Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics

Ar-Rasyid: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. The journal follows the ethical principles and guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in matters relating to scholarly publishing. This Publication Ethics Policy applies to editors, authors, reviewers, the publisher, and other parties involved in the editorial and publication process.

The journal seeks to ensure that all manuscripts are evaluated fairly, objectively, confidentially, and transparently. The publisher respects editorial independence and must not interfere with the scholarly integrity of manuscripts or editorial decisions. The publisher is responsible for supporting the journal's regular and timely publication in accordance with its publication schedule and applicable policies.

1. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors of Ar-Rasyid: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are handled professionally, impartially, and in accordance with the journal's editorial policies. Editors must uphold academic integrity and protect the confidentiality of the editorial process.

  1. Compliance with Author Guidelines: Editors must ensure that authors are informed of and expected to follow the journal's submission procedures, author guidelines, manuscript format, and publication policies.
  2. Objective Editorial Decisions: Editors must evaluate manuscripts based on scholarly quality, originality, relevance to the journal's focus and scope, methodological rigor, and contribution to knowledge. Decisions must not be influenced by an author's nationality, ethnicity, race, political affiliation, religion, gender, seniority, institutional affiliation, or other irrelevant personal characteristics.
  3. Editorial Consultation: Editors may consult the Editor-in-Chief, other editors, the Journal Manager, and relevant reviewers when necessary to reach a well-informed final editorial decision.
  4. Conflict of Interest: Editors must decline editorial assignments when actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest could compromise their impartiality. The manuscript must be reassigned to an appropriate editor when necessary.
  5. Double-Blind Peer Review: Editors must ensure that manuscripts sent for review do not contain identifying information about the authors and that reviewers' identities are not disclosed to authors during the review process.
  6. Communication of Decisions: Editorial decisions must be communicated to authors with relevant reviewer comments and explanations, except for material that is confidential, personally identifying, defamatory, or otherwise inappropriate to disclose.
  7. Reviewer Selection: Editors must select reviewers with relevant expertise and consider their independence, availability, and potential conflicts of interest.
  8. Author Requests Regarding Reviewers: Editors should consider reasonable author requests to exclude particular reviewers when supported by legitimate reasons. Such requests must be assessed independently and do not guarantee that the requested individuals will be excluded.
  9. Suspected Misconduct: When editors identify or suspect plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, duplicate publication, authorship disputes, or other publication ethics violations, they must investigate the concerns fairly and follow appropriate COPE guidance, including relevant flowcharts where applicable.
  10. Confidentiality: Editors and all editorial staff must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, author information, and editorial correspondence. Information may only be disclosed to authorized parties or when disclosure is justified by a legitimate ethical investigation or applicable legal requirements.
  11. Corrections and Retractions: Editors must take appropriate action when significant errors or ethical violations are identified in published articles, including issuing corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions where justified.

2. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers, also known as peer reviewers or Mitra Bestari, play an essential role in evaluating the scholarly quality and ethical integrity of manuscripts submitted to Ar-Rasyid: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam. Reviewers are expected to provide independent, constructive, and timely assessments.

  1. Scholarly Assessment: Reviewers must evaluate the manuscript's substance, originality, methodological rigor, clarity, relevance, and contribution to the field in accordance with the journal's focus and scope. They should provide clear recommendations and constructive comments to assist the editor in making an informed decision.
  2. Ethical Concerns: Reviewers should inform the editor if they identify or suspect plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, methodological irregularities, or other potential violations of publication ethics.
  3. Timeliness: Reviewers should complete their assessments within the time specified by the editorial team. If they are unable to meet the deadline, they must promptly notify the editor so that an extension or replacement reviewer can be considered.
  4. Confidentiality: Reviewers must treat all manuscripts and related review materials as confidential documents. They must not share, distribute, reproduce, or discuss unpublished manuscript content with unauthorized individuals.
  5. Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must decline an assignment if personal, professional, financial, institutional, or collaborative relationships could compromise their impartiality.
  6. Similarity and Overlapping Publications: Reviewers should alert the editor to substantial similarities or overlaps between the manuscript under review and previously published works or other manuscripts of which they are aware.
  7. Objectivity and Professional Conduct: Reviews must be objective, respectful, evidence-based, and focused on the scholarly content of the manuscript. Personal criticism of authors is not acceptable.
  8. Protection of Privileged Information: Information, data, methods, and ideas obtained through peer review must remain confidential and must not be used for personal, professional, or financial advantage.
  9. Use of Manuscripts: Reviewers must not use unpublished material from a manuscript in their own research or publications without the authors' explicit permission and appropriate authorization.

3. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to Ar-Rasyid: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam are responsible for ensuring the originality, accuracy, integrity, and ethical compliance of their work. Submission to the journal indicates that the authors agree to comply with the journal's author guidelines and publication policies.

