unethical citation practices include:

1. Excessive self-citation without academic need.
2. Unnecessary citation of the journal to influence acceptance.
3. Citation of unrelated works.
4. Pressure to cite specific authors without reason.
5. Citation exchange among authors.
6. Adding references only to increase citation metrics.

Reviewers and editors should not ask authors to cite their own work unless it is directly relevant.

Ethical Use of Religious Texts

Because Research Journal Al-Qamar publishes in Islamic Studies and related disciplines, authors must handle religious texts with accuracy, respect, and scholarly responsibility.

Authors must ensure accuracy in:

1. Qur’anic verses
2. Hadith texts
3. Arabic wording
4. Translations
5. Surah and verse references
6. Hadith collection references
7. Names of classical scholars
8. Legal schools and theological positions
9. Historical claims
10. Religious terminology

Authors should not present contested interpretations as undisputed facts unless the evidence supports the claim. Sectarian, insulting, inflammatory, or disrespectful language is not acceptable.

Ethical Use of Translations

Translations must be faithful to the original meaning. Authors must clearly indicate whether a translation is their own or taken from a published source.

Unethical translation practices include:

1. Translating without acknowledging the source.
2. Changing the meaning of a passage.
3. Omitting words in a misleading way.
4. Presenting another translator’s work as one’s own.
5. Using machine translation without careful verification.
6. Translating religious texts carelessly.

Where necessary, the original text and translation should both be provided.

Ethical Approval for Research Involving Humans

Research involving human participants must follow proper ethical procedures. This includes interviews, surveys, questionnaires, observations, case studies, institutional data, personal narratives, and sensitive social or religious issues.

Where applicable, authors should provide:

1. Ethical approval statement
2. Name of approving institution or committee
3. Informed consent statement
4. Statement on confidentiality
5. Data protection measures
6. Permission for interviews or fieldwork
7. Explanation of risk management
8. Consent for publication, where required

The journal may ask for supporting documentation before review or publication.

Informed Consent

Authors must obtain informed consent from participants where required. Participants should understand the purpose of the research, how their information will be used, and whether their identity will be disclosed.

Informed consent is especially important where research involves:

1. Interviews
2. Surveys
3. Personal data
4. Religious identity
5. Legal issues
6. Sensitive social issues
7. Vulnerable groups
8. Institutional information
9. Images or recordings
10. Case studies

Authors must protect participant privacy and confidentiality.

Confidentiality and Privacy

Authors must respect privacy and confidentiality. Personal information should not be published unless it is necessary, ethically justified, and properly consented.

Authors should avoid disclosing:

1. Private personal details
2. Sensitive identity information
3. Confidential institutional records
4. Unapproved interview data
5. Personal communications without permission
6. Unnecessary identifying details
7. Information that may harm participants

The journal may require anonymization where needed.

Conflict of Interest

All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest may be financial, personal, academic, institutional, religious, ideological, professional, or political.

Authors should disclose any factor that may influence the research, including:

1. Funding sources
2. Institutional affiliation
3. Personal relationships
4. Professional interests
5. Financial support
6. Paid consultancy
7. Political or organizational links
8. Previous disputes
9. Editorial relationships
10. Any other relevant interest

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

The author(s) declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all funding sources related to the research. Funding disclosure helps readers understand the context of the research and supports transparency.

A funding statement may include:

1. Name of funding agency
2. Grant number, where applicable
3. Role of funder
4. Institutional support
5. Research sponsorship
6. Statement if no funding was received

If no funding was received, authors may state:

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Duties of Reviewers

Reviewers are responsible for providing fair, objective, confidential, and constructive evaluation of manuscripts.

Reviewers must:

1. Review only manuscripts within their expertise.
2. Declare conflicts of interest.
3. Maintain confidentiality.
4. Provide evidence-based comments.
5. Avoid personal criticism.
6. Identify strengths and weaknesses.
7. Report suspected plagiarism or ethical problems.
8. Avoid using unpublished material.
9. Submit reviews within the agreed time.
10. Treat authors with respect.

Reviewers should not share manuscripts with others without permission from the journal.

Reviewer Confidentiality

All manuscripts under review are confidential. Reviewers must not copy, distribute, cite, discuss, or use unpublished manuscript content for personal benefit.

Confidentiality applies to:

1. Manuscript content
2. Research findings
3. Data
4. Arguments
5. Translations
6. Reviewer comments
7. Editorial communication
8. Ethical concerns
9. Author identity in blind review
10. Any unpublished material

Violation of confidentiality is considered reviewer misconduct.

Reviewer Misconduct

Reviewer misconduct may include:

1. Breach of confidentiality
2. Deliberate delay
3. Biased review
4. Personal attack
5. Sectarian or discriminatory language
6. Using unpublished material
7. Undeclared conflict of interest
8. Requesting unnecessary citations
9. Sharing manuscript without permission
10. Misrepresenting expertise

The journal may remove such reviewers from future review assignments.

