Duties of Authors, Editors and Reviewers

Research Journal Al-Qamar is committed to responsible academic publishing, ethical scholarship, transparent editorial practice, and fair peer review. The journal expects all authors, editors, reviewers, editorial board members, and persons involved in the publication process to perform their duties honestly, professionally, confidentially, and according to recognized standards of publication ethics.

The duties of authors, editors, and reviewers are essential for protecting the quality, credibility, originality, and integrity of the scholarly record. Every manuscript submitted to the journal must be handled with academic seriousness, ethical responsibility, and respect for intellectual work.

Duties of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submitted manuscripts are original, accurate, ethically prepared, properly referenced, and not under consideration elsewhere. By submitting a manuscript to Research Journal Al-Qamar, authors confirm that they accept the journal’s policies regarding authorship, originality, plagiarism, peer review, correction, retraction, copyright, and publication ethics.

Originality of Work

Authors must submit only original and unpublished work. The manuscript should represent the author’s own research, argument, analysis, interpretation, and scholarly contribution.

Authors must ensure that:

  1. The manuscript has not been published before.
  2. The manuscript is not under review by another journal.
  3. The work is not copied from another source.
  4. All borrowed ideas are properly acknowledged.
  5. All quotations are clearly cited.
  6. Paraphrased material is properly referenced.
  7. Translated material is acknowledged.
  8. The research makes a genuine academic contribution.

Submission of plagiarized, copied, translated without acknowledgment, or already published material is considered a serious violation of publication ethics.

Accuracy of Research

Authors must present their research honestly and accurately. They should not fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent data, evidence, references, quotations, translations, legal documents, religious texts, or historical claims.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of:

  1. Research findings
  2. Arguments and interpretations
  3. Quotations
  4. Translations
  5. Qur’anic references
  6. Hadith references
  7. Classical Islamic sources
  8. Legal references
  9. Historical dates and names
  10. Tables, figures, and data
  11. Bibliographic information
  12. Author details and affiliations

If an author discovers a significant error after submission or publication, the author must immediately inform the journal.

Proper Citation and Referencing

Authors must cite all sources accurately and consistently. Proper citation gives credit to original scholars and allows readers to verify the evidence used in the manuscript.

Authors should ensure that:

  1. Every quoted passage has a correct reference.
  2. Every borrowed idea is acknowledged.
  3. Page numbers are accurate.
  4. References are complete and verifiable.
  5. Qur’anic verses are cited with Surah and verse number.
  6. Hadith references include collection, book/chapter, and number where possible.
  7. Classical texts are cited with edition, volume, and page number where required.
  8. Online sources include reliable links and access details where necessary.
  9. Bibliography includes only sources actually used.
  10. Fake, invented, or unverifiable references are not included.

Careless or fabricated referencing may result in revision, rejection, correction, or retraction.

Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

Authors must avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism. Plagiarism includes using another person’s words, ideas, arguments, data, translations, or structure without proper acknowledgment.

Self-plagiarism includes reusing the author’s own previously published material without citation or disclosure.

Authors must not:

  1. Copy text without citation.
  2. Paraphrase too closely without acknowledgment.
  3. Submit the same manuscript to more than one journal.
  4. Reuse large parts of their previous work without disclosure.
  5. Submit a translated version of a published work as a new article without permission and explanation.
  6. Use AI-generated or copied material as original scholarship.

The journal may check manuscripts for similarity and may reject submissions with unacceptable similarity.

Authorship Responsibility

Authorship must be based on genuine scholarly contribution. Every listed author must have contributed meaningfully to the research and must accept responsibility for the manuscript.

Authors should normally contribute to one or more of the following:

  1. Research concept
  2. Study 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 content

All authors must approve the final version before submission. The corresponding author must ensure that no person is added or removed without consent.

Unethical Authorship Practices

Authors must avoid 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 permission
  9. Change of author order without consent
  10. Submission without approval of all authors

Any authorship change after submission must be requested in writing and approved by all authors.

