Reviewer Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria

Reviewers of Madinah: Jurnal Studi Islam are expected to evaluate manuscripts objectively, constructively, and in accordance with the journal’s focus and scope. The ethical responsibilities of reviewers, including confidentiality, conflict of interest, objectivity, and publication misconduct, are explained in the Publication Ethics section.

 

Reviewers are requested to assess manuscripts based on the following criteria:

 

1. Relevance to the Journal Scope

 

The manuscript should be relevant to the journal’s focus and scope in Islamic studies, including Islamic education, Islamic thought, Islamic law, Muslim societies, Islamic civilization, pesantren studies, coastal and inland Muslim communities, and contemporary Islamic issues.

 

2. Originality and Contribution

 

The manuscript should present original ideas, findings, arguments, or interpretations. Reviewers should assess whether the manuscript makes a meaningful contribution to the development of knowledge in the field of Islamic studies.

 

3. Academic Integrity

 

Reviewers should consider the similarity report as supporting information. The manuscript must not contain plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, improper citation, unethical authorship, or other forms of academic misconduct.

 

The similarity index should be within the journal’s acceptable threshold. However, editorial decisions must also consider the quality and nature of the similarity, not merely the percentage shown in the similarity report.

 

4. Title

 

The title should clearly, concisely, and accurately reflect the main topic, object of study, and focus of the manuscript.

 

For field research articles, the title should reflect the main issue, research object, and significance of the study.

 

For conceptual articles, the title should clearly indicate the main concept, issue, or object of analysis.

 

5. Abstract

 

The abstract should be written in a single paragraph and should contain approximately 150–300 words. It should clearly summarize the research objective, method or analytical approach, key findings, novelty, and contribution of the manuscript.

 

6. Introduction

 

The introduction should present the general context of the study, relevant previous studies, research gap, research problem or research question, research objective, significance, and contribution of the study.

 

Reviewers should assess whether the introduction clearly explains why the study is important and how it contributes to the field of Islamic studies.

 

7. Method

 

For field research articles, the method section should clearly describe the research design, participants or research subjects, data sources, data collection techniques, instruments, and data analysis methods.

 

For conceptual articles, the method section should explain the analytical approach, data sources, and analysis techniques, such as content analysis, discourse analysis, historical analysis, textual analysis, or other relevant approaches.

 

The method section should demonstrate a systematic and academically accountable research process.

 

8. Results and Discussion

 

The findings should be presented logically, clearly, and systematically. The discussion should interpret the findings, answer the research questions, and connect the results with relevant theories and previous studies.

 

Reviewers should assess whether the discussion supports, compares, or contrasts the findings with reputable scholarly literature.

 

9. Conclusion

 

The conclusion should summarize the main findings and directly answer the research questions or objectives. It should also present the implications of the study and, where appropriate, suggestions for future research.

 

10. References and Citations

 

References and citations should follow the journal’s required citation style, namely Turabian/Chicago 17th Edition.

 

Reviewers should assess whether the references are relevant, current, reputable, and properly cited. All sources cited in the text must appear in the bibliography, and all entries in the bibliography must be cited in the manuscript.

 

For empirical and contemporary studies, authors are encouraged to use recent articles from reputable or indexed journals. For conceptual, historical, or Islamic studies manuscripts, relevant books, classical texts, primary sources, and authoritative references may also be used when appropriate.

 

11. Language and Formatting

 

The manuscript should be written clearly, coherently, and academically. Reviewers should identify major issues related to grammar, spelling, sentence structure, terminology, and readability when these affect the quality of the manuscript.

 

The manuscript should also follow the journal template, including paper size, margins, font, spacing, citation style, table format, figure placement, and other technical requirements stated in the Author Guidelines.

 

12. Reviewer Recommendation

 

Based on the evaluation, reviewers may provide one of the following recommendations:

 

1. Accepted

2. Accepted with minor revisions

3. Accepted with major revisions

4. Resubmission required

5. Rejected

 

The final decision regarding manuscript acceptance or rejection is made by the Editor-in-Chief based on reviewers’ recommendations, editorial assessment, and the manuscript’s compliance with the journal’s standards.