ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF PUBLICATION

This publication ethics statement outlines the ethical responsibilities and standards expected from all parties involved in the publication process of Journal of Da'wah, including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher, Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Kerinci.

Journal of Da'wah is committed to maintaining the integrity, transparency, and quality of scholarly publishing in accordance with the principles and guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and internationally recognized standards of academic publishing ethics. 

Journal of Da'wah is committed to maintaining the integrity, transparency, and quality of scholarly publishing through a fair, objective, and ethical publication process. The publication of peer-reviewed articles contributes to the advancement of academic knowledge and reflects the scholarly responsibility of authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher.

All parties involved in the publication process are expected to uphold the principles of academic integrity, professional ethics, research transparency, and responsible scholarly communication. The journal is dedicated to ensuring that all editorial decisions are conducted independently, objectively, and free from discrimination, commercial influence, or personal interest.

Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Kerinci, as the publisher of Journal of Da'wah, recognizes its responsibility to support ethical publishing practices and to safeguard the integrity of the academic record. The publisher and editorial board are committed to promoting ethical oversight, maintaining confidentiality, addressing allegations of misconduct appropriately, and supporting the correction or retraction of published works when necessary.

DUTIES OF EDITORS

Publication Decisions

Editors of Journal of Da'wah are responsible for making publication decisions based on the scholarly merit, originality, relevance, clarity, and academic contribution of submitted manuscripts. Editorial decisions are guided by the results of the peer-review process, the journal’s editorial policies, and applicable ethical and legal standards.

Editors evaluate manuscripts fairly and objectively without discrimination based on the authors’ race, gender, religious belief, ethnic background, nationality, institutional affiliation, or political perspective. Decisions to accept, revise, or reject a manuscript must be made solely on the basis of academic quality, research integrity, and relevance to the scope of the journal.

Editors are also responsible for ensuring that manuscripts suspected of plagiarism, data fabrication, unethical research practices, duplicate publication, or other forms of academic misconduct are handled appropriately in accordance with the journal’s publication ethics and internationally recognized ethical guidelines.

Editorial Fairness and Impartiality

Editors of Journal of Da'wah are expected to evaluate all submitted manuscripts fairly, consistently, and objectively based solely on their academic merit, originality, scholarly contribution, and relevance to the scope of the journal. Editorial evaluation must not be influenced by the authors’ race, gender, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality, institutional affiliation, sexual orientation, political perspective, or other personal characteristics.

Editors are responsible for maintaining an impartial editorial process and ensuring that all manuscripts receive equitable consideration throughout the peer-review and publication stages. Editorial decisions must be free from commercial interests, personal bias, institutional pressure, or discriminatory practices.

The journal is committed to promoting an inclusive, respectful, and academically responsible publication environment that upholds the principles of integrity, transparency, and scholarly fairness.

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff of Journal of Da'wah must maintain the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts and related communications throughout the editorial and peer-review process. Information regarding a submitted manuscript must not be disclosed to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate and necessary for the publication process.

Editors must ensure that unpublished materials, data, arguments, or ideas contained in submitted manuscripts are not used for personal research, professional benefit, or any other unauthorized purpose without the explicit written consent of the authors.

All editorial communications and manuscript records should be handled securely and responsibly to protect the integrity of the review process, author confidentiality, and academic trust.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Editors of Journal of Da'wah must avoid any conflicts of interest that could influence editorial decisions or compromise the integrity and objectivity of the publication process. Editors should not handle manuscripts in which they have personal, professional, institutional, collaborative, or financial relationships with the authors or organizations associated with the submitted work.

Any potential conflict of interest must be disclosed promptly, and appropriate measures should be taken to ensure an impartial editorial evaluation. In such cases, the manuscript may be reassigned to another editor without conflicting interests.

Editors and editorial staff must not use unpublished information, data, arguments, or ideas obtained through submitted manuscripts for personal advantage, professional benefit, or any unauthorized purpose without the explicit written consent of the authors.

Ethical Oversight and Research Integrity

Editors of Journal of Da'wah are responsible for safeguarding the integrity, credibility, and ethical standards of the publication process. Editors should take reasonable steps to ensure that all published materials comply with principles of academic integrity, ethical research conduct, and responsible scholarly communication.

Editors are expected to respond appropriately to allegations or evidence of research misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, duplicate publication, unethical research practices, citation manipulation, and other forms of academic misconduct. All ethical concerns should be handled fairly, confidentially, and in accordance with the journal’s publication ethics policies and internationally recognized ethical guidelines.

Where necessary, editors may issue corrections, clarifications, expressions of concern, or retractions to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record. Editors should also promote transparency, accountability, and ethical oversight throughout the editorial and publication process.

DUTIES OF REVIEWERS

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review plays an essential role in supporting the editorial board in making publication decisions and maintaining the academic quality of the journal. Reviewers are expected to provide constructive, objective, and scholarly evaluations that assist editors in assessing the originality, significance, methodological rigor, and relevance of submitted manuscripts.

