Review Guidelines

Review Guidelines
These guidelines are intended to assist reviewers in providing fair, constructive, and academically rigorous assessments of manuscripts submitted to the Indonesian Journal of Islamic Law (IJIL). Reviewers are expected to offer professional recommendations to support editorial decision-making; final publication decisions remain the responsibility of the editorial team.

1. Initial Review
• Scope & Relevance: Ensure the manuscript falls clearly within the aims and scope of IJIL.
• Expertise Check (Abstract Screening): Read the abstract to confirm that you have appropriate expertise to review the manuscript. If not, notify the editor immediately.
• Research Question / Problematisation: Assess whether the topic addresses a significant, original, and well-defined problem relevant to Islamic law, law and society, or related socio-legal debates.
• Methodological Soundness (for research articles): Evaluate whether the research design, sources, and methods are appropriate, transparent, and sufficiently rigorous, or whether the manuscript contains fundamental methodological weaknesses.
• Initial Assessment: Based on this preliminary evaluation, indicate whether the manuscript appears to:
   π be suitable for review with minor issues identified,
   π present major conceptual or methodological concerns requiring substantial revision, or
   π contains fundamental flaws that may justify rejection.

2. Full Review
• Scholarly and Analytical Quality
Contribution:
π Does the manuscript offer a clear scholarly contribution (empirical, theoretical, doctrinal, or interpretive) to the field of Islamic law and society?
π Does it advance existing debates rather than merely describe legal norms or practices?
Argumentation and Evidence:
π Are the arguments coherent, logically developed, and critically engaged?
π Are claims and interpretations adequately supported by primary sources, empirical materials, or relevant scholarship?
Analytical Depth:
π For socio-legal or theoretical manuscripts, is the analysis conceptually robust and contextually grounded, even where “results” are not empirical in a positivistic sense?
• Writing & Presentation:
π Is the manuscript logically structured and easy to follow?
π Are key terms and concepts clearly defined and used consistently?
π Are grammar, punctuation, and spelling at an acceptable scholarly level? (If language issues are systemic, provide illustrative examples rather than attempting full copy-editing.)
• Style, Format, and Referencing
π Does the manuscript comply with IJIL’s style, formatting, and referencing requirements?
π Are all factual claims, quotations, and interpretations properly cited?
π Is the bibliography relevant, current, and proportionate to the manuscript’s scope?

3. Review of Non-Research Submissions
For book reviews and practical notes, reviewers should adapt the above criteria as appropriate and focus in particular on:
• Analytical engagement rather than descriptive summary,
• Relevance to contemporary debates in Islamic law and society, and
• Clarity, originality, and critical insight within the format’s specific objectives.

4. Reviewer Ethics
Reviewers are expected to adhere to the highest ethical standards in accordance with IJIL’s Peer Review Policy and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.
• Treat the manuscript and review process as confidential.
• Decline the review if there is any conflict of interest (financial, institutional, or personal).
• Provide objective, evidence-based, and constructive feedback to help authors improve their work.
• Avoid personal criticism or inappropriate language directed at the author(s).

5. Recommendation
Based on the full review, reviewers should provide a clear recommendation to assist the editor, selecting one of the following options:
• Accept (with or without minor revisions),
• Revisions Required (minor or major),
• Resubmit for Review (substantial revision required),
• Reject (with clear academic and methodological justification).

Reviewer recommendations are advisory in nature and form part of the editorial decision-making process.