Corresponding Author Duties

The corresponding author is the main contact between the journal and the authors. The corresponding author has a special duty to manage communication honestly and responsibly.

The corresponding author must ensure that:

  1. All authors are properly listed.
  2. Author order is agreed upon.
  3. All authors have approved the manuscript.
  4. All author details are accurate.
  5. The manuscript is not submitted elsewhere.
  6. All required declarations are included.
  7. Revisions are shared with all authors where necessary.
  8. Final proof is checked carefully.
  9. The journal is informed of any error or ethical concern.
  10. Communication with the journal remains professional and truthful.

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

Ethical Approval and Consent

Authors must obtain ethical approval where required, especially for research involving human participants, interviews, surveys, personal data, institutional information, fieldwork, sensitive topics, images, recordings, or case studies.

Where applicable, authors should provide:

  1. Ethical approval statement
  2. Name of approving body or institution
  3. Informed consent statement
  4. Confidentiality statement
  5. Data protection statement
  6. Permission for interviews or fieldwork
  7. Consent for publication where required

Authors must protect the privacy, dignity, and rights of research participants.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

Authors must disclose any conflict of interest that may influence the research or its interpretation. Conflicts may be financial, institutional, personal, academic, political, religious, professional, or ideological.

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

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

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts may result in editorial action.

Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all funding sources, grants, sponsorships, or institutional support related to the research.

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.

Funding disclosure helps maintain transparency and reader trust.

Use of AI Tools by Authors

Authors may use AI tools only for limited assistance such as grammar correction, language improvement, formatting, or technical refinement. AI tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for accuracy, originality, ethical compliance, or scholarly accountability.

Authors remain fully responsible for:

  1. Accuracy of content
  2. Originality of argument
  3. Correctness of references
  4. Accuracy of translations
  5. Accuracy of religious texts
  6. Legal and historical claims
  7. Ethical compliance
  8. Final submitted manuscript

AI-generated references, quotations, or claims must not be used without careful human verification.

Duties of Editors

Editors are responsible for maintaining the academic quality, ethical standards, editorial independence, and credibility of Research Journal Al-Qamar. Editors must handle all manuscripts fairly, confidentially, professionally, and according to the journal’s policies.

Fair Editorial Evaluation

Editors must evaluate manuscripts on academic merit only. Decisions should be based on originality, relevance, methodology, analysis, ethical compliance, citation accuracy, language quality, reviewer reports, and contribution to knowledge.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:

  1. Author’s nationality
  2. Gender
  3. Ethnicity
  4. Religious affiliation
  5. Political views
  6. Institutional affiliation
  7. Academic rank
  8. Personal relationship
  9. Financial consideration
  10. External pressure

Editors must ensure that all submissions receive fair and unbiased consideration.

Editorial Independence

Editors must protect the independence of the editorial process. Acceptance or rejection must not be influenced by payment, institutional pressure, personal request, recommendation, friendship, seniority, or any non-academic factor.

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

Confidentiality

Editors must treat submitted manuscripts as confidential documents. Manuscript content, author identity during blind review, reviewer identity, reviewer reports, editorial discussions, and unpublished material must not be disclosed to unauthorized persons.

Confidentiality applies to:

  1. Manuscript files
  2. Author details during blind review
  3. Reviewer names
  4. Reviewer reports
  5. Editorial comments
  6. Ethical complaints
  7. Appeal records
  8. Unpublished arguments or data
  9. Production files before publication
  10. Internal decisions

Editors must not use unpublished material from submitted manuscripts for personal research or advantage.

Selection of Reviewers

Editors are responsible for selecting suitable reviewers with relevant expertise. Reviewers should be chosen on the basis of subject knowledge, academic experience, integrity, and absence of conflict of interest.

Editors should avoid assigning reviewers who may have:

  1. Personal conflict with the author
  2. Close collaboration with the author
  3. Institutional conflict
  4. Financial interest
  5. Strong ideological bias
  6. Lack of expertise
  7. Any relationship that may affect fairness

If a conflict is discovered, the editor may replace the reviewer or disregard the review.

