Policies

Editorial & Publishing Policies

Journal of World Religions and Interfaith Harmony (JWRIH)
Published by The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Compliance Framework: The Journal of World Religions and Interfaith Harmony (JWRIH) strictly adheres to the ethical guidelines and policies established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan, and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

Table of Contents

1. Review Process

JWRIH employs a strict double-blind peer-review system. The identities of both the authors and the reviewers are kept confidential throughout the evaluation process.

1.1 Desk Review

Upon submission, the Editor-in-Chief conducts an initial desk review. Manuscripts may be desk-rejected without external review if they:

  • Fall outside the scope and aims of the journal.
  • Fail to meet minimum standards of academic quality, novelty, or linguistic clarity.
  • Violate fundamental formatting or citation standards (Chicago Manual of Style: Notes & Bibliography Format).

Timeline: The desk review process is typically completed within 3 to 4 weeks.

1.2 Peer Review Policy

Manuscripts that pass desk review are assigned to a minimum of two (2) independent subject specialists. All publication decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief based on the reviewers' evaluations and recommendations.

Timeline: External peer review typically takes 8 to 12 weeks. Authors are requested to wait patiently for formal review decisions.

1.3 Disclaimer

The Editor reserves the right to copy-edit, format, and make necessary linguistic adjustments to accepted manuscripts. All opinions, findings, and statements expressed in published articles are solely those of the individual author(s) and do not represent the official views of the Editors, Editorial Board, or The Islamia University of Bahawalpur.

2. Open Access & Publication Charges Policy

JWRIH is a fully Open Access journal. All articles are freely available online immediately upon publication without embargo periods or subscription paywalls.

  • Submission Fee: PKR 0 (There are no charges for submitting a manuscript or for rejected papers).
  • Article Processing Charge (APC) / Article Publication Fee (APF): PKR 7,000 for accepted articles.
    Purpose: This fee covers the operational costs of peer-review management, anti-plagiarism checks, professional layout editing, PDF production, and long-term digital preservation.
  • Waiver Policy: JWRIH offers partial or full APC waivers for undergraduate students, unfunded researchers, or scholars demonstrating financial hardship. Waiver requests must be submitted during initial manuscript submission.

3. Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

JWRIH is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. All participating parties—authors, peer reviewers, editors, and publishers—must agree upon expected standards of ethical behavior as defined by COPE’s Core Practices and HEC Policy Guidelines.

4. Authorship & Contributorship Policy

4.1 Authorship Credit

Authorship credit must reflect substantial intellectual contributions. An author must have:

  1. Contributed significantly to the research design, data collection, or analysis/interpretation.
  2. Drafted or critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content.
  3. Approved the final version to be published.

The Corresponding Author is responsible for ensuring all eligible co-authors are included and approve the submission.

4.2 Changes in Authorship

Any request to add, remove, or rearrange author names must be made before the manuscript is accepted. Such requests require written consent (via email or formal letter) from all co-authors, along with a clear justification to the Editor. Changes after acceptance or post-publication are generally not permitted.

4.3 Order of Authors

Authors must agree on the sequence of authorship prior to initial submission.

4.4 Guest, Gift, and Ghost Authorship

  • Guest/Gift Authorship: Including individuals who made no significant contribution is strictly prohibited.
  • Ghost Authorship: Excluding individuals who made major scientific contributions is strictly prohibited.

4.5 Anonymous & Pseudonymous Authorship

Authorship requires transparency and public accountability. Pseudonyms and anonymous publications are not permitted, except under extraordinary, legally documented circumstances involving personal safety risks.

4.6 Acknowledgments & Non-Author Contributors

Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship (e.g., funding agencies, language editors, lab assistants) should be listed in an Acknowledgments section at the end of the article.

4.7 Duplicate / Simultaneous Submissions

Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals concurrently is unethical and unacceptable. Articles published elsewhere or currently under review will be rejected immediately.

4.8 Citation Manipulation

Authors must not include excessive, irrelevant, or artificial self-citations or agreements to cite specific journals/authors to manipulate citation metrics.

5. Accessibility & Digital Archiving Policy

  • Open Access Statement: Readers are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of all articles without prior permission from the publisher or author, provided proper attribution is given.
  • Format: Articles are published in both searchable PDF and web-optimized formats.
  • Digital Preservation: To ensure permanent preservation, all published articles are digitally archived on Internet Archive (archive.org) and regularly backed up on secure servers at The Islamia University of Bahawalpur.

6. Corrections, Retractions & Expression of Concern

  • Corrigenda / Errata: Errors identified post-publication by authors (corrigenda) or the publisher (errata) that do not alter the paper's main conclusions will be corrected via a formal correction notice linked to the original article.
  • Retractions: An article will be retracted if:
    • There is clear evidence that findings are unreliable due to scientific misconduct or honest error.
    • The work constitutes plagiarism or redundant publication.
    • Unethical research practices were involved.
    Retraction notices will explicitly state the reason for retraction and be bi-directionally linked to the original PDF.
  • Article Removal: In rare legal cases (defamation, court orders, privacy violations), the journal reserves the right to remove an article while retaining its metadata and a statement of removal.

