About the Journal

Focus and Scope

FOCUS:

Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment, is an open-access and peer-reviewed journal focusing on the dynamic issues of society and empowerment. The goal of this journal is community development in various fields of life, especially in empowerment. The articles published may take the form of original research, theoretical analyses, and critical reviews.

SCOPE:

Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment covers all aspects relating to community development and empowerment.

Peer Review Process

Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal. For publication, every paper submitted to the Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment is subject to peer review. The peer review in this journal evaluates the submitted paper by two or more individuals of similar competence to the author. It aims to determine the academic paper's suitability for publication. The peer review method is employed to maintain quality standards and the credibility of the papers. The peer review at the Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment proceeds in 9 steps with the following description.

1. Paper Submission

Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment uses the Open Journal System (OJS) in submission. The author must register by email, log into the system, and upload papers.

2. Editorial Office Assessment

The Prosperity editor first assesses the submitted paper. The editor checks whether it suits the Journal's focus and scope. The paper's composition and arrangement are evaluated against the Journal's Author Guidelines to ensure it includes the required sections and stylizations. In addition, an assessment of the minimum required quality of the paper for publication begins at this step, including one that assesses whether there is a major methodological flaw. Every submitted paper that passes this step will be checked by Turnitin to measure the similarity index, leading to plagiarism, before being reviewed by reviewers. The maximum similarity limit for being accepted at Prosperity is 10%.

3. Appraisal by the Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief checks if the paper is appropriate for the journal, sufficiently original, engaging, and significant for publication. If not, the paper may be rejected without being reviewed any further.

4. Invitation to Reviewers

The handling editor sends invitations to individuals who they believe would be appropriate reviewers (also known as referees) based on expertise, the closeness of research interest, and no conflict of interest consideration. The peer review process at Prosperity involves a community of experts in a narrowly defined field of empowerment who are qualified and able to perform reasonably impartial reviews. The impartiality is also maintained by the double-blind peer review employed in this journal. That said, the reviewer does not know the author's identity. Conversely, the author does not know the reviewer's identity. The paper is sent to reviewers anonymously.

5. Response to Invitations

Potential reviewers consider the invitation against their expertise, conflicts of interest, and availability. They then decide to accept or decline. In the invitation letter, the editor may ask the potential reviewer for the suggestion of an alternative reviewer when they decline to review.

6. Review is Conducted

The reviewers allocate time to read the paper several times. The first read is used to form an initial impression of the work. If significant problems are found at this stage, the reviewers may feel comfortable rejecting the paper without further work. Otherwise, they will read the paper several times, taking notes to build a detailed point-by-point review. The review is then submitted to the journal, with a recommendation to accept or reject it or else with a request for revision (usually flagged as either major or minor) before it is reconsidered.

7. Journal Evaluates the Reviews

The Editor-in-Chief and handling editor considers all the returned reviews before making an overall decision. If the reviews differ widely between both reviewers, the handling editor may invite an additional reviewer to obtain a different opinion before making a decision.

8. The Decision is Communicated

The editor sends a decision email to the author, including any relevant reviewer comments. Reviewer comments are sent anonymously to the corresponding author to take the necessary actions and responses. At this point, reviewers are also sent an email or letter letting them know the outcome of their review.

9. Final Steps

If accepted, the paper is sent to copy-editing. Suppose the article is rejected or sent back to the author for either major or minor revision. In that case, the handling editor will include constructive comments from the reviewers to help the author improve the article. The author should make corrections and revise the paper per the reviewers' comments and instructions.

After the revision, the author should resubmit the revised paper to the editor.

If the paper is returned for revision, the reviewers should expect to receive the revised version unless they have opted out of further participation. However, where only minor changes were requested, the handling editor might do this follow-up review.

If the editor is satisfied with the revised paper, it is accepted. The accepted papers will be published online, all are freely available as downloadable pdf files.

Publication Frequency

Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment has published twice a year, i.e., June and December. Articles are published collectively according to the publishing schedule.

Open Access Policy

Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

This journal is open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to users or / institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to full text articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or author.

