Authorship and Contributorship Policy

Scholarly Contribution • Transparency • Accountability

Authorship and Contributorship Policy

Sinergi International Journal of Islamic Studies requires authorship to accurately reflect substantial scholarly contributions to research in Islamic studies, Qur’anic studies, Hadith studies, Islamic law, Islamic thought, Islamic education, Islamic history and civilization, Muslim society, contemporary Islamic issues, interreligious studies, Islamic institutions, and related fields.

SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTION CRediT TAXONOMY FULL ACCOUNTABILITY

Authorship represents both academic credit and responsibility. A person should be listed as an author only when they have made a meaningful intellectual contribution to the research and accept responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, transparency, source reliability, ethical conduct, and scholarly quality of the published work.

1. Criteria for Authorship

All listed authors must demonstrate substantial scholarly involvement in the study. Authorship should normally include all of the following:

1	Substantial Research Contribution Significant contribution to the Islamic-studies research problem, conceptual or theoretical framework, textual interpretation, source selection, Qur’anic or Hadith analysis, legal or doctrinal analysis, historical investigation, archival research, field research, educational or social inquiry, methodology, comparative analysis, or interpretation of findings.
2	Intellectual Contribution to the Manuscript Active participation in drafting the manuscript or critically revising its Islamic-studies framework, textual interpretation, legal reasoning, historical argument, methodological rationale, comparative analysis, discussion, or scholarly contribution.
3	Final Approval Review and approval of the final manuscript, including the accuracy of author names, affiliations, Arabic terms and transliteration, primary and secondary sources, quotations, scriptural or legal references, historical information, declarations, and bibliography.
4	Accountability Agreement to take responsibility for the author's contribution and to cooperate in resolving questions concerning source interpretation, textual evidence, translations, archival materials, field data, legal reasoning, quotations, research ethics, research integrity, authorship, or other aspects of the published work.

Activities That Do Not Alone Qualify for Authorship

The following activities, when performed alone, are generally insufficient to justify authorship:

• Providing research funding only	• Providing access to manuscripts, archives, libraries, Islamic institutions, communities, or research sites only
• General academic, religious, institutional, or administrative supervision	• Holding a religious, academic, institutional, organizational, or managerial position
• Routine transcription, transliteration, bibliography preparation, data entry, or clerical assistance	• Language editing, proofreading, translation, or formatting only
• Providing books, manuscripts, databases, archival access, facilities, or logistical support only	• General encouragement, networking, religious guidance, or mentorship without scholarly contribution

Individuals providing these forms of assistance may be recognized in the Acknowledgments section, subject to their permission where appropriate.

2. Author Contribution Statement – CRediT

Every accepted manuscript must include an Author Contribution Statement. Authors are encouraged to use the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) to identify each author's contribution transparently.

Conceptualization Development of Islamic-studies research ideas, Qur’anic or Hadith questions, legal issues, theological concepts, educational problems, historical questions, social themes, or conceptual frameworks.	Methodology Development or design of textual, doctrinal, historical, comparative, hermeneutical, qualitative, ethnographic, archival, case-study, survey, or interdisciplinary methods.
Formal Analysis Textual, thematic, doctrinal, legal, historical, comparative, discourse, qualitative, statistical, philosophical, or other analytical work.	Investigation Conducting archival research, manuscript examination, textual study, interviews, observations, institutional studies, community fieldwork, historical investigation, or empirical data collection.
Data Curation Collecting, organizing, coding, documenting, digitizing, transcribing, cataloguing, or maintaining textual, archival, interview, historical, legal, educational, or social datasets.	Software Digital-text analysis, qualitative-data management, corpus processing, statistical coding, manuscript databases, archival-data organization, or development of analytical tools where relevant.
Validation Verification of textual sources, quotations, translations, transliteration, manuscript references, historical evidence, coding frameworks, legal sources, or analytical interpretations.	Visualization Preparation of research tables, conceptual models, historical timelines, source maps, institutional diagrams, thematic frameworks, or data visualizations.
Writing – Original Draft Preparation of the initial scholarly manuscript.	Writing – Review & Editing Critical intellectual review and substantive manuscript revision.
Resources Provision of essential manuscripts, archival documents, textual databases, primary sources, field access, research instruments, or other resources combined with scholarly contribution.	Supervision Intellectual oversight and scholarly guidance of the research process.
Project Administration Coordination and management of research activities.	Funding Acquisition Acquisition of financial support for the research project.

