Ethical Guidelines

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

The Research Journal Anwār al-Sīrah is an open-access, peer-reviewed, bi-annual, tri-lingual (Urdu, Arabic, and English) journal published by the Seerat Chair, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. The journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and scholarly integrity, adhering closely to the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan.

1. Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must submit entirely original research dealing with the Sīrah of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) and its contemporary social, moral, intellectual, and legal applications. Submissions must not contain plagiarized text or ideas. Any overlap with existing literature must be properly cited using Chicago Notes and Bibliography style.
Concurrent Submission and Redundant Publication: Manuscripts submitted to Anwār al-Sīrah must not be under review or published elsewhere. Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to multiple venues constitutes unethical publishing behavior.
Authorship Criteria: Authorship is limited to individuals who made a substantial intellectual contribution to the conceptualization, design, analysis, or drafting of the manuscript. All listed co-authors must approve the final version and agree to its submission.
Source Integrity and Citation: Authors must prioritize authoritative primary sources alongside reputable secondary scholarship. Fabricated citations, selective quotation to mislead, or failure to credit sources are grounds for immediate rejection.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors must declare any financial, personal, or institutional conflicts of interest that could influence the interpretation of their research.

2. Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

Fairness and Editorial Independence: Manuscripts are evaluated strictly on their academic significance, theological/historical rigor, original contribution, and alignment with the journal's aims and scope, without regard to author race, gender, nationality, or institutional affiliation.
Confidentiality: The Editorial Board maintains strict confidentiality regarding all submitted manuscripts. Information concerning a submission is shared solely with the corresponding author, assigned reviewers, and copyeditors.
Accountability in Desk Reviews: Initial triage (desk evaluation) is conducted rigorously by the editorial board to assess basic compliance with ethical standards and scope. If a paper is declined at the desk review stage, the corresponding author is provided with a clear editorial rationale.
Integrity Screening: The editorial office independently screens all submissions via Turnitin in accordance with HEC Pakistan's anti-plagiarism threshold prior to assigning external peer reviewers.

3. Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers

Confidentiality: Submitted manuscripts are privileged communications. Reviewers must not disclose, share, or quote from unpublished manuscripts or utilize ideas from under-review manuscripts for personal advantage.
Objectivity and Constructiveness: Referees must provide impartial, rigorous, and scholarly feedback supported by clear arguments. Personal or ideological criticism is inadmissible.
Disclosure of Conflicts: Any invited reviewer who has a personal, institutional, or professional conflict of interest with an author or subject matter must decline the invitation to ensure impartiality.
Identification of Uncited Scholarship: Reviewers should bring to the editors' attention any substantial similarity between the manuscript and published literature or instances of uncredited sources.

4. Handling Misconduct, Corrections, and Retractions

Investigation of Allegations: Anwār al-Sīrah takes allegations of research misconduct (including plagiarism, fraudulent references, data falsification, and citation manipulation) seriously. Inquiries adhere strictly to COPE flowcharts.
Corrections (Errata/Corrigenda): Minor post-publication errors that do not compromise scholarly conclusions will be rectified via formal Erratum or Corrigendum notices linked to the original article.
Retractions: Proven instances of severe plagiarism, unethical conduct, or major factual invalidation will result in article retraction in accordance with COPE Retraction Guidelines.