Peer Review Process

JoISEL: Journal of Islamic Education and Learning applies a rigorous peer review process to maintain the academic quality, scientific integrity, and credibility of every published article. All submitted manuscripts undergo a double-blind peer review process, in which the identities of both the author and the reviewers are kept confidential to ensure objectivity, independence, and fairness in the assessment process. All communication during the review process is confidential and is not disclosed to any party outside the editorial team.

Authors submit their manuscript through the journal's online management system (Open Journal System/OJS) in accordance with the applicable author guidelines.

The editor conducts an initial review of the manuscript to confirm its suitability with the journal's focus and scope, the completeness of the article structure, compliance with the author guidelines and publication ethics standards, and performs an initial similarity check in accordance with JoISEL's Plagiarism Screening policy. At this stage, the editor also ensures the manuscript has been anonymized (removing the author's name, affiliation, and other identifying information) before it is sent to the reviewers.

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening stage are sent to two independent reviewers with competence relevant to the article's field of study, taking into account the absence of any conflict of interest between reviewer and author, as set out on the Publication Ethics page. JoISEL applies a double-blind peer review system, so that the identities of the author and reviewers remain unknown to each other throughout the assessment process.

If the two reviewers provide significantly conflicting recommendations (for example, one recommends Accept and the other Reject), the editor will assign a third reviewer as a tie-breaker before an editorial decision is made.

The editor considers all comments, suggestions, and recommendations from the reviewers to determine the initial editorial decision on the manuscript.

If revision is required, the author must revise the manuscript according to the reviewers' comments and submit a response-to-reviewers document explaining each change that has been made.

For manuscripts that received a major revision recommendation, the editor may resend the revised manuscript to the same reviewers for a further evaluation before a final decision is made.

The final decision is binding for the editorial process of the manuscript in question. Nevertheless, if an author believes there has been a procedural violation or unfairness in the review process, the author may submit a written objection through the complaint and appeal mechanism set out on JoISEL's Publication Ethics page.

Accepted manuscripts proceed to the production stage, covering copyediting, layout, and proofreading, before being officially published in online and/or print form.

JoISEL aims to complete the initial editorial screening stage within a maximum of 2 weeks after a manuscript is received, and the peer review process is expected to be completed within 4-8 weeks, depending on the complexity of the manuscript and reviewer availability. These durations are estimates and may vary depending on circumstances.