  1. Originality: Authors must ensure that their manuscripts are original scholarly works and that all ideas, quotations, data, images, and other materials obtained from external sources are appropriately acknowledged and cited.
  2. Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism: Authors must not engage in plagiarism, including copying or presenting another person's work as their own, nor in inappropriate reuse of their own previously published material without proper acknowledgment. Unattributed copying, including copying facilitated by automated tools, is prohibited.
  3. Prior Publication: Authors must ensure that the manuscript has not been previously published and that they have the necessary rights and permissions to submit and publish the work. Any use of previously disseminated material must be disclosed and handled in accordance with the journal's policies.
  4. Exclusive Submission: Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to another journal or publication. While the manuscript is under consideration by this journal, it must not be submitted elsewhere.
  5. Compliance with Journal Guidelines: Authors must follow the journal's submission procedures, manuscript structure, formatting requirements, citation style, reference requirements, and other editorial instructions.
  6. Authorship and Contributions: All listed authors must have made meaningful scholarly contributions to the work, approved the final version, and agreed to its submission. Individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria should not be listed as authors, although their contributions may be acknowledged where appropriate.
  7. Accuracy and Research Integrity: Authors must present research methods, data, analyses, and findings accurately. Fabrication, falsification, manipulation of evidence, and misleading reporting are prohibited.
  8. Research Data and Verification: Authors must be prepared to provide relevant research data, documentation, or clarification when reasonably requested by the editor to verify the validity or integrity of the manuscript, subject to legal, ethical, privacy, and confidentiality restrictions.
  9. Research Ethics: Research involving human participants, personal data, or other ethically sensitive subjects must comply with applicable ethical standards. Authors must report ethical approval and informed consent where required and protect participants' privacy and rights.
  10. References and Acknowledgments: Authors must cite relevant sources accurately, avoid misleading or excessive citation, and acknowledge individuals or institutions that have made appropriate contributions or provided support.
  11. Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial, professional, personal, or institutional interests that could influence the research or its interpretation.
  12. Use of Artificial Intelligence: Authors must use artificial intelligence tools responsibly and transparently in accordance with the journal's AI policy. AI tools cannot be listed as authors, and authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of all submitted content. Material use of AI must be disclosed where required by the journal's policy.
  13. Correction of Errors: If authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in a submitted manuscript, they must promptly inform the editor and cooperate in correcting the problem or withdrawing the manuscript where appropriate. If the article has already been published, authors must cooperate with the journal in issuing a correction or other appropriate notice.
  14. Withdrawal During Review: Authors should not withdraw a manuscript unilaterally while it is undergoing peer review. If withdrawal is necessary, they must submit a formal request to the editor, explain the reasons, and obtain confirmation that the withdrawal has been accepted before submitting the manuscript elsewhere.
  15. Response to Reviewers: Authors must respond professionally and substantively to reviewers' comments and editorial requests during revision. Any disagreement should be explained respectfully and supported by scholarly reasons.

4. Responsibilities of the Publisher

The publisher of Ar-Rasyid: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam supports the journal's commitment to ethical scholarly publishing and editorial independence.

  1. The publisher must respect the independence of editors in making editorial decisions based on scholarly merit and ethical standards.
  2. The publisher must not improperly influence the acceptance, rejection, review, or interpretation of individual manuscripts.
  3. The publisher is responsible for supporting the journal's regular publication schedule and the timely dissemination of accepted articles, subject to the journal's editorial and production processes.
  4. The publisher should cooperate with the editorial team in addressing credible allegations of publication misconduct and implementing appropriate corrective measures.
  5. The publisher and editorial team should take reasonable steps to preserve the integrity, accessibility, and accuracy of the scholarly record.

5. Plagiarism Screening and Similarity Policy

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-checking tools before or during the editorial process. Ar-Rasyid: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam applies a maximum similarity threshold of 20%. Manuscripts with a similarity score exceeding 20% may be rejected before peer review. However, a similarity score of 20% or lower does not automatically establish originality or guarantee acceptance. Editors must assess the nature, context, attribution, and extent of overlapping text before making a decision.

6. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may affect the research, peer review, or editorial decision-making process. The journal will take reasonable steps to manage such conflicts, including assigning an independent editor or reviewer when appropriate.

7. Handling Allegations of Publication Misconduct

Allegations of plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabrication or falsification of data, authorship disputes, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other ethical violations will be assessed confidentially and fairly. The editorial team may request explanations, supporting evidence, or corrections from the parties concerned. Where appropriate, the journal may consult the authors' institutions or other relevant organizations and follow applicable COPE guidance.

Depending on the seriousness of the case and the available evidence, actions may include rejection of a manuscript, a request for revision, publication of a correction, an expression of concern, or retraction of a published article. Decisions will be proportionate to the circumstances and intended to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

8. Corrections, Retractions, and Withdrawal

The journal recognizes the importance of maintaining an accurate scholarly record. Significant errors discovered before publication must be addressed during the editorial process. After publication, the journal will assess whether a correction, expression of concern, or retraction is appropriate. Published articles will not be removed or withdrawn without a valid reason and an appropriate editorial decision. Any correction or retraction will be communicated transparently and linked to the affected article where technically possible.

9. Confidentiality and Data Protection

All parties involved in the editorial process must protect confidential manuscript content, reviewer reports, author details, research data, and editorial correspondence. Such information may only be shared with authorized individuals involved in the editorial process or disclosed when required for a legitimate ethical investigation or by applicable law.

10. Commitment to Publication Ethics

Ar-Rasyid: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam is committed to promoting responsible research, fair peer review, editorial independence, transparency, and academic integrity. Authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher are expected to uphold these principles and cooperate in resolving ethical concerns in accordance with the journal's policies and applicable COPE guidance.

For questions or concerns regarding publication ethics, please contact the editorial office at arrasyid@umsu.ac.id.