Reviewers are also encouraged to provide clear and constructive feedback that may help authors improve the quality, clarity, and scholarly contribution of their work. Final decisions regarding manuscript acceptance, revision, or rejection remain the responsibility of the editorial board.

Promptness and Responsiveness

Reviewers are expected to respond promptly to invitations to review manuscripts and to complete the review process within the agreed timeframe. A reviewer who feels unqualified to evaluate the manuscript, lacks sufficient expertise in the subject area, or is unable to provide a timely review should promptly notify the editorial board and decline the review invitation.

Timely and professional communication from reviewers is essential to maintaining an efficient, fair, and constructive peer-review process. Reviewers are encouraged to inform the editor as soon as possible if unexpected circumstances may delay the completion of their review.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not share, discuss, distribute, or disclose any part of the manuscript or its content to others without authorization from the editorial board. The confidentiality obligation applies both during and after the peer-review process.

Reviewers must not use unpublished information, data, arguments, or ideas obtained through peer review for personal research, professional advantage, or any other purpose. Manuscripts under review should not be uploaded to publicly accessible artificial intelligence (AI) tools or third-party platforms that may compromise author confidentiality or data security.

All materials related to the review process should be handled responsibly and in accordance with ethical standards of academic publishing.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively, fairly, and professionally. Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts based on their academic merit, originality, methodological quality, clarity of argument, and relevance to the scope of the journal, without discrimination based on the authors’ personal background, institutional affiliation, gender, religious belief, ethnicity, nationality, or political perspective.

Reviewers should provide constructive, evidence-based, and clearly articulated feedback supported by scholarly arguments. Personal criticism, defamatory remarks, hostile language, or unprofessional comments toward authors are inappropriate and unacceptable.

If reviewers identify substantial weaknesses, ethical concerns, or potential misconduct in a manuscript, they should communicate these concerns clearly and respectfully to the editorial board through the review process.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant scholarly works that have not been cited by the authors and recommend appropriate references where necessary to strengthen the academic quality of the manuscript. Any statement, argument, interpretation, or finding that has been previously published should be properly acknowledged through relevant citation.

Reviewers are also expected to inform the editorial board of any substantial similarity, overlap, plagiarism, or duplicate publication identified between the manuscript under review and other published or submitted works known to them.

Citation recommendations provided by reviewers should be based solely on academic relevance and scholarly value. Reviewers must not request authors to cite specific works primarily for personal benefit, citation manipulation, or the artificial enhancement of citation metrics.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, institutional, financial, personal, or other relationships with any of the authors, organizations, or institutions connected to the submitted work.

Any potential conflict of interest that may affect the reviewer’s objectivity, impartiality, or professional judgment must be disclosed promptly to the editorial board before accepting the review assignment.

Privileged information, ideas, or data obtained through the peer-review process must be kept confidential and must not be used for personal advantage, professional benefit, or the disadvantage of others. Reviewers are expected to uphold the principles of fairness, integrity, and academic ethics throughout the review process.

Review Integrity and Professional Conduct

Reviewers are expected to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity, professionalism, and ethical conduct throughout the peer-review process. Reviews should be conducted honestly, respectfully, and solely for the purpose of evaluating the scholarly quality of the manuscript.

Reviewers must not intentionally delay the review process, obstruct the publication of competing research, misuse unpublished materials, or appropriate the ideas, data, interpretations, or arguments presented in the manuscript for personal or professional advantage. Any form of harassment, discrimination, intimidation, defamatory comments, or unprofessional behavior toward authors or editors is unacceptable.

Reviewers should also avoid coercive citation practices, including requesting unnecessary citations to their own work, affiliated publications, or specific journals solely to increase citation metrics. All review recommendations must be based on genuine scholarly relevance and academic merit.

The journal reserves the right to remove reviewers from the review process or editorial database if they are found to have violated publication ethics, reviewer confidentiality, or standards of professional conduct.

DUTIES OF AUTHORS

Reporting Standards

Authors submitting manuscripts to Journal of Da'wah are required to present an accurate, original, and objective account of the research conducted. The manuscript should clearly explain the research objectives, methods, findings, and significance of the study in a manner that enables readers to understand and evaluate the scholarly contribution of the work.

Authors are expected to ensure that all data, citations, and references are presented accurately and transparently. Fraudulent statements, data fabrication, data falsification, misleading interpretation, or knowingly inaccurate information constitute unethical publishing behavior and are unacceptable. Manuscripts should contain sufficient detail and appropriate references to allow other researchers to verify, replicate, or critically examine the reported study where applicable.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be requested to provide the raw data, supporting documents, or additional materials related to the submitted manuscript for editorial evaluation and peer-review purposes. Authors should ensure that the data presented in the manuscript are accurate, authentic, and properly maintained.