Duties of Editors

Editors are responsible for ensuring fair, transparent, ethical, and academically sound editorial handling of manuscripts.

Editors must:

1. Evaluate manuscripts on academic merit.
2. Protect editorial independence.
3. Ensure appropriate peer review.
4. Maintain confidentiality.
5. Avoid conflicts of interest.
6. Treat authors fairly.
7. Respond to ethical concerns.
8. Protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
9. Avoid discrimination.
10. Make decisions based on evidence and journal policy.

Editors must not misuse unpublished material from submitted manuscripts.

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions must be independent and based on academic quality, originality, relevance, ethical compliance, reviewer recommendations, and journal standards.

Decisions must not be influenced by:

1. Author status
2. Institutional pressure
3. Financial payment
4. Personal relationship
5. Political pressure
6. Religious affiliation
7. Nationality
8. Gender
9. Ethnicity
10. External influence

The journal does not sell acceptance, authorship, review outcomes, indexing claims, or publication priority.

Editorial Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff must maintain confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and related communication.

They must not disclose:

1. Manuscript details
2. Author identity during blind review
3. Reviewer identity
4. Reviewer reports
5. Editorial discussions
6. Internal decisions
7. Ethical complaints
8. Appeal records
9. Unpublished material
10. Production files before publication

Confidentiality supports fairness and trust in the editorial process.

Peer Review Ethics

The journal follows a double-blind peer review process. Peer review must be fair, confidential, professional, and academically responsible.

Unethical peer-review practices include:

1. Fake reviewer identities
2. Reviewer impersonation
3. Peer-review manipulation
4. Undisclosed conflicts of interest
5. Review reports written by unapproved persons
6. Pressure on reviewers
7. Hostile or abusive reviewer language
8. Unjustified rejection or acceptance
9. Citation coercion
10. Breach of confidentiality

If peer-review manipulation is detected, the manuscript may be rejected or retracted.

Ethical Use of AI Tools

AI tools may be used only for limited support, such as grammar correction, language improvement, formatting assistance, or technical editing. AI tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for research integrity, originality, accuracy, accountability, or ethical compliance.

Authors remain fully responsible for:

1. Accuracy of content
2. Originality of argument
3. Correctness of references
4. Accuracy of quotations
5. Translation quality
6. Religious text accuracy
7. Legal and historical claims
8. Ethical compliance
9. Final submitted manuscript
10. Published content

AI-generated references, quotations, translations, or claims must not be used without human verification. Fabricated AI-generated sources are considered serious academic misconduct.

Image, Table, and Figure Ethics

Authors must ensure that tables, images, charts, figures, maps, manuscript pages, and illustrations are original, properly cited, or used with permission.

Authors must not:

1. Use copyrighted images without permission.
2. Manipulate images misleadingly.
3. Present copied tables as original.
4. Remove source information.
5. Use figures without citation.
6. Misrepresent visual data.
7. Reproduce archival images without permission where required.
8. Use AI-generated images without disclosure where relevant.

Permission must be obtained for copyrighted material before submission.

Data and Evidence Integrity

Where manuscripts include data, fieldwork, interviews, statistics, legal documents, archival records, manuscripts, or historical evidence, authors must present the evidence honestly and accurately.

Authors should not:

1. Fabricate data.
2. Hide relevant evidence.
3. Manipulate statistics.
4. Misquote interviewees.
5. Alter archival records.
6. Misrepresent legal documents.
7. Invent manuscript evidence.
8. Use unverifiable claims as facts.
9. Present uncertain material as established fact.
10. Omit limitations that affect interpretation.

The journal may request supporting evidence where necessary.

Copyright and Intellectual Property

Authors must respect copyright and intellectual property rights. Manuscripts must not include copyrighted material without permission where permission is required.

Copyright concerns may involve:

1. Long quotations
2. Translated passages
3. Images
4. Tables
5. Figures
6. Maps
7. Manuscript pages
8. Archival material
9. Published documents
10. Online content

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission and providing proof where needed.

Simultaneous Submission

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Simultaneous submission is unethical because it wastes editorial and reviewer time and may lead to duplicate publication.

By submitting to Research Journal Al-Qamar, authors confirm that the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere.

Manuscript Withdrawal Ethics

Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript before publication by providing a valid reason. Withdrawal after peer review, acceptance, or production should not be made without serious academic or ethical grounds.

Unethical withdrawal may include:

1. Withdrawal after acceptance without valid reason
2. Withdrawal to submit elsewhere after receiving review comments
3. Failure to respond after acceptance
4. Withdrawal after production work has been completed
5. Duplicate submission during review
6. Using peer review only for free feedback

The journal may keep records of unethical withdrawal.

Corrections and Retractions

The journal is committed to correcting the scholarly record where necessary. If an error is found after publication, the journal may issue a correction, clarification, expression of concern, or retraction.

