Publication Ethics

Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation generally follows the standards and guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), particularly regarding misconduct and fraud, as well as the appropriate procedures for handling such cases. COPE provides a code of conduct with best practices in publishing and flowcharts that outline the necessary steps publishers and editors should take to identify and prevent the publication of articles involving research misconduct.

If the journal's publisher or editors become aware of any allegations of research misconduct, they are responsible for addressing these allegations appropriately. Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation will follow the recommendations for handling misconduct described in the "Dealing with Misconduct" section of The COPE Report 1999 (page 46).

 

Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation also adheres to the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing as defined by COPE and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). In accordance with these principles, several journal policies have been implemented and are described below.

  • Journal policies on authorship and contributorship
  1. Authorship

Authors of Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation are required to adhere to international standards of academic authorship ethics as outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

COPE establishes that authorship should be based on the following four criteria:

  1. Significant contributions to the conception or design of the research, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; AND
  2. Active involvement in drafting or critically revising the manuscript for important intellectual content; AND
  3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  4. Accountability for all aspects of the work, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the research and addressing any concerns that arise.

All individuals designated as authors in Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation must meet these four criteria. Conversely, anyone meeting these criteria should be acknowledged as an author.

We encourage researchers, particularly early-career scholars, to refer to COPE’s authorship guidelines, which offer insights into ethical authorship practices and how to handle disputes.

  1. Contributorship

Contributors who do not meet the full authorship criteria will be acknowledged in the appropriate section. 

  1. Changes in Authorship

Authorship should be carefully determined before submission. Any request for changes—including additions, removals, or reordering of author names—must be approved by all listed authors, including those being added or removed. The corresponding author must submit an Authorship Change Form with signed consent from all authors and provide a rationale for the modification.

Requests for authorship changes after publication will be reviewed, and if approved, a Correction Notice will be issued.

For more details, refer to the COPE guidelines on:

 

  • Conditions for Submission – Plagiarism, Self-Plagiarism, Duplicate, and Preprint Submissions

Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation upholds the highest standards of academic integrity and only considers original and unpublished scholarly work. Submitting a manuscript to Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation signifies that the work has not been published elsewhere and is not under review in another journal or publication.

  1. Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as the use of text, data, or findings from another source without proper acknowledgement, while self-plagiarism refers to the unauthorized reuse of an author's own previously published content without appropriate citation or disclosure. Both are considered serious violations of ethical publishing practices.

To maintain the originality and integrity of published work, Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation employs plagiarism detection tools to screen all submitted manuscripts. This ensures that instances of text recycling, improper citation, or duplication are identified before publication.

Authors uncertain about best practices for avoiding plagiarism and self-plagiarism are encouraged to refer to academic integrity guidelines from reputable institutions, including:

  1. Duplicate (Redundant) Publications

Duplicate or redundant publications occur when an author submits or publishes substantially the same work in multiple venues without proper cross-referencing. This includes overlapping assumptions, data, discussions, or conclusions.

If an article has been previously published in another language, full disclosure of the original source must be provided at the time of submission. Similarly, if an abstract has appeared in a conference proceeding, it may still be submitted to Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation, provided that the prior publication is fully cited. For more details, authors can refer to of COPE’s Guidelines on Good Publication Practice.

If any previously published content is found in a submission without proper attribution or necessary permissions, the Editors-in-Chief will contact the authors for clarification. Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation follows COPE’s official guidelines in handling such cases. Different COPE procedures apply when plagiarism is identified in a published article.

  1. Preprint Policy

Authors submitting to Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation may upload their Author’s Original Manuscript (AOM) to a non-commercial preprint server (e.g., arXiv, PeerJ Preprints, HAL) at any stage before acceptance. However, the preprint platform must allow authors to retain full copyright and re-use rights.

A citation linking to the original preprint version must be included in the manuscript at submission or during the review process.

Once an article is officially published in Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation, authors are encouraged to update their preprint version with a link to the final published article to enable readers to access, cite, and refer to the peer-reviewed version while ensuring compliance with licensing requirements.

Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation does not consider manuscripts that have already been formally published or are under active review in another journal or book.

 

  • Peer Review Process

The peer review process is a fundamental method in academic validation, where a submitted manuscript is critically assessed by expert reviewers who possess appropriate expertise in the subject area while maintaining independence from the work. Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation adheres to a double-blind peer review process, ensuring that neither the authors nor the reviewers are aware of each other’s identities. To maintain this anonymity, the Editorial Office removes all identifying information from the manuscript before initiating the review process.

