About the Journal

 

Focus and Scope

The European Journal of Islamic Finance is an open-access online journal that publishes research papers in 3 issues per year, contributing to the development of both the theory and practice of research methods employed across the whole field of Islamic Business and Management, Finance, and Banking studies. The readers of this journal mainly include scientific workers, PhD students, and other practitioners.

The journal receives manuscripts written in English.

If this is the first time you have contributed an article to the journal, please format your manuscript as per the sample paper and then submit it to the online submission system.

Peer Review Process

The selection of the reviewer for each article submitted is up to the editors. It considers reviewers' experience, competence, suggestions from authors or other editors, and prior experience reviewing papers for EJIF.

Every proposal submitted for publication is read by at least one editor for an initial review. If the paper meets editorial policies and a minimum quality level, it is sent to two reviewers for evaluation. Thus, EJIF uses a double-blind peer review.

The review process aims to provide authors with a competent opinion on their paper. In addition, a review should give authors suggestions, if needed, on how to improve their papers.

The peer-review process is managed with the OJS platform.

The European Journal of Islamic Finance is a member of ReviewerCredits. Completing the peer review, you are invited to automatically transfer your review data to ReviewerCredits, adding it to your certified reviews, and assigning credits that you may use on the ReviewerCredits online store. Register now for a free ReviewerCredits account and start earning credits immediately. Find out more here.

Publication Frequency

Starting from 2017, EJIF will be published three issues per year. In 2015 and 2016, EJIF published two issues per year.

Open Access Policy

EJIF is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. With the license CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author.

It is unnecessary to ask for further permission from the author or the journal board.

This is defined by the BOAI as open access.

Archiving

The European Journal of Islamic Finance utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries. It permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

Submission guidelines

The European Journal of Islamic Finance editorial team features articles on various business-related topics, such as business and management, finance, and banking, about the Islamic world. Proposals must offer original and substantive content based on expert analysis, professional research, or significant experience.

The European Journal of Islamic Finance is an open-access online journal that is published 3 issues per year.

Only pitches that follow our submission guidelines will be considered.

Prospective contributors should forward a brief, detailed outline of proposed content, including a list of the articles they are offering to our readership. Any relationship between the author and the subject organization must be disclosed. We look for practical applications supported by real-world examples and new ideas, or at least a new way of looking at something that interests our audience. We also ask ourselves if potential contributors are authoritative and persuasive enough to give our readers an intellectual return on time invested.

Feature articles are longer, generally 4,000 to 8,000 words. Nevertheless, draft contributions must be well-structured with engaging introductions that quickly get to the point. Graphs, tables, and charts are acceptable, but only if required to advance an argument, and only if separate high-resolution files are provided that can be edited.

Thank you for your interest in our publication. All contributed content is greatly appreciated.

Submissions are welcome at any time.

Code of Ethics

“European Journal of Islamic Finance” is committed to the highest publication standards. Preventing publication malpractice is one of the editorial board's important responsibilities. The Code describes the “European Journal of Islamic Finance” policies to ensure the ethical treatment of all participants in the peer-review and publication process. “European Journal of Islamic Finance” Editors, Guest Editors, Reviewers, and Authors are encouraged to study these guidelines and address any questions or concerns to the editorial team (paolo.biancone@unito.it).

These guidelines apply to all manuscripts submitted to the “European Journal of Islamic Finance” and may be revised at any time by the Editor-in-Chief and the Board. The following duties outlined for editors, authors, and reviewers are based on the COPE – Core practices, https://publicationethics.org/core-practices (accessed July 2020).

Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Updates

The European Journal of Islamic Finance (EJIF) is committed to maintaining the accuracy, transparency, and integrity of the scholarly record. Concerns relating to published content will be assessed by the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board in accordance with the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Where an error does not invalidate the principal findings or conclusions of a published article, EJIF may issue a correction, corrigendum, or other appropriate post-publication notice.

Where serious concerns arise but the available evidence is not yet conclusive, the Journal may publish an Expression of Concern while the matter is investigated.