Publication Ethics

Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment, is a peer-reviewed journal, published biannually by Program Studi Pengembangan Masyarakat Islam, Fakultas Dakwah dan Komunikasi, Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo Semarang, Indonesia. It is available online as open access sources as well as in print. This statement clarifies the ethical behavior of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in this journal, including the author, the editor-in-chief, the Editorial Board, the reviewer, and the publisher. This statement is based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Ethical Guideline for Journal Publication

The publication of an article in Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a clear reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific methods. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the editor, the reviewer, the publisher, and the society. The publisher of Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment, is obliged to guard all stages of publishing seriously and recognizes its ethical standards and other responsibilities. Program Studi Pengembangan Masyarakat Islam, Fakultas Dakwah dan Komunikasi, Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo Semarang, Indonesia is committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions.

Publication decisions

The editor of the Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment is responsible for deciding the best and eligible articles to be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making their decisions.

Fair play

An editor at any time evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality

The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's research without the express written consent of the author.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Promptness

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Duties of Authors

Reporting standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Originality and Plagiarism

The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where others have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her published work, the author should promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

Allegations of Research Misconduct

Research misconduct means fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, or plagiarism in producing, performing, or reviewing research and writing an article by authors, or in reporting research results. When authors are found to have been involved with research misconduct or other serious irregularities involving articles that have been published in scientific journals, Editors have a responsibility to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the scientific record.

In cases of suspected misconduct, the Editors and Editorial Board will use the best practices of COPE to assist them to resolve the complaint and address the misconduct fairly. This will include an investigation of the allegation by the Editors. A submitted manuscript that is found to contain such misconduct will be rejected. In cases where a published paper is found to contain such misconduct, a retraction can be published and will be linked to the original article.

The first step involves determining the validity of the allegation and an assessment of whether the allegation is consistent with the definition of research misconduct. This initial step also involves determining whether the individuals alleging misconduct have relevant conflicts of interest. 

If scientific misconduct or the presence of other substantial research irregularities is a possibility, the allegations are shared with the corresponding author, who, on behalf of all of the co-authors, is requested to provide a detailed response. After the response is received and evaluated, additional review and involvement of experts (such as statistical reviewers) may be obtained. For cases in which it is unlikely that misconduct has occurred, clarifications, additional analyses, or both, published as letters to the editor, and often including a correction notice and correction to the published article are sufficient. 

Institutions are expected to conduct an appropriate and thorough investigation of allegations of scientific misconduct. Ultimately, authors, journals, and institutions have an important obligation to ensure the accuracy of the scientific record. By responding appropriately to concerns about scientific misconduct, and taking necessary actions based on evaluation of these concerns, such as corrections, retractions with replacement, and retractions, Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment journal will continue to fulfill the responsibilities of ensuring the validity and integrity of the scientific record.

Retraction

The papers published in Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment is considered to retract in the publication if :

1. They have clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g., data fabrication) or honest error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error)
2. the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission, or justification (i.e., cases of redundant publication)
3. it constitutes plagiarism
4. it reports unethical research

The mechanism of retraction follows the Retraction Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which can be accessed at https://publicationethics.org/files/retraction%20guidelines.pdf.

 

Ethical Clearance

Because the research involves human subjects, every article submitted to Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment must meet the ethical clearance requirements, including:

a)       Ethical approval for all research

b)      Protection of participants

c)       Informed consent

d)      No coercion

e)      The right to withdraw.

f)        Anonymity and confidentiality

g)       Appropriate exclusion criteria.

h)      Concern about participan’s health and well-being.

i)        Duty of care.

j)        Additional safeguards for research with vulnerable populations

k)       Ethical treatment of non-human animals.

l)        Appropriate supervision.

Further explanation regarding this can be accessed at Ethical Guidelines for Social Science and Guidelines for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities.

Direct Marketing

Attracting high-quality submissions is critical to the success of a journal. That’s why our publishing teams work closely to increase visibility and promote the research we publish. The marketing campaigns we develop are targeted and data-driven to help our journal reach potential authors and readers and to maximize the success of our journal. In promoting the journal and publications to the public, the Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment attempts to avoid actions detrimental to other parties and to avoid misleading information between prospective authors and the publishers.

Advertising

Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment does not accept advertising from any parties.

Revenue Sources

Prosperity: Journal of Society and Empowerment is an open-access journal, which is published in both the online and print versions. Source of income from Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo Semarang. Source of income which is utilized in maintaining the administrative and the print cost.

