Peer Review Policies

NUMADURA is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and scholarly quality through a rigorous and transparent peer review process. All submissions are evaluated based on their originality, scholarly merit, and substantive relevance to the journal's core orientations — Islamic Studies, NU Studies, and Madurese Studies — as outlined in the Focus and Scope.

1. Initial Editorial Screening (Desk Review)

Every manuscript submitted to NUMADURA first undergoes an initial screening by the Editor-in-Chief or an assigned Section Editor. This screening evaluates:

  • Conformity with the journal's Focus and Scope
  • Alignment with one of the accepted Article Types (Research Article, Review Article, or Book Review)
  • Compliance with the journal's Author Guidelines and manuscript template
  • Originality, checked through similarity/plagiarism detection software (e.g., Turnitin), with a maximum similarity threshold as determined by editorial policy

Manuscripts that fail to meet these initial requirements may be desk-rejected without proceeding to external peer review. Authors will be notified of the decision along with the relevant justification.

2. Double-Blind Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent for double-blind peer review, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from one another throughout the review process. Each manuscript is typically reviewed by at least two (2) independent reviewers with relevant expertise in the manuscript's subject area.

Reviewers are asked to evaluate manuscripts based on:

  • Originality and scholarly contribution
  • Theoretical and/or methodological soundness
  • Clarity, coherence, and quality of argumentation
  • Relevance to Islamic Studies, NU Studies, and/or Madurese Studies
  • Adequacy and currency of references and citations
  • Overall academic writing quality

3. Review Outcomes

Following peer review, one of the following editorial decisions is made:

  • Accepted — the manuscript is accepted with no or only minor revisions
  • Minor Revisions — the manuscript requires small clarifications or adjustments before acceptance
  • Major Revisions — the manuscript requires substantial revision and is subject to further review
  • Rejected — the manuscript does not meet the journal's scholarly standards or scope and is not suitable for publication

In cases where reviewers' assessments differ significantly, the Editor-in-Chief may invite an additional reviewer or make the final decision based on the overall quality and merit of the manuscript.

4. Revision and Resubmission

Authors are given a specified timeframe (as communicated by the editorial team) to revise and resubmit their manuscripts in response to reviewer and editor feedback. Authors are required to submit a point-by-point response detailing how each reviewer comment has been addressed. Manuscripts that are not resubmitted within the given timeframe may be withdrawn from consideration.

5. Confidentiality

All manuscripts under review are treated as confidential documents. Reviewers and editors are prohibited from discussing, sharing, or using the content of a manuscript under review for any purpose outside the review process itself.

6. Editorial Independence and Conflict of Interest

Editorial decisions are made independently of any commercial, personal, institutional, or ideological interests, including those related to the journal's affiliation with the Nahdlatul Ulama Higher Education Institute (LPTNU) Sumenep. Editors and reviewers are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest — such as personal, professional, or institutional relationships with the author(s) — and to recuse themselves from the review process where such conflicts exist.

7. Review Timeline

NUMADURA aims to complete the initial peer review process within 4-12 weeks of manuscript submission, though the actual timeline may vary depending on reviewer availability and manuscript complexity. Authors will be kept informed of their manuscript's status throughout the process via the journal's online submission system.

8. Ethical Standards

NUMADURA's peer review process adheres to the ethical guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), ensuring fairness, objectivity, and accountability at every stage of manuscript evaluation. Any suspected cases of plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate submission, or other forms of research misconduct identified during the review process will be handled in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics policy.