Handling Peer Review

Editors must manage the peer review process responsibly. They should provide reviewers with clear instructions and ensure that review comments are professional, constructive, and academically useful.

Editors should:

  1. Maintain double-blind review where applicable.
  2. Protect reviewer confidentiality.
  3. Consider reviewer recommendations carefully.
  4. Make final decisions based on evidence and journal policy.
  5. Identify unfair or inappropriate reviewer comments.
  6. Request additional review where necessary.
  7. Communicate decisions clearly to authors.
  8. Distinguish between required revisions and suggestions where possible.

Reviewer recommendations are advisory; the final decision rests with the editorial authority.

Handling Ethical Concerns

Editors must respond carefully to ethical concerns before or after publication. Ethical concerns may include plagiarism, duplicate submission, authorship dispute, false references, fabricated data, peer-review manipulation, conflict of interest, copyright violation, or inaccurate religious citation.

Editors may:

  1. Request clarification from authors.
  2. Review similarity reports.
  3. Check references and evidence.
  4. Consult reviewers or experts.
  5. Contact institutions where necessary.
  6. Suspend the review process.
  7. Reject the manuscript.
  8. Issue correction, expression of concern, or retraction after publication.

Editors must handle ethical cases fairly and confidentially.

Correction, Retraction and Withdrawal Duties

Editors are responsible for protecting the accuracy of the scholarly record. If a significant error is identified, editors should consider the appropriate response.

Possible actions include:

  1. Minor correction
  2. Major correction
  3. Editorial note
  4. Expression of concern
  5. Withdrawal before publication
  6. Retraction after publication
  7. Appeal review
  8. Institutional communication where required

Editors should ensure that post-publication actions are transparent, proportionate, and properly documented.

Conflict of Interest for Editors

Editors must not handle manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest. A conflict may be personal, financial, academic, institutional, ideological, or professional.

If an editor has a conflict, the manuscript should be assigned to another qualified editor or editorial authority.

Duties of Reviewers

Reviewers play a central role in maintaining the scholarly quality of Research Journal Al-Qamar. Reviewers provide expert evaluation and help editors decide whether a manuscript is suitable for publication.

Reviewers must review manuscripts fairly, confidentially, objectively, and constructively.

Objective Evaluation

Reviewers should evaluate the manuscript on academic grounds only. Their comments should focus on the quality of research, originality, methodology, evidence, structure, references, language, and contribution.

Reviewers should consider:

  1. Is the topic relevant to the journal?
  2. Is the research original?
  3. Is the problem clearly defined?
  4. Is the methodology appropriate?
  5. Is the argument logical and well-supported?
  6. Are sources used properly?
  7. Are references accurate?
  8. Is the language academic and respectful?
  9. Are ethical requirements fulfilled?
  10. Does the manuscript contribute to knowledge?

Reviewers should avoid personal opinion unrelated to the academic quality of the manuscript.

Constructive Feedback

Reviewer comments should help authors improve their work. Criticism should be clear, respectful, evidence-based, and academically useful.

Reviewers should:

  1. Identify strengths of the manuscript.
  2. Identify weaknesses clearly.
  3. Suggest improvements where possible.
  4. Explain reasons for criticism.
  5. Avoid vague comments.
  6. Avoid insulting or discouraging language.
  7. Distinguish major problems from minor issues.
  8. Support recommendations with academic reasoning.

A review should not be a personal attack. It should be a professional academic assessment.

Confidentiality of Review

Reviewers must treat manuscripts as confidential documents. They must not share, copy, distribute, cite, discuss, or use unpublished material from the manuscript without permission.

Reviewers must not:

  1. Share the manuscript with colleagues or students without editorial permission.
  2. Use unpublished ideas in their own work.
  3. Cite the manuscript before publication.
  4. Discuss the manuscript publicly.
  5. Contact the author directly about the manuscript.
  6. Upload the manuscript to external tools without permission.

Confidentiality protects fairness and trust in the peer review process.

