•  
  •  
 

Policies

Contents

Philosophy of Journal of Middle East and Islamic Studies

The Journal of Middle East and Islamic Studies (MEIS), published by the Graduate School of Sustainable Development (GSSD), Universitas Indonesia, is committed to rigorous, ethical, and openly accessible scholarship on the Middle East and the Muslim world. MEIS upholds editorial independence, fair and transparent peer review, and the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The scope of the journal is described on the Aims & Scope page.

{ top }

Who Can Submit and General Submission Rules

Anyone may submit an original manuscript to MEIS, provided that they own the copyright to the work or are authorized by the copyright owner(s) to submit it. Authors retain the copyright of their articles (see Rights and Copyright).

Manuscripts must be original, must not have been published before, and must not be under review elsewhere. A working paper or preprint is not considered prior publication if it is disclosed at submission. Authors must not submit the manuscript to another journal until the editorial decision process at MEIS is complete. Submissions must fall within the focus areas on the Aims & Scope page and follow the Author Guidelines. Questions: [email protected].

{ top }

Formatting Requirements

Manuscripts must follow the Author Guidelines and the MEIS manuscript template: English; 5,000–9,000 words; an abstract of 150–200 words; 4–5 keywords; the required manuscript structure; and APA 7th edition referencing. Manuscripts that do not comply may be returned to the authors before review.

{ top }

Editorial and Peer Review Process Policy

MEIS applies a double-blind peer review: the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from each other throughout the evaluation.

Workflow and Timelines

  • Initial desk screening (3–7 days): the Managing Editor checks scope fit, template compliance, ethical documentation (conflict of interest, funding, data availability, author contributions, and ethical approval where human participants are involved), and similarity (Turnitin). Manuscripts that do not meet the requirements may be returned or rejected without external review.
  • Peer review (4–8 weeks): manuscripts that pass screening are assigned to at least two independent reviewers with expertise in the relevant focus area.
  • Editorial decision: the Editor-in-Chief decides, based on the reviewer reports: Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject.
  • Revision: authors submit a revised manuscript with a point-by-point response to the reviewers and the changes highlighted. A lack of substantive response may lead to rejection.
  • Publication: accepted manuscripts are language-edited, copyedited, typeset, and approved by the authors at proof stage. The average time from submission to online publication is 90–180 days.

Review Criteria

Reviewers assess:

  1. originality and contribution;
  2. engagement with the literature and theoretical rigor;
  3. methodological soundness;
  4. use and verification of primary sources, for Islamic or historical studies;
  5. clarity of argument and writing; and
  6. ethical integrity, including confidentiality and source ethics.

Independence, Conflicts, and Appeals

Editorial decisions are made independently of any commercial or institutional interest. Reviewers and editors must decline a manuscript if they have a conflict of interest. Authors may appeal a decision through the Complaints and Appeals Procedure on the Publication Ethics page.

{ top }

Plagiarism Policy

MEIS does not tolerate plagiarism, including self-plagiarism and text recycling. All manuscripts are screened with Turnitin by the editors upon receipt. The similarity index must not exceed 15%, excluding references. Manuscripts above this threshold are returned to the authors for revision or rejected.

Text previously published by the authors (for example in conference papers or dissertations) must be disclosed and cited. Plagiarism found after publication is handled under Allegations of Research Misconduct and the Retraction/Withdrawal Policy.

{ top }

Allegations of Research Misconduct

Journal of Middle East and Islamic Studies (MEIS) is committed to preserving the purity and trustworthiness of academic records in the fields of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. MEIS defines research misconduct as any intentional act or gross negligence involving fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, or plagiarism during the proposal, execution, reporting, or reviewing of research.

  • Fabrication: Inventing data, sources, archival records, or research findings and documenting them as factual.
  • Falsification: Manipulating research materials, field data, translation sources, or analytical processes, or selectively omitting results to distort the research representation.
  • Citation Manipulation: Practice of artificially inflating citation metrics, such as coercive self-citation, excessive internal citations to MEIS, or collusive citation networks between authors or journals.
  • Plagiarism: Presenting another author's ideas, text, translations, qualitative insights, or empirical findings as one’s own without proper attribution or acknowledgment.

Research misconduct does not encompass genuine differences of opinion, theoretical debate, or honest errors.

Handling Suspected Misconduct

MEIS strictly adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and flowcharts when handling allegations of misconduct.

  • Initial Assessment: The Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief assess the credibility and evidence of the allegation while checking for any potential conflicts of interest from the complainant.
  • Author Inquiry: If substantial evidence exists, the editorial team contacts the corresponding author, requesting a formal explanation and supporting raw data within a specified timeframe.
  • Investigation & Consultation: Editors may consult third-party experts, statistical reviewers, institutional ethics committees, or the COPE forum.
  • Resolution: If misconduct is proven prior to publication, the manuscript will be rejected immediately. If the article is already published, MEIS will issue a formal Correction notice, Expression of Concern, or Article Retraction linked to the published record.

Allegations may be submitted to the Editorial Office at [email protected]. Where misconduct is proven after publication, MEIS will issue a Correction, an Expression of Concern, or a Retraction in line with the Retraction/Withdrawal Policy, and may notify the authors’ institutions.

{ top }

Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial or non-financial interest that could influence their work or judgment. Authors must include a Conflict of Interest Statement and a Funding Statement in the manuscript before the References. If there is none, the statement reads: “The author(s) declare(s) no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.” Reviewers and editors with a conflict must decline the assignment.

{ top }

Post-Publication Academic Discussions

MEIS welcomes constructive comments, methodological critiques, and discussion of published articles. Comments should be sent to [email protected] within 12 months of publication. Accepted commentaries are published in a subsequent issue as a “Letter to the Editor”, and the original authors are invited to submit a “Reply”. Serious errors and ethical concerns are handled under Allegations of Research Misconduct and the Retraction/Withdrawal Policy.

{ top }

Rights and Copyright

Copyright. Authors retain the copyright of their articles. By submitting a manuscript, authors grant MEIS the right of first publication and a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual license to publish, reproduce, distribute, and archive the article in all formats and media, and to be identified as its original publisher. Authors who submit a work must own the copyright or be authorized by the copyright owner(s) to submit it.

License. All articles published in MEIS are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Anyone may share (copy and redistribute the article in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon it) for any purpose, including commercial use, provided that appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and to MEIS as the original source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes are indicated.

Author rights. Authors may deposit the published version of their article in institutional or subject repositories, post it on personal or institutional websites, and reuse it in their own later work, without further permission from MEIS. Authors are asked to cite MEIS as the original place of publication.

Third-party material. The CC BY license applies to the authors’ own work. Authors must obtain permission for third-party material (figures, images, manuscript photographs, archival material) and indicate any material not covered by the license.

Open access to the journal content is described on the Copyright Information and Open Access Policy page. Questions about rights and reuse: [email protected].

{ top }

Advertising Policy

MEIS does not publish commercial advertising. Any advertising or sponsorship on the journal website is clearly separated from scholarly content and has no influence on editorial or peer review decisions.

{ top }