Conflict of Interest

Al-Hilal: Journal of Islamic Astronomy is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, academic integrity, and editorial independence throughout the publication process. Authors, editors, and reviewers are required to disclose and appropriately manage any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, research findings, manuscript evaluation, peer review, or editorial decisions.

1. Authors

All authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that may affect, or be perceived to affect, the design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, or publication of their research. Such interests may include employment, consultancies, honoraria, research grants, sponsorships, institutional affiliations, personal or professional relationships, competing academic interests, intellectual property, and other circumstances that could compromise the objectivity or credibility of the research.

In the context of Islamic astronomy, relevant conflicts may arise from affiliations with astronomical observatories, research institutions, organizations involved in crescent moon observation, calendar determination authorities, providers of astronomical instruments or software, or institutions with particular interests in the interpretation or application of astronomical findings.

All sources of financial support must be clearly acknowledged in the manuscript. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their declarations are accurate, complete, and transparent.

If no conflicts of interest exist, authors should include the following statement in their manuscript:

“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

If a conflict of interest exists, authors must provide a clear statement describing its nature and, where appropriate, the measures taken to manage it. The disclosure of a conflict does not automatically disqualify a manuscript from consideration; the journal will assess whether the conflict can be appropriately managed without compromising scholarly integrity.

2. Editors

Editors must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest relating to submitted manuscripts. An editor who has a conflict of interest must not participate in the assessment, peer-review management, or editorial decision-making process for the manuscript concerned. The manuscript must be reassigned to an independent editor to ensure a fair and impartial evaluation.

Conflicts may arise from personal relationships with authors, recent or ongoing research collaborations, shared institutional affiliations, financial interests, academic competition, or direct involvement in the research under consideration.

Editors must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and must not use unpublished data, research findings, methodologies, or ideas obtained through the editorial process for personal or professional advantage without the authors' explicit permission.

3. Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest before accepting a review assignment. Such conflicts may arise from financial interests, personal relationships, institutional affiliations, research collaborations, academic competition, or other connections with the authors or organizations associated with the manuscript.

In research involving Islamic astronomy, reviewers should disclose relevant relationships that could compromise their impartiality, including direct involvement in the research being evaluated, competing research projects, or institutional responsibilities related to the astronomical methods, observational results, or calendar determination practices discussed in the manuscript.

Reviewers who identify a conflict that could compromise their objectivity must promptly inform the editor and decline or withdraw from the review process. Reviewers must preserve the confidentiality of manuscripts and must not exploit unpublished information or ideas obtained through peer review for personal, academic, or professional benefit.

4. Editorial Management and Independence

Al-Hilal: Journal of Islamic Astronomy ensures that editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, originality, methodological rigor, reliability of evidence, relevance to the journal's aims and scope, and contribution to the advancement of Islamic astronomy and related disciplines.

Editorial decisions must remain independent of institutional affiliations, financial interests, commercial considerations, and personal or academic relationships. Advertising, reprints, sponsorships, or other sources of revenue must not influence the evaluation or acceptance of manuscripts.

The journal's editorial team is responsible for assessing disclosed conflicts of interest and implementing appropriate safeguards to protect the fairness, confidentiality, and integrity of the editorial and peer-review processes.

5. Disclosure, Investigation, and Corrective Actions

All authors, editors, and reviewers are expected to provide accurate and complete disclosures and to cooperate with the journal in resolving concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest.

Failure to disclose a relevant conflict, or the submission of an inaccurate declaration, may result in further investigation and appropriate action in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policies. Depending on the circumstances, such action may include reassignment of editorial responsibilities, replacement of a reviewer, suspension of the editorial process, rejection of a manuscript, publication of a correction, or other measures necessary to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Where a conflict is identified after publication, the journal will assess the circumstances and determine whether a correction, editorial notice, or other appropriate action is necessary.

By submitting a manuscript to Al-Hilal: Journal of Islamic Astronomy, authors confirm that all relevant conflicts of interest and sources of financial support have been disclosed accurately and transparently.