Article Retraction & Withdrawal

It is generally a principle of scholarly communication that the journal Editor is solely and independently responsible for deciding which articles submitted might be published. Through manufacturing this decision, the Editor is guided by the journal’s editorial board policies and constrained by such legal requirements related to slander, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The result of this principle is the significance of scientifical archives as permanent historic records of scholarship transactions. Articles that have been published should remain extant, exact and unaltered as far as possible. However, occasionally circumstances can arise where an article is published that must later be retracted or even removed. Such actions must not be undertaken lightly and can only occur under extraordinary circumstances. Throughout cases, our archives at Journal of Community Development will hold all versions of articles, including those that were recalled or deleted.

This policy has been designed to resolve this problem and to consider the best practice in the community of academics and libraries. As long as standards develop and change, we will revisit this problem and receive all of the input from the library and academic community. We believe this problem needs an international standard and will actively lobby for various information to establish an international standard and the best practice which could be adapted by industrial information and publishing.

Article Retraction

Articles may be retracted due to scientific error in the cases such as multiple submissions, false authorship claims, plagiarism or fraudulent use of data. A signed statement from the author must be submitted before the article can be withdrawn. The consent of all the paper authors is required before a repeal can be published. The notification of retraction will be published and link to the original article clearly marked as cancelled. In addition, the notification will also include withdrawal reasons and who retracted its article. The original article will not be removed from the online version and print journal version, but it will be identified as a retracted article. Retraction will also be listed on the content page.

Article Withdrawal

Article withdrawal is strongly discouraged and only used in exceptional circumstances for an early version of an article which has been accepted for publication but has not been officially published yet but may have already appeared online. The version may contain errors, may have been posted inadvertently twice or may violate journal publishing ethics guidelines (e.g. multiple submission, false claim about authorship, plagiarism, improper use of data, etc). In such situations, especially in case of legal/ethical violation or false/inaccurate data that could pose a risk of harm if it is used, it merely can be decided to withdraw the article's initial version from our electronic platform. Withdrawal stands with the article content (both HTML and PDF versions) is removed and replaced with HTML and PDF pages stating that the article has been withdrawn in accordance with Indonesian Journal Publisher’s withdrawing article policy along with a link to the policy.

Additional note, if the author has his/her own copyright for the article, it doesn’t mean he/she has the right to withdraw it after publication. The integrity of the published scientific records is paramount and this policy on revocation and withdrawal still applies in such cases.

Article Removal

In an extremely limited number of cases, the published article may need to be removed from our online platform. It will only happen that if an article is clearly defamatory, or violate another person’s legal rights, or where the article is located, or we have the strong reason to expect, being the subject of a court order, or where the article, if acted upon, may pose a serious health risk. In such circumstances, while the metadata (i.e. title and author information) of the article will be retained, the text will be replaced with a screen indicating that the article has been removed for legal reasons.

Article Replacement

In cases where the article, if followed upon up, could pose a serious health risk, the author of the original paper may wish to recall the original document and replace it with the corrected version. In such circumstances, the above removal procedure will be followed by differences that the article retraction notification will contain revised link and republished it along with the document history.

Journal History

January 2021: Prosperity was formed by Mr. Nur Hamid as Editor in Chief, Mr. Asep Firmansyah as Managing Editor, and Mr. Agus Riyadi as Editorial Board and published by Program Studi Pengembangan Masyarakat Islam Fakultas Dakwah dan Komunikasi Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo Semarang based on Dean's Decree Number B-086/Un.10.4/D/PP.00.9/01/2021

February 2021: Editors from Indonesia, Philippines, Swaziland, and Australia joined here

February 2021: International Editorial Board from Netherlands, Austria, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran, China, and Indonesia joined here

June 2021: Prosperity has been published in Volume 1, Issue 1, June 2021. All articles in this issue include authors from 3 countries of origin (Indonesia, India, and Pakistan)

July 2021: Prosperity received e-ISSN 2798-5679 and p-ISSN 2798-5717

February 2022: Prosperity made a cooperation contract represented by Dr. Nur Hamid, M.Sc. as Editor in Chief of Prosperity with Rosita Tandos, M.ComDev., Ph.D. as Head of Perkumpulan Pengembangan Masyarakat Islam (P2MI).

May 2023: Prosperity is indexed by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)