Author Guidelines

Last updated: 16 October 2026. These guidelines take effect from this date and apply to all manuscripts submitted from this date onward, as well as to manuscripts currently under review, revision, or production that will be published after this date.

Hayula: Indonesian Journal of Multidisciplinary Islamic Studies is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal established in 2017 and published biannually (January and July). The journal publishes high-quality original research articles, conceptual papers, literature reviews, and case studies in multidisciplinary Islamic studies. Authors are encouraged to ensure that their manuscripts align with the journal’s Aims and Scope and comply with the following manuscript preparation and submission requirements.

General Submission Requirements

Authors submitting manuscripts to Hayula must ensure that:

  • the manuscript is original, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration by another journal or publisher;
  • the manuscript is free from plagiarism and any form of academic or publication misconduct, and meets the similarity limits set out in the journal’s Plagiarism Screening policy (maximum 20%, or up to 30% where the excess derives from canonical religious texts);
  • the manuscript falls within one of the four manuscript types described below: Research Article, Conceptual/Theoretical Article, Literature Review Article, or Case Study;
  • the manuscript is written entirely in English;
  • the manuscript contains approximately 5,000–10,000 words, including references;
  • the manuscript is prepared using the official Hayula manuscript template;
  • the manuscript is submitted through the journal’s online submission system;
  • foreign, Arabic, regional, or local terms are italicized and followed by an English translation when first introduced in the text (e.g., taqwa (piety); urip iku urup (to live is to give light));
  • any use of generative AI tools is disclosed in accordance with the journal’s AI Policy; and
  • all listed authors meet the journal’s Authorship Criteria and have approved the submission.

Language and Terminology

Language quality. Manuscripts must be written in clear, correct, and academic English. Authors whose first language is not English are strongly encouraged to have their manuscripts proofread by a professional editor or a fluent English speaker before submission. Manuscripts with poor language quality may be returned to the authors before review.

Spelling. Use either American or British English consistently throughout the manuscript.

Consistency of terms. Key terms and concepts must be used consistently throughout the manuscript. Once a term has been defined, the same term should be used for the same concept.

Foreign and local terms. Foreign, Arabic, regional, or local terms must be italicized and followed by an English translation in parentheses when first introduced (e.g., maslahah (public interest); urip iku urup (to live is to give light)). Terms commonly used in English (e.g., Islam, Qur’an, hadith, madrasa) do not need to be italicized.

Arabic transliteration. Arabic words and names must be transliterated consistently following the International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES) transliteration system. Simplified transliteration (without diacritical marks) is acceptable, provided that it is applied consistently throughout the manuscript.

Qur’anic verses and hadith. Qur’anic citations should be written consistently, e.g., (Q. 2:255) or (Al-Baqarah 2:255). Hadith should be cited with the collection and number, e.g., (Sahih al-Bukhari, No. 1). Arabic script, if included, must be accompanied by an English translation.

Abbreviations. Abbreviations must be written in full at first use, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses, e.g., Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), and used consistently thereafter.

Manuscript Template

Authors must prepare their manuscripts using the official Hayula manuscript template to ensure consistency in formatting and article structure.

Download Manuscript Template

Manuscript Structure

The manuscript should be organized in the following order:

  1. Title
  2. Author Information
  3. Abstract (Bahasa Indonesia, followed by English)
  4. Keywords
  5. Introduction
  6. Research Method
  7. Research Finding
  8. Discussion
  9. Conclusion
  10. Acknowledgement (optional)
  11. Declarations
  12. References

The main headings must be written exactly as listed above (e.g., Discussion, not Discussions). Authors may add subsections within these headings. Additional sections, such as a Theoretical Framework after the Introduction or Limitations before the Conclusion, are permitted where relevant to the study. The content expected under each heading for each manuscript type is described in Manuscript Types.

Title

The title should:

  • clearly reflect the main focus and contribution of the study;
  • be concise, informative, and specific;
  • contain no more than 15 words;
  • avoid abbreviations, symbols, formulas, and unnecessary technical terms.

Author Information

Authors should provide:

  • full name(s) without academic titles;
  • institutional affiliation(s);
  • city and country;
  • ORCID iD (strongly recommended);
  • the corresponding author’s email address.