A published article may be retracted when its findings or conclusions can no longer be relied upon, or where there is evidence of serious error, research or publication misconduct, redundant or duplicate publication, plagiarism, inappropriate use of data or material, compromised peer review, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other circumstances that materially affect the integrity of the publication.

Retraction is intended to correct the scholarly record and protect its integrity; it is not intended as a punitive measure against authors.

Retraction decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief on the basis of the Journal's assessment of the available evidence. Authors will normally be informed of the concerns and given an opportunity to respond. A retraction may nevertheless proceed where appropriate, even if one or more authors disagree with the decision or cannot be contacted.

Retraction notices will:

• clearly identify the retracted article, including its title, authors, bibliographic information, and DOI;

• state who is retracting the article and provide the reason and basis for the retraction;

• be published promptly and remain freely accessible;

• be published as a separate, citable record and, where technically applicable, assigned a distinct DOI;

• be electronically linked to the original publication, while the original article will remain part of the scholarly record and will be clearly identified as retracted;

• be communicated through appropriate metadata and indexing services whenever technically possible.

EJIF may also issue other forms of post-publication notices when these provide the most appropriate and proportionate means of maintaining the integrity and transparency of the published record.

These procedures are informed by the current COPE Core Practices and COPE guidance on corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions.

Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI Policy

The European Journal of Islamic Finance (EJIF) recognises that artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language models (LLMs), AI-assisted research tools, and related technologies are increasingly used in academic research and scholarly communication. EJIF supports the responsible use of such technologies where they enhance research and communication while preserving transparency, accountability, confidentiality, originality, and academic integrity.

AI and authorship

Artificial intelligence systems, chatbots, large language models, and other AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors of a manuscript.

Authorship requires accountability for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical conduct of the work, as well as the ability to approve the final manuscript and respond to questions concerning it. These responsibilities can only be assumed by human authors.

All named authors remain fully responsible for the entire content of the submitted and published work, including any material developed with the assistance of AI tools.

Use of AI by authors

Authors may use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies as supporting tools in research and manuscript preparation, provided that their use complies with principles of transparency, academic integrity, copyright, confidentiality, and research ethics.

Authors must critically review and verify any AI-generated or AI-assisted content. AI-generated outputs may contain factual inaccuracies, fabricated references, inappropriate attribution, bias, or misleading information. Responsibility for identifying and correcting such issues rests entirely with the authors.

Authors must ensure that all references cited in the manuscript have been independently verified and correspond to genuine and relevant scholarly sources. AI-generated references must never be included without verification.

AI tools must not be used to fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent data, results, references, images, evidence, or scholarly sources.

Disclosure of AI use

Material use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies must be transparently disclosed.

Where AI tools have been used in the research process, including data collection, coding, analysis, modelling, interpretation, production or modification of images, or other substantive methodological activities, authors must describe the tool and its use in the Methodology or another appropriate section of the manuscript.

Where generative AI has been used to assist substantially with manuscript preparation, authors should include a disclosure statement before the References indicating:

• the name of the AI tool or service used;

• where relevant, the version or model;

• the purpose for which it was used;

• the nature and extent of the assistance provided.

Routine tools used exclusively for spelling, grammar, formatting, reference management, or minor language correction do not normally require disclosure, provided that they do not generate or substantially alter the intellectual content of the manuscript.

A suitable disclosure may read:

“During the preparation of this manuscript, the author(s) used [name and version of AI tool] for [purpose]. The author(s) subsequently reviewed and edited the output and take full responsibility for the content of the manuscript.”

AI-generated images and other media

AI-generated or substantially AI-modified figures, images, graphical material, or other media must be clearly disclosed.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the use of such material does not infringe copyright, privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, or other third-party rights and does not misrepresent research data or evidence.

The Journal reserves the right to request information concerning the provenance and generation of AI-assisted visual material and may reject material where its reliability or provenance cannot be adequately established.

Confidential and sensitive information

Authors must not upload confidential, proprietary, personally identifiable, unpublished, or otherwise protected research information to external AI systems unless they have verified that doing so is compatible with applicable ethical, legal, contractual, and data-protection requirements.

