Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

Journal of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Societies [JCIMS] is a peer-reviewed journal, published twice a year [January and July] by UINSU Press, State Islamic University of North Sumatra, Indonesia. It is available online as open access sources as well as in print.

The Journal of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Societies [JCIMS] is a biannual international academic journal dedicated to publishing studies on contemporary trends in Islam and Muslim societies within the Malay-Indonesian world from the 20th to the 21st centuries. Specifically, the journal emphasizes areas such as: (1) Local interpretations of Islam in the Malay-Indonesian world, manifested in manuscripts and institutions, (2) Their responses to global dynamics, (3) The implications of current trends for the future of Muslim societies in the region, and (4) Muslim minority groups within the region.

 

Section Policies

Articles

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

JCIMS published twice a year [January-June and July-December] since 2017, is a peer-reviewed journal, and specializes in contemporary Islam and Muslim societies in Indonesia. All submitted papers are subject to double-blind review process.

The entire article will be review at least two reviewers, and the results of the review will be published after approval from the board of editors.

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Promptness

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

 

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

 

Publication Frequency

JCIMS is published two times a year (January-June and July-December).

 

Plagiarism

Journal of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Societies (JCIMS), as a respected national journal, wants to ensure that all authors are careful and comply with international standards for academic integrity, particularly on the issue of plagiarism.


Plagiarism occurs when an author takes ideas, information, or words from another source without proper credit to the source. Even when it occurs unintentionally, plagiarism is still a serious academic violation, and unacceptable in international academic publications.


When the author learns specific information (a name, date, place, statistical number, or other detailed information) from a specific source, a citation is required. (This is only forgiven in cases of general knowledge, where the data is readily available in more than five sources or is common knowledge, e.g., the fact that Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world.)


When the author takes an idea from another author, a citation is required—even if the author then develops the idea further. This might be an idea about how to interpret the data, either what methodology to use or what conclusion to draw. It might be an idea about broad developments in a field or general information. Regardless of the idea, authors should cite their sources. In cases where the author develops the idea further, it is still necessary to cite the original source of the idea, and then in a subsequent sentence the author can explain her or his more developed idea.


When the author takes words from another author, a citation and quotation marks are required. Whenever four or more consecutive words are identical to a source that the author has read, the author must use quotation marks to denote the use of another author’s original words; just a citation is no longer enough.

JCIMS use Turnitin to correct articles before publishing.

 

Article Processing Charge

Journal of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Societies is a fully open access international journal. Readers can read and download any full-text articles for free of charge (fully Open Access) in order to enhance the readibility and citebility of articles.

As Journal of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Societies is a fully open access journal, your paper will be available to anyone, at anytime, anywhere in the world. Article Processing Charges apply for publication in this fully open access journal.

Therefore, Author(s) should pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) of IDR 2,500,000,-(two million and five hundred thousand Indonesia Rupiah only)per article, once the manuscript was accepted. An invoice will be sent to the Authors whose corresponding author of accepted article. Please note that the payment of APC can be proceeded by bank transfer which will be informed to Corresponding Author together with the payment invoice.

An invoice will be sent to the Authors who their article was accepted. Please be noted that the payment of APC can be proceeded by bank transfer which will be informed to Corresponding Author together with the invoice. The Editorial Office will send a payment receipt once the payment has been successfully received.

The accepted articles will not be published until the APC was paid by Author(s). The APC will be used for maintaining the DOI registration and the fulltext PDF articles production cost

 

Publishings Ethics

JCIMS is a peer-reviewed national journal, available in print and online and published two times a year. This statement clarifies ethical behaviour of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in this journal, including the author, the chief editor, the editorial board, the peer-reviewer­­­­­ and the publisher of UINSU-PRESS.

Ethical Guideline for Journal Publication

The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed JCIMS is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, the publisher and the society.  

UINSU-PRESS as publisher of JCIMS takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing seriously and we recognize our ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. 

Publication Decisions

The editor of the JCIMS is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal’s editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Plagiarism Screening

It is basically author’s duty to only submit a manuscript that is free from plagiarism and academically malpractices. The editor, however, double checks each article before its publication. The first step is to check plagiarism against offline database developed by JCIMS Centre and, secondly, against as much as possible online databases.

Fair Play

An editor at any time evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality

The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Promptness

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Review Process

Every manuscript submitted to Journal of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Societies (JCIMS) is independently reviewed by at least two reviewers in the form of "double-blind review". Decision for publication, amendment, or rejection is based upon their reports/recommendation. In certain cases, the editor may submit an article for review to another, third reviewer before making a decision, if necessary.

Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.

Originality and Plagiarism

The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

 

Licensing Terms

All publication by JCIMS are licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

 

Open Access Statement

JCIMS is an open-access journal. This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that makes research freely available to the public and supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. All content is freely available without charge to the user. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

 

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

 

Retraction & Correction

We understand that the authors have worked carefully preparing manuscripts, and we have carried out peer-review processes. However, sometimes there is the potential for published articles to be withdrawn or deleted for scientific reasons. It should not be done lightly and can only occur under extraordinary circumstances. Therefore, corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed will be carried out with strict standards to maintain confidence in the authority of its electronic archives. Our commitment and policy are to maintain the integrity and completeness of important scientific records for researchers and librarians' archives.

 

AI Tools Usage Policy

Introduction

Journal of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Societies acknowledges the transformative capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in academic publishing. From enhancing linguistic clarity to aiding in data analysis and automating components of content preparation, AI technologies can offer substantial benefits to authors and researchers. However, their use must be carefully regulated to preserve academic integrity, originality, transparency, and accountability.

