Policies and Ethics

The journal upholds the highest standards of research ethics, with the "https://publicationethics.org/guidance">Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines serving as our primary reference. We are committed to promoting ethical research practices and expect all contributors to adhere to these standards.

Access, Copyright, and Licensing

Open Access Policy

All articles published in Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences are published with immediate open access and are freely available online to read, download, and share upon publication. Readers may use, reuse, and distribute the content in accordance with the license stated below.

Copyright Statement

Copyright in all articles is retained by the author(s). By submitting and publishing in the journal, the author(s) grant the journal a non-exclusive license to publish the article, to identify itself as the original publisher, and to distribute and make the work publicly available in all formats and media, now known or hereafter developed. The opinions expressed in published articles are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal or King Faisal University.

Licensing

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and the source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.

Peer Review Process

Step 1: The paper is submitted to the system:
Step 2: The editor reviews the paper to ensure it meets submission guidelines. Non-compliant papers will be returned.
Step 3: Papers that meet submission guidelines will be sent to the editorial board for initial screening.
Step 4:Papers approved by the editorial board will be sent for peer review.
Step 5:If one reviewer recommends acceptance and another recommends rejection, a third reviewer will be consulted.
Step 6:Based on the editorial board and reviewers’ recommendations, the editor-in-chief will make a decision: acceptance without changes, acceptance with minor/major revisions, resubmission, or rejection. Resubmission means the paper is treated as a new submission.

Publication Ethics

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors hold full legal responsibility for the content of their research paper.
Authors are required to adhere to the submission guidelines provided by the journal strictly. This ensures a smooth publication process and helps us maintain the quality and integrity of our publications.
Authors must confirm that their work is original, not submitted elsewhere, and must respond professionally to feedback from editors and reviewers.
Authors must disclose any financial support for the research and identify individuals who contributed to the research but are not listed as co-authors.
The authors should disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must conduct an unbiased and thorough initial evaluation of the manuscript’s quality and originality in accordance with the journal’s publication standards. Based on this evaluation, the manuscript will either proceed to peer review or be rejected.
Editors must follow up with reviewers to ensure adherence to the review process and deadlines.
Editors are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, especially when dealing with reports of scientific misconduct.
In case of a conflict of interest regarding the author(s), the responsibility for the manuscript should be transferred to another editor.
Editors must select reviewers carefully to ensure an objective and scientific evaluation. This commitment to fairness should instill confidence in authors about the integrity of the review process.
Editors can avoid working with reviewers nominated by the authors to reduce the risk of bias.
Editors are required to address any objections or concerns raised by authors regarding the review process.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must keep all information related to the manuscript confidential.
Reviewers are expected to complete their evaluations within the timeline provided by the journal. If they are unable to do so, they must inform the editor promptly.
Reviewers must decline to review a manuscript if there is any conflict of interest with the author(s).
Reviewers are required to evaluate the manuscript objectively and provide clear, evidence-based justifications for their decisions.
Reviewers must inform the editor of any similarities or potential plagiarism they discover between the manuscript and previously published works.
Reviewers must notify the editor immediately if they identify any unethical research practices, such as unauthorized citations or data manipulation.

Additional Journal Ethics

The journal does not accept any manuscripts or reviews containing bias, aggression, extremism, or ideological rhetoric, whether directed at individuals, schools of thought, sects, genders, or ideologies.
The journal will not accept research or reviews that promote ideas harmful to intellectual and societal security, encourage terrorism or extremism, or imply such support. Both authors and reviewers must avoid engaging in topics related to sectarianism, ethnicity, doctrinal conflicts, or partisanship.

Unethical Practices

Unethical practices include, but are not limited to, fabrication or falsification of data, plagiarism (including self-plagiarism and redundant publication), duplicate or simultaneous submission to more than one journal, and submitting substantially similar work more than once without transparent citation and justification. Unethical conduct also includes inappropriate manipulation or selective reporting of results, intentional omission or misrepresentation of relevant prior work, and failure to disclose competing interests.

Handling Unethical Practices

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines is the primary reference for addressing unethical practices.
If any unethical practice is discovered or reported, the editor will investigate the case thoroughly, examine the evidence, and make a final decision. The individual involved will be notified and given the opportunity to provide a response supported by evidence.
Following the final decision, the journal may either amend the manuscript or retract it due to unethical behavior. The journal reserves the right to impose a ban on the individual responsible for unethical practices and will inform them accordingly.
If the complaint involves the publication of a paper previously published elsewhere, the editor will inform the original publisher to take appropriate action.

Authorship Criteria

Authorship refers to an individual’s substantive intellectual contribution to a manuscript and accountability for the integrity of the work. All listed authors are expected to have made a meaningful scholarly contribution and to take public responsibility for the content of the article.

The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript and consent to its submission. The author list must accurately reflect each person’s contributions and must not include individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria. Any falsification or misrepresentation of authorship—such as gift/guest authorship, honorary authorship, or the omission of qualified contributors—constitutes unethical conduct and may result in editorial action, including a published correction, expression of concern, rejection, or retraction, in line with the journal’s policies.

To qualify for authorship, each author must meet all of the following four criteria: (1) made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; (2) drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content; (3) approved the final version to be published; and (4) agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, including ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Individuals who contribute to the work but do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged (with their permission) but not listed as authors.

Plagiarism Policy

The journal reserves the right to use plagiarism detection software to examine submitted papers at any point in the process. All submitted papers will be checked for plagiarism before they are sent for peer review. Authors are legally and ethically responsible for ensuring that submitted work is original and that all sources are appropriately cited. Plagiarism in any form—including unattributed text reuse, appropriation of ideas or results, and inappropriate paraphrasing—constitutes research misconduct. Unacceptable practices also include self-plagiarism (redundant publication) and citation manipulation.

Where plagiarism or related misconduct is suspected or confirmed, the journal may take editorial action, including rejection, request for clarification or revision, rejection after review, retraction of published articles, publication of a correction or expression of concern, and notification of relevant institutions or other parties, as appropriate.

Use of AI-Enhanced Technology

When submitting work for publication, authors must disclose any use of artificial intelligence tools (such as chatbots or image generators). They should provide details on how these technologies were utilized in their cover letter to the editor and mention them in the relevant sections of the manuscript, if applicable. For example, if AI assisted in writing, it should be noted in the acknowledgments. If used for data collection, analysis, or figure creation, this should be specified in the methodology section.

Conflict of Interest

The corresponding author must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence data interpretation. If there is no conflict of interest, the author must state this explicitly.