Conflict of Interest for Reviewers

Reviewers must decline a review invitation if they have a conflict of interest or cannot provide an objective review.

A reviewer should decline if:

  1. The reviewer knows the author and has a conflict.
  2. The reviewer recently collaborated with the author.
  3. The reviewer works in the same department or institution.
  4. The reviewer has a personal dispute with the author.
  5. The reviewer has financial or professional interest in the outcome.
  6. The reviewer lacks expertise in the subject.
  7. The reviewer cannot complete the review on time.

If a conflict appears after accepting the review, the reviewer must inform the journal immediately.

Timely Review

Reviewers should complete reviews within the agreed time. If they cannot review within the deadline, they should inform the journal promptly.

Delay in peer review may delay the author’s academic work and the journal’s publication schedule. Responsible reviewers help maintain a fair and efficient editorial process.

Reporting Ethical Concerns

Reviewers should inform the journal if they identify possible ethical issues in a manuscript.

These may include:

  1. Plagiarism
  2. Duplicate publication
  3. Fabricated references
  4. False data
  5. Misquotation
  6. Uncited translation
  7. Copyright violation
  8. Authorship concerns
  9. Conflict of interest
  10. Peer-review manipulation
  11. Misuse of AI-generated content
  12. Inaccurate Qur’anic or Hadith references

Reviewers should report such concerns confidentially to the editor and provide evidence where possible.

Respectful Language by Reviewers

Reviewers must use respectful academic language. The journal does not accept hostile, insulting, sectarian, discriminatory, defamatory, or inflammatory review comments.

Reviewers should avoid:

  1. Personal attacks
  2. Harsh or humiliating language
  3. Sectarian remarks
  4. Disrespect for religious traditions
  5. Unsupported accusations
  6. Discriminatory comments
  7. Emotional or biased criticism
  8. Comments unrelated to the manuscript

Reviewers may strongly criticize a manuscript, but criticism must remain professional and evidence-based.

Special Duties in Islamic Studies

Because Research Journal Al-Qamar publishes in Islamic Studies and related fields, authors, editors, and reviewers have special duties regarding religious texts, terminology, translations, and sensitive scholarly issues.

All parties should ensure accuracy and respect in relation to:

  1. Qur’anic verses
  2. Hadith texts
  3. Classical Islamic sources
  4. Arabic, Urdu, and Persian terminology
  5. Legal schools and theological traditions
  6. Historical claims
  7. Sectarian classifications
  8. Translations and transliteration
  9. Religious personalities and institutions
  10. Contemporary religious and legal debates

Critical scholarship is welcome, but it must be supported by evidence and expressed in responsible academic language.

Duties Regarding Communication

All communication among authors, editors, and reviewers should be professional, respectful, and properly documented. Official communication should normally take place through the journal’s online submission system or authorized editorial email.

Authors should not rely on informal promises, personal contacts, third-party messages, or unofficial channels as substitutes for the editorial record.

Editors should communicate decisions clearly. Reviewers should provide useful comments. Authors should respond to editorial and reviewer comments respectfully and within the required time.

Duties Regarding Documentation

The journal may maintain records of submissions, reviews, revisions, decisions, author declarations, correction requests, ethical complaints, and publication files. Authors, editors, and reviewers should cooperate in maintaining accurate documentation.

Documentation helps the journal:

  1. Explain decisions
  2. Handle appeals
  3. Investigate ethical concerns
  4. Maintain continuity
  5. Protect the scholarly record
  6. Verify publication history
  7. Support transparency
  8. Improve editorial quality

Final Statement

The duties of authors, editors, and reviewers are central to the credibility of Research Journal Al-Qamar. Authors must submit original, accurate, and ethically prepared work. Editors must ensure fair, independent, and confidential editorial handling. Reviewers must provide objective, respectful, and constructive evaluation.

Through responsible cooperation among authors, editors, and reviewers, Research Journal Al-Qamar aims to promote high-quality scholarship, protect publication ethics, and strengthen academic research in Islamic Studies and related disciplines