Note: Assignment of a CRediT role does not automatically qualify an individual for authorship. The individual must also satisfy the journal's authorship requirements and accept accountability.

3. Example of Author Contribution Statement

Example – Textual / Qur’anic / Hadith / Islamic Law Research

Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Data Curation, Validation, Visualization. E.F.: Supervision, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing. All authors approved the final manuscript and agreed to be accountable for their contributions.

Example – Muslim Society / Islamic Education / Field Research

Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Investigation, Data Curation, Formal Analysis. E.F.: Validation, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

4. Author Order

Author order must be determined and agreed upon collectively by the author group before manuscript submission. The journal does not assign or determine author order.

The authorship list and order must be consistent across the submitted manuscript, OJS metadata, Author Contribution Statement, declarations, source or archival documentation where applicable, and final published article.

5. Corresponding Author

One author must be identified as the corresponding author and serve as the primary contact between the journal and all co-authors.

✓ Ensures all authors approve manuscript submission	✓ Verifies author names, affiliations, email, and ORCID information
✓ Coordinates responses to reviewers	✓ Ensures all authors approve substantive revisions
✓ Verifies funding, ethics, permissions, and Conflict of Interest Statements where applicable	✓ Coordinates Data, Source, Archival, Translation, or Supplementary Material Availability where applicable
✓ Coordinates final proof approval	✓ Responds to post-publication source, methodological, or research-integrity inquiries when necessary

6. Unacceptable Authorship Practices

✕ Guest / Honorary Authorship Adding senior academics, religious leaders, institutional heads, scholars, administrators, or respected individuals who did not make sufficient scholarly contributions.	✕ Ghost Authorship Excluding individuals who made substantial contributions to source analysis, textual interpretation, legal reasoning, archival research, field investigation, translation validation, or manuscript preparation that qualify for authorship.
✕ Gift / Reciprocal Authorship Exchanging or granting authorship without genuine scholarly contribution.	✕ Purchased Authorship Buying, selling, or transferring authorship positions.
✕ Coercive Authorship Requiring inclusion because of supervisory, religious, academic, institutional, organizational, managerial, or professional authority.	✕ Unauthorized Authorship Listing a person without their knowledge and approval.

7. Changes to Authorship

Addition, removal, or rearrangement of authors after submission must be exceptional and supported by a clear explanation and written consent from all affected authors.

BEFORE ACCEPTANCE
May be considered with full written agreement

AFTER ACCEPTANCE
Exceptional and subject to editorial approval

AFTER PUBLICATION
May require a formal Correction Notice

8. Authorship Disputes

The Editorial Team may request explanations and documentation when an authorship dispute arises. However, the journal does not normally adjudicate disputes concerning who should or should not qualify as an author. Unresolved disputes may be referred to the authors' institution, research-integrity office, academic authority, ethics committee, or another appropriate body. Editorial processing may be suspended until the dispute is resolved.

9. Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

Artificial intelligence tools, large language models, generative AI systems, and AI-based textual or analytical platforms must not be listed as authors or co-authors. AI cannot accept accountability, approve a manuscript, declare conflicts of interest, or take responsibility for research integrity. Relevant AI-assisted activities, including AI-supported writing, translation assistance, transcription, coding, text analysis, corpus analysis, source organization, or analytical interpretation, must instead be disclosed according to the journal's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy. Authors remain fully responsible for verifying quotations, translations, Qur’anic and Hadith references, legal sources, historical claims, and all other scholarly content.

Authorship Checklist Before Submission

✓ Every listed author has made a genuine scholarly contribution	✓ No eligible contributor has been omitted
✓ Author order has been approved by all authors	✓ All authors approved the submitted manuscript
✓ Author Contribution Statement is complete	✓ Corresponding author has been identified
✓ OJS metadata matches the manuscript	✓ Primary sources, Qur’anic/Hadith references, translations, transliteration, archival materials, ethics, and participant information are accurate where applicable
✓ AI-assisted activities have been disclosed where required	✓ All authors accept responsibility for the published work

Authorship Principle

In Sinergi International Journal of Islamic Studies, authorship is based on substantive intellectual contribution and accountability. Academic or religious rank, institutional authority, access to manuscripts, archives, libraries, Islamic institutions, communities, textual databases, funding alone, routine transcription, transliteration or translation assistance, supervisory status, or professional seniority does not by itself justify authorship.