This policy articulates the journal’s stance on the ethical and responsible deployment of AI tools in the preparation of manuscripts. It aims to provide clarity, minimize ambiguity, and remain aligned with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)’s Core Practices and its ongoing discussions regarding AI in editorial and publishing processes.

Definition of AI Tools

For the purpose of this policy, AI tools refer to software, platforms, or systems that leverage artificial intelligence methodologies—such as machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), or deep learning—to generate, edit, translate, summarize, or analyze textual, numerical, visual, or audio content in academic contexts.

Examples include but are not limited to:

  • Generative language models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and other large language models (LLMs)
  • Writing and editing tools like Grammarly, DeepL Write, and Quillbot
  • AI-driven software for data analysis and visualization
  • AI systems for creating figures, graphs, or statistical representations
  • AI-based tools for literature reviews and citation generation

Acceptable Use of AI Tools

Authors may employ AI tools for certain limited purposes, provided the following conditions are strictly adhered to:

Permissible Uses:

  • Correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation
  • Enhancing clarity, tone, or writing style
  • Formatting references and citations
  • Conducting preliminary literature searches
  • Supporting (but not replacing) statistical modeling or analysis
  • Creating visual aids or illustrations, if ethically sourced and critically reviewed

Prohibited Uses:

AI tools must not be employed to:

  • Generate entire manuscripts or significant portions of original content without appropriate attribution and human oversight
  • Fabricate or falsify data, findings, or visuals
  • Translate scholarly content without human verification
  • Summarize or paraphrase existing literature in ways that constitute plagiarism
  • Produce content that infringes upon copyright or uses third-party materials without authorization

Author Responsibilities

Authors bear full responsibility for all content submitted to JCIMS, including materials created or refined with AI assistance. Authors must:

  • Ensure the accuracy, originality, and trustworthiness of AI-generated content
  • Prevent and identify instances of plagiarism, bias, hallucination, or factual inaccuracies
  • Properly cite and acknowledge any external data, materials, or AI-suggested sources
  • Assume full accountability for any errors, ethical breaches, or misrepresentations resulting from AI use
  • Rigorously review and revise AI-generated output to meet disciplinary standards

Authorship and AI

AI tools are not eligible for authorship or co-authorship under any circumstances. Authorship is reserved exclusively for individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the work and can be held accountable for its content.

Listing AI tools as authors, contributors, or co-authors in any form (including author notes or contribution statements) is strictly prohibited and may result in rejection or retraction.

Disclosure Requirements

Authors must provide full, transparent disclosure of AI usage beyond the permissible categories. Disclosures must include:

  • The name, version, and developer of the AI tool
  • A concise explanation of its purpose and extent of use
  • A statement affirming the authors’ full responsibility for all AI-assisted content

Placement of Disclosures in Manuscripts

Depending on the nature of AI tool usage, disclosures must appear in one or more of the following sections:

Methods Section. If the tool was used in data analysis, figure creation, programming, or other research processes.

Acknowledgments Section. If the tool was employed to enhance language, translation, or formatting.

Dedicated Statement Section: Authors are encouraged to include a separate section titled "Declaration of AI Tool Usage", with language such as:

“During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors utilized [insert AI tool name, version, and developer] for [describe purpose and extent of use]. All AI-generated content was thoroughly reviewed and revised by the authors to ensure factual accuracy and academic quality. The authors accept full responsibility for the content and integrity of this manuscript.”

Editorial and Peer Review Oversight

Editors and reviewers will assess disclosures regarding AI usage during their ethical and methodological evaluation of submissions. If undisclosed or inappropriate AI use is suspected, the editorial team may:

  • Request clarification or revisions from the author(s)
  • Reject the manuscript
  • Initiate a formal investigation or refer the matter to the author’s institution if ethical misconduct is suspected

JCIMS does not rely solely on automated tools to assess AI-generated content. All evaluations are subject to human judgment and direct communication with authors.

Consequences of Non-Compliance

Non-adherence to this policy may result in:

  • Immediate rejection of the submission
  • Post-publication retraction
  • Formal notification to the author’s affiliated institution
  • Prohibition from future submissions in cases of severe or repeated violations

Appeals and Dispute Resolution

Authors who disagree with editorial decisions regarding AI use may submit a formal written appeal to the Editor-in-Chief. Appeals must clearly articulate the grounds for dispute, include supporting evidence, and reference the relevant sections of this policy. Appeals will be reviewed by an internal ethics committee or, if warranted, referred to an independent COPE advisor.

Use of AI by the Editorial Team

JCIMS does not employ AI tools to autonomously determine editorial or peer review outcomes. Any future use of AI by the editorial team will be disclosed transparently and will be accompanied by human oversight and final decision-making authority.

Policy Updates and Author Guidance

This policy will be periodically reviewed and updated to reflect evolving AI technologies, emerging ethical concerns, and best practices in scholarly publishing. Authors are advised to consult the most recent version of this policy prior to submission and to seek clarification from the editorial office if uncertain about compliance.

JCIMS encourages the responsible adoption of innovative technologies while remaining steadfast in its commitment to academic rigor and ethical publication standards.

Ethical Framework and References

This policy is informed by the ethical standards and guidance documents issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), including:

  • COPE Core Practices
  • COPE Discussion Document on Artificial Intelligence in Decision-Making
  • COPE Guidelines on Authorship and Contributorship
  • COPE Retraction Guidelines

All authors submitting to JCIMS are expected to adhere to these principles as a condition of publication.