Research Ethics and Ethical Oversight Policy

AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ) is committed to maintaining high standards of research ethics, academic integrity, responsible research conduct, and respect for individuals and communities involved in research.

The ethical requirements applicable to a manuscript depend on the nature, methodology, subject matter, and participants involved in the research.

1. General Ethical Principles

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research is conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards, institutional requirements, and relevant laws and regulations.

Research submitted to AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ) should be conducted honestly, responsibly, and transparently.

Authors must not engage in:

  • Fabrication of research or data;

  • Falsification or manipulation of research findings;

  • Plagiarism;

  • Unethical data collection;

  • Misrepresentation of sources;

  • Misuse of confidential information; or

  • Other forms of research or publication misconduct.

2. Ethical Oversight

Where research involves human participants, personal data, interviews, surveys, questionnaires, observations, or other activities requiring ethical oversight, authors should obtain approval or clearance from an appropriate institutional or independent ethics committee, review board, or other competent authority where such approval is required.

Authors should provide relevant information concerning ethical approval during submission.

Where formal ethical approval is not required because of the nature of the research, authors may be asked to provide an explanation of why ethical approval was not required.

3. Human Participants

Research involving human participants must respect their dignity, rights, safety, privacy, and welfare.

Authors should ensure that participants are treated fairly and that participation is voluntary.

Where applicable, research should comply with the ethical requirements of the author's institution or relevant research authority.

4. Informed Consent

Where research involves human participants and informed consent is required, authors should obtain appropriate informed consent before collecting or using participant information.

Participants should receive sufficient information about the nature and purpose of the research, their participation, and any relevant risks or benefits before providing consent.

Where written consent is not appropriate because of the nature or context of the research, an alternative documented consent procedure may be used where permitted by the relevant ethical requirements.

5. Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors must protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants.

Personally identifiable information should not be published unless there is an appropriate ethical basis and, where required, informed consent has been obtained.

Authors should remove or anonymize unnecessary identifying information from manuscripts, datasets, photographs, transcripts, and supplementary materials.

6. Vulnerable Participants

Research involving vulnerable individuals or groups requires particular care.

Where applicable, authors should obtain appropriate ethical approval and ensure additional safeguards are in place to protect participants from harm, coercion, exploitation, or inappropriate disclosure of personal information.

7. Interviews, Surveys, and Questionnaires

Research involving interviews, surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, or similar methods should be conducted in accordance with appropriate ethical standards.

Authors should clearly describe relevant methodological and ethical procedures where required.

Where participant consent or ethical approval is required, the authors should provide evidence or an appropriate statement concerning such approval when requested by the journal.

8. Personal and Sensitive Information

Authors must take reasonable measures to protect personal and sensitive information obtained during research.

Information that could identify an individual should not be disclosed unnecessarily.

Where identifiable information is essential to the scholarly purpose of an article, the authors must ensure that its use and publication are ethically and legally justified and that appropriate consent has been obtained where required.

9. Research Involving Religious, Cultural, or Social Communities

Research involving religious, cultural, social, or other identifiable communities should be conducted respectfully and responsibly.

Authors should avoid unnecessary disclosure of personal information and should not misrepresent research participants, communities, or their views.

Scholarly criticism, analysis, or discussion of religious, historical, cultural, or social subjects is permitted when presented in an academically responsible manner and supported by appropriate evidence.

10. Textual, Historical, Theoretical, and Library-Based Research

Research based exclusively on publicly available texts, books, archival materials, published literature, historical documents, or other non-participant sources may not require institutional ethical approval, depending on applicable institutional and legal requirements.

For such research, authors should comply with appropriate scholarly standards concerning:

  • Accurate citation;

  • Intellectual property;

  • Source verification;

  • Proper attribution;

  • Responsible interpretation; and

  • Avoidance of plagiarism or misrepresentation.

Where an author's institution requires ethical approval even for such research, the author remains responsible for complying with that requirement.

11. Ethical Approval Statement

Where applicable, authors should include an ethical approval statement in the manuscript.

An appropriate statement may include:

“This research received ethical approval from [Name of Institution/Ethics Committee], approval/reference number [number], dated [date].”

Where formal ethical approval was not required, an appropriate statement may be provided explaining the reason.

12. Consent for Publication

Where an article contains identifiable personal information, photographs, case details, interviews, or other material that could identify an individual, the authors must obtain appropriate consent for publication where required.

The journal may request evidence of consent where necessary.

13. Research Misconduct

Any allegation of research misconduct will be handled in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics and Research Integrity Policy.

Research misconduct may include, but is not limited to:

  • Fabrication;

  • Falsification;

  • Plagiarism;

  • Duplicate or redundant publication;

  • Manipulation of research findings;

  • Unethical research practices;

  • Misrepresentation of research methods or data; and

  • Deliberate concealment of relevant ethical information.

The journal may request clarification, supporting documentation, or an institutional investigation where appropriate.

14. Ethical Concerns After Publication

If an ethical concern is identified after publication, AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ) may investigate the matter and take appropriate action.

Depending on the circumstances, action may include:

  • Requesting clarification from the authors;

  • Contacting the relevant institution or authority;

  • Publishing a correction;

  • Publishing an expression of concern;

  • Retracting the article; or

  • Taking another appropriate action under the journal's publication ethics procedures.

15. Editors and Reviewers

Editors and reviewers must treat information relating to ethical concerns confidentially and must manage such concerns impartially.

Editors may request additional information or documentation when ethical issues arise during editorial assessment or peer review.

Reviewers should notify the editor if they identify a serious ethical concern in a manuscript.

16. Data Protection

Authors are responsible for handling research data in accordance with applicable laws, institutional requirements, and ethical standards.

Where data contain personally identifiable or confidential information, authors should use appropriate safeguards and should not make such information publicly available unless ethically and legally justified.

17. Ethical Responsibility of Authors

The responsibility for compliance with applicable research-ethics requirements rests primarily with the authors and their research institutions.

Submission of a manuscript to AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ) does not transfer ethical responsibility from the authors to the journal.

Authors must provide truthful and complete information regarding ethical approval, participant consent, data collection, and other relevant ethical matters.

18. Policy Updates

This policy may be reviewed and updated when necessary to reflect developments in research ethics, scholarly publishing standards, applicable laws, and recognized best practices.

Any significant changes will be clearly stated on the journal's website.

Journal:
AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ)

Publisher:
Hira Institute of Social Sciences Research & Development