All manuscripts submitted to Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation are reviewed by one or two or more independent reviewers. If the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, or any member of the Editorial Board is a (co-)author of a submitted manuscript, the review process is arranged so that they are not involved in the evaluation or decision-making related to the submission.

All submissions to Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation undergo a fair, independent, objective, and constructive peer review process. Only scientifically sound, original, and relevant articles will receive positive recommendations from reviewers and proceed to acceptance for publication.

The Editor-in-Chief has full authority over the acceptance or rejection of submitted manuscripts. Reviewers are required to maintain confidentiality regarding the manuscripts before acceptance and publication. They must also declare any potential conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest is identified, the reviewer will be withdrawn from the process. Additionally, reviewers are encouraged to suggest relevant published work that the authors may have overlooked.

Based on the reviewers’ recommendations, the Editor-in-Chief or a designated Editorial Board member will make an initial decision regarding the manuscript:

  1. Accepted – The manuscript is approved for publication.
  2. Revised – The manuscript requires modifications and resubmission.
  3. Rejected – The manuscript does not meet the journal’s criteria.

If a revised version is submitted, it will be re-evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief or an Editorial Board member, who may either:

  • Send it back to the original reviewers for further review, or
  • Make a final decision regarding its publication.

The peer review process at Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation ensures that only high-quality, original, and impactful research is published, maintaining the journal’s commitment to academic excellence.

  •  Handling Complaints and Appeals

Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines regarding appeals to editorial decisions and complaints about the journal’s peer review process.

If you wish to appeal an editorial decision, please submit an appeal letter through the journal’s online editorial system, addressed to the Editor-in-Chief. Your appeal should include:

  1. A detailed explanation of why you disagree with the decision, specifically addressing the Editor’s and/or reviewers’ comments that contributed to the rejection.
  2. Any new information or data that you would like the journal to consider.
  3. Evidence of potential technical errors in the review assessment, if applicable.
  4. Documentation of a potential conflict of interest involving a reviewer, if relevant.

All appeals will be carefully reviewed in accordance with COPE’s principles on complaints and appeals. The Editor-in-Chief may consult additional independent experts if necessary. Until a final decision is reached, authors must not submit the manuscript to another journal, as this would violate ethical guidelines regarding duplicate submission.

The Editorial Board’s decision on appeals is final, and no further appeals will be considered beyond this process.

 

  • Conflict of Interest and Competing Interests

To maintain transparency and best practices in scholarly publishing, Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation requires authors, editors, and reviewers to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could affect the integrity of the publication process—from manuscript preparation and interpretation to peer review and editorial decisions.

In Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation, a conflict of interest may arise when authors have financial, academic, political, or personal ties that could influence their interpretation of their findings or those of others, even if unintentionally. To ensure transparency and ethical publication standards, Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation requires all authors to declare any potential conflicts of interest at the time of manuscript submission. If the article is published, this information will also be disclosed to readers.

  • Authors must declare any financial, institutional, personal, or ideological influences related to their work and confirm that they have full control over their data.
  • Reviewers must inform the journal of any conflicts that may affect their objectivity. If a reviewer has a relationship with the authors or research, they will be replaced with an independent reviewer.
  • Editors must also disclose any conflicts that may compromise fairness in handling a manuscript. If an editor submits their own work, the review process will be managed by an independent editor to ensure impartiality.

Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation follows COPE’s guidelines on handling suspected undisclosed conflicts of interest in both submitted and published articles. The journal reserves the right to request additional information and take necessary actions, including retraction if a conflict of interest is found to have significantly influenced the research.

 

  • Data Sharing and Reproducibility

Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation encourages authors to follow best practices in data sharing to enhance the transparency, reproducibility, and impact of their research.

  • Authors are strongly encouraged to provide additional material, such as datasets, supplementary files, and research codes, that support the findings presented in their manuscript.
  • Authors may request a waiver for data sharing if it involves confidentiality concerns, security risks, or privacy issues related to human subjects.

To support open and ethical research, Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation is implementing a basic data-sharing policy across its publications. This policy encourages authors to make the data underlying their research publicly available, as long as it does not violate privacy or ethical standards.

  • Authors are encouraged to cite any datasets referenced in their work, whether created by themselves or sourced from others. These datasets should be included in the reference list of the manuscript.
  • Authors should include a Data Availability Statement, explaining whether data is publicly accessible and, if so, providing relevant links or repository details.

Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation works in consultation with editors, academic societies, and relevant stakeholders to define journal-level data-sharing policies, ensuring that published research remains credible, transparent, and reproducible. 

 

  • Ethical Oversight

Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation emphasizes strict adherence to ethical laws and regulations in educational research and academic publishing.

  • Authors must include an ethical statement issued by their institution regarding the research conducted, particularly if the study involves human participants, such as students, teachers, or educational staff.
  • Reviewers must maintain confidentiality throughout the peer review process and must not disclose data, results, or information from the manuscript they evaluate to third parties or use it for personal gain.
  1. Statement of Informed Consent

Educational research involving human participants must obtain informed consent from individuals involved or from a responsible guardian (e.g., parents or school administrators, in the case of minors).

Identifying details such as names, initials, school affiliations, or other personal information must not be published unless scientifically necessary, and the participant has provided written consent for publication.

If identifying details are not essential, they must be omitted. However, if there is any uncertainty about privacy protection, informed consent must still be obtained. For example, blurring faces in photographs of participants does not sufficiently guarantee anonymity.

If identifying characteristics are modified for privacy reasons (e.g., in interviews or case studies), authors must ensure that such modifications do not alter the scientific meaning and provide a clear statement regarding the changes. Additionally, authors must acknowledge any assistance in manuscript preparation and disclose funding sources related to the research. (See Section 3.5.8 Informed Consent in our Instructions for Authors).

  1. Statement of Human and Animal Rights

For educational research involving human subjects, authors must ensure that all procedures comply with the ethical standards set by the relevant institutional or national ethics committee. If there is uncertainty regarding ethical compliance, authors must explain their research approach and provide evidence that the institutional ethics committee has explicitly approved any questionable aspects of the study.

For studies involving animals in educational experiments, such as research in educational psychology or neuroscience, authors must confirm that all procedures follow institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of animals in research.

 

  • Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Licensing Policy
  1. Intellectual Property and Copyright

Author Rights & Responsibilities

  • Authors certify that the submitted manuscript (including any supporting documents) is their original intellectual property and that copyright has not been transferred to another party.
  • Authors declare that the manuscript does not contain plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, or manipulated citations and that it complies with the authorship policies of Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation.
  • Authors confirm that permission has been obtained to reproduce any copyrighted tables, figures, data, or text from third parties.
  • All manuscripts, revisions, drafts, and galleys remain the intellectual property of the authors, and authors fully retain the copyright to their work.
  • Authors have the full right to modify, redistribute, repost, or archive any version of their copyrighted work.
  • Authors agree to maintain the confidentiality of all communications, comments, or reports received during the review and editorial process.

Editorial Team Responsibilities

  • All review comments and reports remain the intellectual property of the reviewer or editor.
  • Reviewers and editors must maintain confidentiality regarding communications, comments, or reports related to the review and editorial process.
  • Reviewers and editors must also keep all manuscripts, revisions, and drafts confidential, except for the final published version.
  1. License
  • Authors agree that all accepted manuscripts, galleys, and submitted supporting documents will be licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) upon acceptance for publication.
  • The license will be indicated on the front page of each online article and within each issue of the printed edition.
  1. Reporting Violations

Any suspected violations of this policy should be reported to the Editor-in-Chief through the Ethics Complaints and Appeals process.

 

  • Post-Publication Discussion and Corrections 

Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation upholds academic integrity and transparency by facilitating post-publication discussions and corrections in accordance with COPE’s core practices and recognized scholarly publishing standards.

  1. Post-Publication Comments
  • Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation encourages constructive discussions on published articles through the journal’s official discussion platform or other designated channels.
  • Readers and authors are welcome to provide critical insights and scholarly dialogue that contribute to academic discourse.
  1. Corrections
  • If errors are identified after publication that impact the interpretation or understanding of the article, the journal will issue corrections to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.
  • Corrections will be made transparently, with a clear explanation of what was changed and why.
  1. Retractions
  • If errors compromise the validity of the research or violate ethical standards, a retraction may be issued.
  • Retractions will be conducted transparently, following COPE’s guidelines, with a detailed explanation provided.
  1. Expressions of Concern
  • If concerns arise about the integrity of an article but the available evidence is inconclusive, Al-Wasatiyah: Journal of Religious Moderation  may issue an Expression of Concern while investigations are ongoing.
  • This measure ensures that readers are informed while the journal conducts a thorough review.

All post-publication corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern will be clearly documented and made accessible to maintain the credibility and reliability of Al-Wasatiyah’s academic publications.