Publishing Ethics

Publication Ethics of Al-Wa’iyah

This statement clarifies the ethical behavior of all parties involved in the publication of articles in Al-Wa’iyah: Journal of Islamic Guidance and Counseling, including authors, editors, peer reviewers, and the publisher — the Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam (STAI) As-Sunnah Deli Serdang, Study Program of Islamic Guidance and Extension.
This statement is based on the COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publication

The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal such as Al-Wa'iyah represents an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of scientific knowledge. It reflects the quality of the authors' work and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles uphold and embody the scientific and ethical integrity of academic communication.

Therefore, it is essential to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing — the authors, editors, reviewers, publisher, and the academic community.

The Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam (STAI) As-Sunnah Deli Serdang, as the publisher of Al-Wa'iyah, takes its role of guardianship over all publishing stages very seriously and recognizes its ethical and other responsibilities. The publisher is committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint, or commercial revenue does not influence editorial decisions. Furthermore, STAI As-Sunnah Deli Serdang and the Editorial Board will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers when necessary. 

Publication Decisions

The editors of Al-Wa'iyah are responsible for deciding which submitted articles should be published. Manuscripts are evaluated based on their scholarly merit, originality, and relevance to the journal's scope. Editors are guided by the journal's editorial policy and constrained by applicable legal requirements concerning defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Editors may consult other editors or reviewers in making publication decisions.

Fair Play

Editors evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual and scholarly content without discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political ideology of the authors.

Confidentiality

The editor and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, 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. Editors with conflicts of interest regarding a submitted manuscript must recuse themselves from the review process for that manuscript.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and may also help authors improve their manuscripts through constructive feedback.

Promptness

Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript, or knows that timely review will be impossible, should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process as soon as possible.

Confidentiality

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. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments. Feedback should focus on the scientific content, methodology, and significance of the work.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. They should notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflicts 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 arising from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, institutions, or companies related to the manuscript.

Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards

Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the manuscript. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data related to a paper for editorial review and should be prepared to provide public access to such data if practicable. In any case, authors should retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original. If the authors have used the work or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism in any form — including presenting someone else's published or unpublished work as one's own — constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable. Al-Wa'iyah uses plagiarism detection software (iThenticate/Turnitin) to screen all submitted manuscripts.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors should not submit manuscripts describing essentially the same research to more than one journal or primary publication concurrently. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously constitutes unethical publishing behavior 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, 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 acknowledged.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their 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. If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.

Ethical Clearance

Research articles in Al-Wa'iyah that involve human participants, personal data, or animal subjects must include evidence of ethical approval from a relevant institutional review board or ethics committee (ethical clearance). Authors should include a statement in the manuscript confirming that the study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2013.

For studies involving human participants such as counseling cases, psychological assessments, interviews, or observational research authors must: (1) obtain informed consent from all participants or their legal guardians; (2) ensure participant anonymity and confidentiality of personal data; (3) provide the ethics committee approval reference number in the manuscript. Manuscripts that do not comply with these requirements may be rejected or returned for revision.

Retraction, Correction, and Expression of Concern Policy

Retraction
Al-Wa'iyah is committed to maintaining the integrity of the academic record. Articles may be retracted if they contain evidence of unreliable data (due to misconduct or honest error), constitute plagiarism, infringe copyright or other legal rights, report unethical research, or have been published elsewhere without proper disclosure. Retraction notices will be published online and in the next available print issue, will be clearly identified as a retraction, and will include the reason(s) for retraction. The original article will be retained on the journal's website and marked prominently as retracted, with the date of retraction noted.

Correction (Erratum/Corrigendum)
When an error in a published article is discovered that does not affect the main conclusions but may mislead readers or affect the accuracy of the record, a correction notice (Erratum for publisher errors, Corrigendum for author errors) will be published. The correction notice will be linked to the original article and will clearly specify which element has been corrected and by whom.

Expression of Concern
In cases where the editor has reasonable suspicion of misconduct but investigation is ongoing and no final conclusion has been reached, the editor may publish an Expression of Concern. This will be linked to the relevant article and updated or replaced when the investigation is concluded.

How to Report Concerns
Concerns about published material should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief at the journal's official email address. The editorial team will investigate all reported concerns in accordance with COPE guidelines and respond to the reporting party within 30 working days.

Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

Al-Wa'iyah encourages post-publication discussions of published articles. Readers, researchers, or practitioners who wish to comment on or discuss a published article are welcome to submit a letter to the editor for consideration. The editorial team will review submissions and, at their discretion, may publish comments or responses alongside a reply from the original authors.

Where post-publication evidence raises concerns about the reliability or integrity of a published article, the editorial team will take appropriate action in accordance with COPE guidelines, which may include issuing a correction, retraction, or Expression of Concern.