Authorship. All listed authors must meet the journal’s Authorship Criteria: a substantial contribution to the study, involvement in drafting or critically revising the manuscript, approval of the final version, and accountability for the work. Contributors who do not meet these criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgement section. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

Author contribution statement. For manuscripts with more than one author, the corresponding author must describe each author’s contribution using the CRediT taxonomy (e.g., Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing) in the “Comments for the Editor” field during online submission.

Changes to authorship. Any addition, removal, or reordering of authors after submission requires a written request signed by all authors, with an explanation of the change.

Abstract

Each manuscript must include two abstracts, presented in the following order:

  1. Bahasa Indonesia
  2. English

Although the title and main text must be written entirely in English, the Bahasa Indonesia abstract should appear before the English abstract. For authors who are not proficient in Bahasa Indonesia, the editorial team will provide the Indonesian abstract.

Each abstract should:

  • consist of 150–250 words;
  • be written in a single paragraph;
  • briefly present:
    • research background or context;
    • research objectives;
    • research methods;
    • principal findings;
    • conclusion; and
    • scientific contribution.

The abstract should accurately represent the overall content of the manuscript. It should not include citations, tables, figures, footnotes, unexplained abbreviations, or references.

Keywords

Provide 3–5 keywords that:

  • represent the principal concepts discussed in the manuscript;
  • are not merely repetitions of words appearing in the title; and
  • improve indexing and discoverability.

Introduction

The introduction should provide sufficient background to the research problem, review relevant literature, identify the research gap, explain the novelty and significance of the study, and clearly state the research objectives or questions. Authors are encouraged to position their study within current scholarly discussions in multidisciplinary Islamic studies.

As a general guideline, the introduction should comprise approximately 15–20% of the manuscript.

Research Method

The research method should clearly describe the research design, research context (where relevant), data sources or participants, data collection procedures, analytical techniques, and ethical considerations where applicable. Sufficient methodological detail should be provided to ensure scholarly rigor, research transparency, and reproducibility.

Research Finding

This section presents the research findings objectively and systematically. The findings should directly address the research questions or objectives and may be supported, where appropriate, by tables, figures, excerpts, statistical analyses, or other relevant evidence. Interpretation of the findings should be kept to a minimum, as critical analysis belongs in the Discussion section.

Discussion

The discussion should critically interpret the findings by relating them to the research objectives, relevant theories, and previous studies. Authors are expected to explain the significance of the findings, demonstrate their scholarly contribution to multidisciplinary Islamic studies, compare the findings with existing literature, and elaborate on their theoretical as well as practical implications.

The discussion should move beyond merely describing the findings by providing analytical insight into their broader academic and societal significance.

Conclusion

The conclusion should directly answer the research questions and summarize the principal findings without repeating the discussion in detail or introducing new data.

Where appropriate, authors may also discuss:

  • theoretical implications;
  • practical implications; and
  • recommendations for future research.

The conclusion should be presented in paragraph form.

Declarations

After the Acknowledgement (or after the Conclusion if there is no Acknowledgement), authors must include the following statements under the heading Declarations:

  • Conflict of Interest: A statement of any financial or non-financial interests that could be perceived to influence the work. If there are none, state: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”
  • Funding: The source(s) of funding and grant number(s), if any. If there is none, state: “This research received no external funding.”
  • Ethics Statement: For research involving human participants, a statement of ethical approval and/or informed consent. If not applicable, state “Not applicable.”
  • Data Availability Statement: For empirical studies, a statement of where the data can be accessed or why they cannot be shared (e.g., to protect participants’ confidentiality).
  • Declaration of Generative AI Use: The name of the AI tool used, its purpose, and how its output was checked by the authors, in accordance with the journal’s AI Policy. If no AI tools were used, state: “No generative AI tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript.”

References

Hayula requires accurate, complete, and consistent references in every published article. Consistent referencing allows readers to trace sources, ensures that cited works receive proper credit, and supports accurate citation tracking in indexing databases.