Corrections may be issued for:

1. Author name errors
2. Affiliation errors
3. Reference errors
4. Production mistakes
5. Minor factual errors
6. Metadata errors
7. Formatting problems

Retraction may be considered for:

1. Plagiarism
2. Fabricated data
3. Duplicate publication
4. Serious ethical violation
5. False authorship
6. Peer-review manipulation
7. Major error invalidating the work
8. Misleading or fabricated references
9. Unauthorized use of material
10. Serious research misconduct

Retraction is intended to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

Complaints and Ethical Concerns

Authors, reviewers, readers, editors, institutions, or any concerned party may report publication ethics concerns to the journal.

Ethical complaints may relate to:

1. Plagiarism
2. Duplicate publication
3. Authorship dispute
4. False references
5. Data fabrication
6. Citation manipulation
7. Peer-review manipulation
8. Conflict of interest
9. Copyright violation
10. Misrepresentation of sources
11. Inaccurate religious citations
12. Unethical research involving humans

Complaints should be evidence-based and professionally written.

Handling Ethical Complaints

When an ethical complaint is received, the journal may follow a documented process.

The process may include:

1. Initial review of the complaint
2. Examination of the manuscript or published article
3. Request for clarification from authors
4. Review of editorial and peer-review records
5. Similarity or reference verification
6. Consultation with editors or experts
7. Request for institutional clarification where required
8. Decision on correction, rejection, withdrawal, or retraction
9. Communication of the outcome to relevant parties
10. Record keeping for future reference

The journal will try to handle complaints fairly, confidentially, and responsibly.

Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision if they believe there has been a procedural error, misunderstanding, factual mistake, conflict of interest, or unfair evaluation. Appeals must be respectful and supported by evidence.

Appeals may relate to:

1. Rejection decisions
2. Reviewer comments
3. Ethical decisions
4. Correction requests
5. Retraction or withdrawal decisions
6. Authorship-related decisions
7. Procedural concerns

An appeal does not guarantee acceptance or reversal of the decision. The final decision after appeal rests with the competent editorial authority.

Responsibility in Islamic Studies Scholarship

Because the journal works in Islamic Studies and related fields, publication ethics also includes special scholarly care regarding religious knowledge, sacred texts, sectarian sensitivities, historical claims, legal interpretations, and translations.

Authors should:

1. Use Qur’anic verses accurately.
2. Cite Hadith properly.
3. Avoid misrepresenting classical scholars.
4. Identify schools of thought correctly.
5. Translate religious terms carefully.
6. Avoid sectarian insult.
7. Avoid inflammatory language.
8. Distinguish between fact, interpretation, and opinion.
9. Present contested views honestly.
10. Support claims with reliable evidence.

Critical scholarship is welcome, but it must be expressed with evidence, balance, respect, and academic discipline.

Respectful Academic Language

The journal does not accept abusive, hateful, sectarian, discriminatory, defamatory, or inflammatory language. Authors may criticize ideas, arguments, interpretations, institutions, policies, or historical positions, but criticism must remain scholarly and evidence-based.

Authors should avoid:

1. Personal attacks
2. Sectarian labels used abusively
3. Insults toward religious communities
4. Unsupported accusations
5. Emotional exaggeration
6. Disrespectful references to sacred figures
7. Political propaganda
8. Hate speech
9. Defamatory claims
10. Non-academic polemics

Respectful language supports serious scholarship and responsible debate.

Sanctions for Ethical Violations

If ethical misconduct is found, the journal may take appropriate action depending on the seriousness of the case.

Possible actions include:

1. Request for clarification
2. Request for correction
3. Return of manuscript
4. Rejection of manuscript
5. Withdrawal from review
6. Publication of correction
7. Expression of concern
8. Retraction of article
9. Notification to authors’ institution
10. Restriction on future submissions
11. Removal of reviewer from review list
12. Other action according to journal policy

The journal will take decisions carefully and based on available evidence.

Record Keeping

The journal maintains records related to publication ethics for accountability and transparency.

Records may include:

1. Submission files
2. Author declarations
3. Similarity reports
4. Reviewer reports
5. Editorial decisions
6. Revision history
7. Ethical complaints
8. Correspondence
9. Correction notices
10. Retraction notices
11. Appeal records
12. Publication metadata

Record keeping helps the journal respond to future queries, complaints, and institutional verification requests.

Final Author Declaration

By submitting a manuscript to Research Journal Al-Qamar, authors declare that:

1. The manuscript is original.
2. The manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere.
3. All sources are properly cited.
4. All authors have contributed genuinely.
5. All authors approve the submission.
6. No plagiarism or fabrication is present.
7. Ethical approval has been obtained where required.
8. Conflicts of interest have been disclosed.
9. Funding sources have been declared.
10. The manuscript follows journal policies.

Submission to the journal means that authors accept the journal’s publication ethics policy.

Final Statement

Research Journal Al-Qamar is committed to ethical publishing, academic honesty, responsible peer review, transparent editorial practice, and protection of the scholarly record. The journal expects all authors, reviewers, editors, and contributors to act with integrity and to support the publication of original, accurate, respectful, and academically valuable research in Islamic Studies and related disciplines.