Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to ECFi: Journal of Economics and Islamic Finance undergo a rigorous editorial assessment and peer-review process to ensure their originality, academic quality, methodological rigour, and contribution to the field. The review process consists of the following stages:

1. Initial Submission Screening
• The editorial team assesses the manuscript’s conformity with the journal’s aims and scope, author guidelines, manuscript template, academic writing standards, and submission requirements.
• The manuscript is screened for plagiarism using Turnitin or other appropriate similarity-detection software. The maximum acceptable similarity index is 25%, excluding references and appropriately quoted materials.
• Manuscripts that fail to meet the initial requirements may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected without external review.
2. Editor Assignment
• Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are assigned to a handling editor with relevant expertise.
• The editor conducts a preliminary assessment of the manuscript’s originality, scholarly merit, methodological soundness, and suitability for external review.
3. Double-Blind Peer Review
• ECFi applies a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of both authors and reviewers remain confidential.
• Each manuscript is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with expertise relevant to the subject matter.
• Reviewers assess the manuscript based on its originality, theoretical foundation, methodological rigour, clarity of presentation, validity of findings, relevance of discussion, and contribution to Islamic economics, finance, or business.

4.      Editorial Decision

Based on the reviewers’ recommendations and the editor’s assessment, one of the following decisions will be issued:

• accepted without revision;
• accepted subject to minor revisions;
• major revisions required and resubmission requested; or
• rejected.
4. Revision and Resubmission
• Authors must revise their manuscripts in accordance with the reviewers’ and editor’s comments within the specified period.
• A revised manuscript must be accompanied by a point-by-point response explaining how each comment has been addressed.
• Authors who choose not to implement a particular recommendation must provide a clear academic justification.
5. Final Evaluation and Decision
• The handling editor evaluates the revised manuscript to determine whether the requested revisions have been satisfactorily completed.
• Where necessary, the revised manuscript may be returned to the reviewers for further assessment.
• The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the manuscript. The editorial decision is final.
6. Copy-editing and Proofreading
• Accepted manuscripts undergo copy-editing, language editing, reference checking, formatting, and layout preparation.
• Authors receive the final proof for checking and must respond within the period specified by the editorial team.
• Only minor corrections are permitted at the proofreading stage; substantial changes to the manuscript are not normally accepted.
7. Publication
• After the proof has been approved, the final article is published online on the ECFi journal website.
• Each published article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and made openly accessible to readers.
• ECFi publishes two issues annually, in June and December.

The editorial team is committed to conducting the review process objectively, confidentially, transparently, and in accordance with recognised principles of publication ethics. The duration of the review process may vary depending on reviewer availability, the quality of the manuscript, and the number of revision rounds required.