Where appropriate and ethically permissible, authors are encouraged to provide access to research data in order to support transparency, verification, and the advancement of scholarly research. Authors are also expected to retain the research data and supporting materials for a reasonable period after publication and be prepared to provide clarification if questions arise regarding the accuracy or integrity of the published work.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that the manuscripts submitted to Journal of Da'wah are original works and have not been published or submitted simultaneously to another journal or publication. Any use of the ideas, words, data, or works of other authors must be properly cited and acknowledged in accordance with academic standards.

Plagiarism in any form, including self-plagiarism, inappropriate paraphrasing, unacknowledged citation, and unauthorized use of another person’s work, constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. The journal is committed to maintaining academic integrity and may reject manuscripts found to contain plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct.

Plagiarism Screening

All manuscripts submitted to Journal of Da'wah will undergo plagiarism screening using Turnitin prior to the peer-review process. The journal applies a maximum similarity index of 20%, excluding bibliography, properly cited quotations, and small matches of fewer than five consecutive words.

Manuscripts exceeding the permitted similarity threshold may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected depending on the extent and nature of the similarity identified. The editorial board reserves the right to reject manuscripts containing indications of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, or other forms of academic misconduct.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors should not submit manuscripts describing substantially the same research to more than one journal or primary publication simultaneously. Concurrent submission of the same manuscript to different journals constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Authors are also prohibited from publishing redundant or duplicate manuscripts that substantially overlap with previously published works without proper acknowledgment, justification, or editorial approval. If the manuscript contains content that has been previously disseminated, presented, or published in part, authors must clearly disclose this information to the editorial board at the time of submission.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Authors must properly acknowledge the work, ideas, data, and publications of others that have contributed to the development of the submitted manuscript. All sources used in the research and writing process should be cited appropriately and consistently in accordance with the journal’s citation guidelines.

Authors are expected to provide accurate references for all quoted, paraphrased, or adapted materials. Failure to acknowledge relevant sources or the inappropriate use of citations constitutes unethical academic conduct and may result in the rejection or retraction of the manuscript.

Authorship and Contribution

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant scholarly contributions to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or writing of the manuscript. All persons who have made substantial contributions to the research should be listed as authors, while individuals who contributed in a limited or supporting capacity should be appropriately acknowledged.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its submission for publication. The corresponding author must also ensure that no inappropriate authorship practices occur, including ghost authorship, guest authorship, or honorary authorship.

Any changes to authorship, including the addition, removal, or rearrangement of author names after submission, must receive the approval of all authors and be communicated to the editorial board with a clear and reasonable explanation.

Research Ethics and Human Participants

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all research involving human participants is conducted ethically and in accordance with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical standards. Research involving interviews, surveys, observations, focus group discussions, or other forms of human participation should respect the principles of voluntary participation, informed consent, confidentiality, and participant privacy.

Where required, authors should obtain ethical clearance or approval from the relevant ethics committee or institutional review board prior to conducting the research. Authors must also ensure that the manuscript does not contain information that may harm, exploit, or improperly expose research participants.

If the study involves materials, procedures, or activities that may pose unusual risks or hazards, authors must clearly identify and explain them in the manuscript.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, professional, or personal relationships that could be perceived as influencing the research process, interpretation of data, or conclusions presented in the manuscript. Any potential conflicts of interest should be clearly stated at the time of submission.

All sources of financial support, funding, sponsorship, or research assistance related to the study must be acknowledged in the manuscript. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should explicitly state that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts of interest may result in the rejection, correction, or retraction of the published article.

Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Authors may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support limited aspects of manuscript preparation, such as language editing, grammar improvement, translation assistance, or formatting support. However, the use of AI technologies must not compromise the accuracy, originality, integrity, or scholarly quality of the manuscript.

Authors remain fully responsible for the content of their submitted work, including the accuracy of data, interpretations, citations, and conclusions. Artificial intelligence tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors, as they cannot assume responsibility for the integrity, originality, or ethical accountability of scholarly work.

Authors are expected to disclose the use of AI tools in the preparation of the manuscript where relevant and appropriate. The use of AI for generating fabricated data, falsifying research findings, manipulating images, producing misleading information, or engaging in academic misconduct is strictly prohibited.

Journal of Da'wah reserves the right to reject manuscripts that involve unethical, undisclosed, or inappropriate use of artificial intelligence technologies in the research or publication process.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When authors discover significant errors, inaccuracies, or omissions in their own published work, they are obligated to promptly notify the editorial board of Journal of Da'wah and cooperate in correcting or retracting the article when necessary.

Authors should provide clear information regarding the nature of the error and the appropriate correction. Depending on the severity and impact of the issue, the journal may publish a correction, clarification, retraction, or other appropriate editorial notice to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

Failure to report substantial errors or knowingly allowing inaccurate information to remain uncorrected constitutes unethical academic conduct.