Peer Review Process

Peer Review Process

Every manuscript submitted to AL-ARBAH: Journal of Islamic Finance and Banking goes through the following stages.

1. Initial screening. The editor first checks each submission against the journal’s requirements:

• the manuscript falls within the journal’s Focus and Scope;
• it matches one of the accepted manuscript types (Research Article, Conceptual Paper, or Review Article) and is 6,000–9,000 words long, including the abstract, tables, figures, and references (see Manuscript Types);
• it follows the Author Guidelines and the Article Template;
• its similarity index does not exceed 20%, as checked with plagiarism-detection software (see Screen for Plagiarism).

A manuscript that does not meet these requirements may be returned to the author for adjustment before review, or rejected.

2. Double-blind peer review. Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are reviewed by at least two reviewers with expertise in the manuscript’s topic. The review is double-blind: the identities of the authors and the reviewers are not disclosed to each other.

3. Revision. The reviewers’ comments are sent to the author, who must revise the manuscript accordingly and submit the revised version together with a response to each comment.

4. Editorial decision. The editor assesses the revised manuscript. If the revisions adequately address the reviewers’ comments and meet the journal’s standards, the manuscript proceeds to the next stage of publication. If they do not, the manuscript is returned to the author for further revision. The editor makes the final decision on acceptance or rejection.