7. Confidentiality Policy

Editors and editorial staff maintain strict confidentiality regarding all submitted manuscripts. Details, manuscripts, and reviewer reports are shared exclusively with assigned reviewers and editorial board members directly involved in the peer-review process.

8. Conflict of Interest Policy

A conflict of interest exists when financial, personal, or professional relationships could inappropriately influence an author's, editor's, or reviewer's judgment.

8.1 Author Disclosures

Authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest on the Title Page or at the end of the manuscript. If no conflicts exist, authors must explicitly state:

"The author(s) declare no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this manuscript."

8.2 Reviewer & Editor Obligations

Reviewers and Editors must recuse themselves from evaluating manuscripts in which they have competing, collaborative, or financial conflicts of interest with any of the authors or institutions involved.

9. Anti-Plagiarism & Misconduct Procedures

JWRIH strictly enforces a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism and academic dishonesty.

9.1 Plagiarism Definitions & Thresholds

  • Verbatim Copying: Direct copying of text without quotation marks and proper citation.
  • Improper Paraphrasing: Rearranging sentences or changing words without proper attribution.
  • Self-Plagiarism / Text Recycling: Reusing significant parts of one's own previously published work without disclosure or citation.
  • HEC Threshold: In compliance with HEC rules, the total Turnitin Similarity Index must remain below 19%, with no single source exceeding 5%.

9.2 Handling Misconduct Allegations

If plagiarism or research misconduct is alleged pre- or post-publication:

  1. The Editor will initiate an impartial investigation following COPE Flowcharts.
  2. Clarification will be formally requested from the corresponding author.
  3. If confirmed, penalties may include manuscript rejection, publication retraction, a temporary or permanent ban on future submissions, and formal notification to the author’s institution.

10.1 Copyright & CC BY 4.0 License

JWRIH operates under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

  • Copyright Ownership: Authors retain full copyright and publishing rights to their work without restrictions.
  • Grant of Rights: Authors grant JWRIH a non-exclusive license to publish, archive, and distribute the article.
  • User Rights: Under CC BY 4.0, third parties are free to share, copy, distribute, and adapt the published material in any medium, provided appropriate credit/attribution is given to the original author(s) and JWRIH.

10.2 Self-Archiving & Repository Policy

Authors are permitted and encouraged to deposit all versions of their article (Submitted Version, Accepted Version, or Published PDF) in institutional repositories, personal websites, or academic platforms (e.g., ResearchGate, Academia.edu) immediately after formal publication, providing full citation and a link to the original article published on the JWRIH website.

 

11. Policy on Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Automated Tools

In accordance with DOAJ and COPE guidelines, JWRIH maintains strict ethical boundaries regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Large Language Models (LLMs), and automated tools across all stages of the research and publishing process.

11.1 Guidelines for Authors

  • No AI Authorship: Generative AI tools, chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude), or automated software cannot be listed or credited as an author or co-author. Authorship implies legal, scientific, and ethical accountability, which AI tools cannot possess.
  • Mandatory Disclosure: Authors must explicitly disclose the use of generative AI or automated tools in their cover letter and within a dedicated "AI Usage Disclosure" statement before the references section if AI was used for data generation, content drafting, translation, or visual creation. Simple tools used solely for routine spelling, grammar checking, or reference formatting do not require formal disclosure.
  • Author Accountability: Authors are 100% responsible for verifying the accuracy, factual validity, scientific integrity, and originality of all content, including any material produced or assisted by automated tools. Authors are liable for any AI-generated errors, hallucinations, or plagiarism.
  • Citation Restrictions: Generative AI tools and LLM outputs cannot be cited as primary or authoritative sources in the bibliography.

11.2 Guidelines for Peer Reviewers and Editors

  • Confidentiality Protection: Peer reviewers and editors are strictly prohibited from uploading submitted manuscripts, abstracts, or figures into external generative AI platforms or chatbots. Doing so violates author confidentiality, data privacy, and intellectual property rights.
  • Integrity of Evaluations: Reviewers and editors must independently conduct assessments and write their review reports. Generative AI must not be used to generate review assessments or editorial decisions due to severe risks of bias, superficial feedback, confidential data leaks, and fake/fabricated references. Minor linguistic editing of a reviewer's own written notes is permissible if disclosed.

11.3 Journal Operations & "Human-in-the-Loop" Oversight

  • Disclosure of Journal Automation: JWRIH utilizes tested, routine automated tools (such as Turnitin for similarity checks and OJS for workflow management).
  • Human-in-the-Loop Verification: All automated screening outputs—including plagiarism similarity reports, metadata checks, or integrity flags—are strictly reviewed, interpreted, and verified by human editors. No editorial decision (desk rejection, acceptance, or peer review assignment) is made solely by an automated algorithm or AI tool.