Publication Ethic

RELHUM: Journal of Religion and Humanities is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, editorial professionalism, and responsible scholarly publishing. This commitment is implemented through transparent, objective, independent, and internationally recognized editorial and publication practices.

This Publication Ethics Statement serves as a normative framework governing ethical principles, standards of conduct, and responsibilities for parties involved in scholarly publishing, including authors, the Editor-in-Chief, members of the Editorial Board, peer reviewers, the publisher, and the broader academic community. These principles are intended to ensure that published articles fulfill rigorous academic standards, preserve the credibility of scholarly communication, and contribute meaningfully to the advancement of knowledge.

Editorial and publication practices at RELHUM are aligned with internationally recognized standards and informed by the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

General Principles of Scholarly Publication Ethics

Publication in peer-reviewed journals constitutes a fundamental mechanism for generating, validating, disseminating, and preserving scholarly knowledge.

Articles published in RELHUM are expected to demonstrate academic excellence, intellectual integrity, scholarly originality, and meaningful contributions to the advancement of studies in religion and humanities.

Peer review is recognized as a principal instrument for ensuring scientific validity, maintaining academic quality, and strengthening the systematic application of scholarly methods.

Responsibility for maintaining publication ethics is shared across the scholarly communication ecosystem, including authors, editors, reviewers, publishers, and the academic community.

RELHUM and its publisher are committed to:

preserving the integrity, reliability, and continuity of the scholarly record;
ensuring independence and objectivity throughout editorial processes;
preventing external influences that may compromise editorial judgment;
supporting ethical and responsible dissemination of scholarly knowledge;
encouraging professional collaboration and communication with academic institutions, journals, and publishers whenever necessary to maintain publication integrity.

Duties of Editors

Editorial Decisions

Responsibility for editorial decisions rests with the Editor-in-Chief together with the Editorial Board.

Evaluation of manuscripts is conducted exclusively on academic considerations, including:

originality and scholarly contribution;
methodological rigor and analytical quality;
alignment with the journal’s aims and scope;
significance for academic development;
reviewer recommendations;
compliance with editorial policies and applicable legal requirements.

Consultation with Editorial Board members, reviewers, or academic advisers may be undertaken where necessary to support balanced and informed editorial decisions.

Objectivity and Editorial Independence

Manuscripts must be assessed independently, fairly, and without discrimination.

Editorial evaluation is conducted solely on the basis of scholarly merit and intellectual content, regardless of institutional affiliation, nationality, cultural background, religious belief, gender, or political orientation.

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial personnel are required to maintain confidentiality regarding information associated with submitted manuscripts.

Access to manuscript-related information is limited to individuals directly involved in editorial assessment and publication processes.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Unpublished information, ideas, data, or findings obtained during editorial handling must not be used for personal benefit or research purposes without explicit written authorization from the author.

Situations that may create conflicts of interest should be avoided, and editors are expected to withdraw from handling manuscripts whenever such conflicts may compromise impartial judgment.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Processes

Reviewers contribute significantly to editorial decision-making through independent, constructive, and academically grounded evaluations.

Reviewer feedback is expected to support publication decisions while enhancing the scientific quality, methodological rigor, and presentation of manuscripts.

Timeliness

Reviewers who determine that they do not possess adequate expertise or cannot complete the review within the designated timeframe should promptly inform the editor and withdraw from the assignment.

Confidentiality of the Review Process

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.

Disclosure, distribution, discussion, or use of information obtained during peer review outside editorial purposes is not permitted.

Objectivity and Professional Conduct

Review activities should be conducted with professionalism, impartiality, and scholarly integrity.

Comments and recommendations should remain constructive and supported by clear academic reasoning.

Personal criticism directed toward authors is considered inappropriate.

Recognition of Scholarly Sources

Identification of relevant literature omitted from manuscripts is encouraged.

Potential overlap, duplication, or indications of academic misconduct should be communicated to the editor.

Conflicts of Interest

Review assignments should be declined when personal, professional, institutional, or competing interests may interfere with objective assessment.

Confidential information obtained through peer review must not be used for personal or institutional advantage.

Duties of Authors

Integrity and Reporting Standards

Authors are responsible for presenting research findings accurately, transparently, objectively, and in accordance with accepted scholarly standards.

Manuscripts should contain sufficient methodological information, supporting evidence, and references to enable verification and, where appropriate, reproducibility.

Fabrication, falsification, manipulation of data, and misleading reporting constitute unacceptable publication practices.

Originality and Plagiarism

Originality of submitted manuscripts must be ensured.

Ideas, data, text, and materials derived from external sources should be properly acknowledged through appropriate citation practices.

Multiple Submission and Redundant Publication

Submission or publication of identical or substantially similar work in more than one journal at the same time is not permitted.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Appropriate recognition must be given to scholarly works and references that have contributed to the research.

Authorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial academic contributions to the conception, implementation, analysis, interpretation, or preparation of the manuscript.

Responsibility for ensuring that each listed author has approved the final manuscript and agreed to submission lies with the corresponding author.

Disclosure of Funding and Conflicts of Interest

Funding sources, research support, and relationships that may influence interpretation of findings must be disclosed transparently.

Post-Publication Corrections

Discovery of substantial errors after publication should be communicated promptly to the editor to facilitate correction, clarification, or retraction where necessary.

Duties of the Publisher

Responsibility of the publisher includes supporting ethical publication governance and safeguarding editorial independence.

Commitments of the publisher include:

maintaining the integrity and continuity of the scholarly archive;
supporting procedures for correction, clarification, and retraction where required;
ensuring long-term accessibility and preservation of published content;
preventing commercial interests from influencing editorial decisions.

Publication Misconduct

RELHUM does not tolerate publication misconduct, including but not limited to:

plagiarism;
duplicate publication;
fabrication and falsification of data;
citation manipulation;
inappropriate authorship practices;
undisclosed conflicts of interest;
manipulation of peer-review procedures.

Allegations of publication misconduct will be addressed through established editorial procedures and may result in manuscript rejection, publication correction, article retraction, editorial notification, or communication with relevant institutions.

Submission of manuscripts to RELHUM constitutes acknowledgment and agreement to comply with these publication ethics principles and to contribute to the development of credible, ethical, and sustainable scholarly communication.