Use of AI by reviewers

Submitted manuscripts and associated materials are confidential documents.

Reviewers must not upload a manuscript, substantial portions of a manuscript, unpublished data, figures, supplementary material, or confidential editorial correspondence into generative AI systems or other external AI services where confidentiality, data protection, and non-retention of the material cannot be assured.

Reviewers remain personally responsible for the intellectual content, accuracy, relevance, and fairness of their peer-review reports.

AI tools must not replace the reviewer's own critical assessment of the manuscript.

Limited use of AI-assisted tools solely to improve the grammar or readability of a reviewer's own independently written comments may be acceptable, provided that no confidential manuscript material is disclosed to the system. Any substantive use of AI in preparing a peer-review report should be disclosed to the Editor.

Use of AI by editors

Editors and members of the Editorial Office must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and peer-review material.

Manuscripts, reviewer reports, author correspondence, or other confidential editorial material must not be uploaded into external generative AI systems where confidentiality and appropriate data governance cannot be ensured.

AI-assisted tools may support administrative or editorial processes, but final editorial judgments and publication decisions must remain under human responsibility and oversight.

The use of AI must not compromise the independence, fairness, confidentiality, or integrity of the editorial decision-making process.

Undisclosed or inappropriate use

Failure to disclose material use of AI, the fabrication of AI-generated material, the inclusion of unverifiable or fabricated references, the misuse of confidential material, or other inappropriate uses of AI may constitute a breach of the Journal's publication ethics policies.

Where concerns arise before publication, EJIF may request clarification, supporting documentation, revision, or withdrawal of the manuscript from consideration.

Where inappropriate or undisclosed AI use is identified after publication and materially affects the integrity or reliability of the published record, the Journal may take appropriate post-publication action, including correction, Expression of Concern, or retraction, in accordance with its publication ethics policies.

Because AI technologies and scholarly publishing practices continue to evolve rapidly, EJIF reserves the right to review and update this policy as necessary.

Duties of Editor in Chief (Editor) and Guest Editor(s)

Editor/Guest Editor(s) are responsible for the journal's content and ensuring the integrity of all published work.

• Publication Decisions: The Editor/Guest Editor(s) have the right to decide whether to accept or reject a manuscript concerning its significance, originality, clarity and relevance to the journal.
• Anti-plagiarism: the Editor scans any submitted article with Turnitin software to detect similarities and potential plagiarism.
• Review of Manuscripts: “European Journal of Islamic Finance” follows a double-blind review process, whereby Authors do not know the Reviewers and vice versa. The Editor/Guest Editor(s) are responsible for securing timely, independent and anonymous peer reviews from suitably qualified reviewers who have no disqualifying competing interests in all manuscripts submitted to the journal. In addition, the Editor/Guest Editor(s) are responsible for ensuring that the journal has access to adequate competent reviewers. The journal will acknowledge reviewers at the end of each year. The reviewers’ list is public on the journal website.
• Fair Review: The Editor/Guest Editor(s) and their editorial staff must ensure that each manuscript received by “The European Journal of Islamic Finance” is reviewed for its intellectual content without regard to sex, gender, race, religion, citizenship, etc., the authors.
• Confidentiality of submitted material: The Editor/Guest Editor(s) and the editorial staff will ensure that systems are in place to ensure the confidentiality and protection from misuse of material submitted to the journal while under review and the protection of authors’ and reviewers’ identities and will themselves take all reasonable steps to preserve the confidentiality of authors’ and reviewers’ identities.
• Disclosure: The Editor/Guest Editor(s) should ensure that submitted manuscripts are processed confidentially. No content of the manuscripts will be disclosed to anyone other than the corresponding author or reviewers, as appropriate.
• Conflicts of Interest: The Editor/Guest Editor(s) should excuse themselves from considering a manuscript in which they have a real or potential conflict of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, financial or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the manuscript.
• Authority: The Editor in Chief must have ultimate authority and responsibility for the Journal. The Editor-in-Chief should respect the Journal’s constituents (Readers, Authors, Reviewers, Guest Editors, and Editorial Staff) and work to ensure the honesty and integrity of the Journal’s contents and continuous improvement in journal quality.

Duties of reviewers

• Fair reviews: Reviewers should evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly and professionally. Reviewers should avoid personal biases in their comments and judgments and express their views clearly with supporting arguments. Reviewers must provide substantiated and fair reviews. These must avoid personal attack and not include any defamatory, inaccurate, libellous, misleading, obscene, scandalous, unlawful, or otherwise objectionable material that infringes any other person’s copyright, right of privacy, or other rights.
• Confidentiality: Information regarding manuscripts submitted by authors should be kept confidential and treated as privileged information. Reviewers should not discuss the manuscript with anyone other than the Editor/Guest Editor(s), nor should they discuss any information from the manuscript without permission.
• Acknowledgement of Sources: Manuscript reviewers must ensure that authors have acknowledged all data sources used in the research. Any similarity or overlap between the manuscripts under consideration or any other published paper of which the reviewer has personal knowledge must be immediately brought to the Editor/Guest Editor(s)’s notice.
• Timeliness: If a reviewer feels him/her can't complete the review of the manuscript within the stipulated time, then this information must be communicated to the Editor/Guest Editor so that the manuscript can be sent to another reviewer.
• Right of refusal: Reviewers should refuse to review manuscripts: a) where they have provided written comments on the manuscript or an earlier version to the Author, b) in which they have any conflicts of interest resulting from collaborative, financial, institutional, personal, or other relationships or connections with any of the companies, institutions, or people connected to the papers.
• Complain: Any complaint relating to the journal should, in the first instance, be directed towards the Editor-in-Chief of “European Journal of Islamic Finance”.

Duties of Authors

• Originality: Authors must ensure that no part of their work is copied from any other work, either by themselves or others. The work is original and has not previously been published in whole or substantial part. The author should not submit concurrent manuscripts (or manuscripts essentially describing the same subject matter) to multiple journals.
• Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have contributed significantly to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the reported study. Others who have made significant contributions must be listed as co-authors. The author should ensure that all co-authors have affirmed the paper's final version and agreed on its final publication.
• Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism: All work in the manuscript should be free of plagiarism, falsification, fabrications, or omission of significant material. Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism constitute unethical publishing behaviour and are unacceptable. “European Journal of Islamic Finance” reserves the right to evaluate issues of plagiarism and redundancy on a case-by-case basis.
• Acknowledgement of Sources and Conflict(s) of Interests: The author should explicitly indicate all sources supporting the research and declare any conflict(s) of interest.
• Data Access and Retention: The author should provide raw data related to their manuscript for editorial review and retain such data.
• Timeliness: Authors should be prompt with their manuscript revisions. If an Author cannot meet the deadline given, the Author should contact the “European Journal of Islamic Finance” Managing Editor as soon as possible to determine whether a longer period or withdrawal from the review process should be chosen.
• Fundamental Errors in Published Works: The author should promptly inform the Editor/Guest Editor(s) of any obvious error(s) in his or her published paper and cooperate earnestly with the Editor-in-Chief in retraction or correcting the paper. If the Editor-in-Chief is notified by any party other than the author that the published paper contains an obvious error, the author should write a retraction or make the correction based on the medium of publication.

This Code of Ethics draws heavily from the following online source, which is recommended reading on ethical guidelines:

• COPE – Core practices, https://publicationethics.org/core-practices.

Articles and submissions processing charges (APC)

European Journal of Islamic Finance does not ask for Articles Processing (APC) or submissions charges.

Anti-plagiarism

European Journal of Islamic Finance adopts Turnitin software to detect plagiarism. In addition, any submitted article is checked to detect similarities and potential plagiarism.

Sponsors

Department of Management "Valter Cantino"- University of Turin - European Research Center for Islamic Finance

Journal History

In 2015 and 2016, EJIF published two issues per year.

Starting in 2017 (vol. 6), publish three issues per year.