General Requirements

All references must:

  • follow the APA Style (7th Edition) for both in-text citations and the reference list;
  • be managed using reference management software such as Mendeley, Zotero, or EndNote, with citations inserted as active fields (not typed manually);
  • primarily consist of scholarly sources;
  • include recent and relevant literature;
  • ensure that at least 60% of all references are sourced from internationally indexed publications, including both scholarly journal articles and academic books; and
  • prioritize publications from the last ten years, except for seminal or classical works that remain relevant to the study.

Reference Consistency

  • Complete match. Every in-text citation must appear in the reference list, and every entry in the reference list must be cited in the text. Uncited references must be removed.
  • Identical details. The author names and year in the text must exactly match those in the reference list, e.g., (Chambert-Loir & Salahuddin, 2012), not (Chambert-Loir, 2012).
  • Multiple authors. For works with three or more authors, use “et al.” in all in-text citations from the first citation onward, e.g., (Razzaq et al., 2016). The reference list must include all authors (up to 20).
  • Uniform format. All entries must follow the same format, including capitalization, italics, punctuation, page ranges, and DOI presentation, as set out in the Formatting Rules below.

Accuracy and Completeness

  • Each reference must include the author(s), year, title, source, and, where applicable, volume, issue, page range, and DOI.
  • References must refer to sources that the authors have actually read and that support the statements for which they are cited.
  • References must not be fabricated or generated by AI tools.

Formatting Rules

  • Capitalization: Use sentence case for article, chapter, and book titles (e.g., Creating capabilities: The human development approach). Use Title Case for journal names. Proper nouns (e.g., Islam, Allah, Java) are always capitalized.
  • Italics: Italicize journal names, volume numbers, and book titles.
  • Page ranges: Use an en dash (–), not a hyphen (-), e.g., 129–164.
  • DOI: Include a complete and active DOI for every source that has one, written as https://doi.org/xxxxx. If no DOI is available, provide the URL of the article page where possible. Authors should verify DOIs using Crossref.
  • Author names: Write all authors as Surname, Initials (e.g., Hamzah, H.). Use a single name without initials only when the author is known by one name (e.g., Al-Ghazali).
  • Book chapters: Always include the editors’ names (e.g., In G. Crawford & A.-G. Abdulai (Eds.),).
  • Group authors: Write the full organization name. Omit the publisher when it is the same as the author.
  • Non-English titles: Provide an English translation in square brackets after the original title.
  • Classical and translated works: Cite both the original and the translation date in text (e.g., Al-Ghazali, ca. 1109/2015), and add “(Original work published …)” at the end of the reference entry.
  • Theses and dissertations: Use the English label in square brackets, e.g., [Master’s thesis, University Name], not “(Tesis)”.
  • Interview data: Interviews conducted as part of the study are research data, not references. Cite them in the text using a code or pseudonym (e.g., Informant 3, interview, March 2024) and do not list them in the reference list.
  • Layout: Arrange the reference list alphabetically by the first author’s surname, with a 1.27 cm hanging indent for every entry, following the format in the official template.

Reference Examples

Journal article with DOI

Jamjoom, M. I. (2010). Female Islamic studies teachers in Saudi Arabia: A phenomenological study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(3), 547–558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.06.019

Non-English journal article

Tabrani, Z. A. (2014). Islamic studies dalam pendekatan multidisipliner [Islamic studies in a multidisciplinary approach]. Jurnal Ilmiah Peuradeun, 2(2), 211–234. https://doi.org/10.26811/peuradeun.v2i2.75

Journal article without DOI

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), page–page. https://journal-website-url

Book

Ahmed, S. (2016). What is Islam? The importance of being Islamic. Princeton University Press.

Chapter in an edited book

Kjosavik, D. J. (2021). Sen and development as freedom. In G. Crawford & A.-G. Abdulai (Eds.), Research handbook on democracy and development (pp. 79–97). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Classical or translated work

Author. (Year of translation). Title of the work (T. Translator, Trans.). Publisher. (Original work published Year)
In-text: (Author, Original Year/Year of translation)

Thesis or dissertation

Thomsen, A. M. (2022). A case of ecotourism in Zanzibar: Potential and pitfalls [Master’s thesis, University of Jyväskylä]. JYX. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202212165694

Group author (publisher same as author)

World Bank. (1992). Governance and development.

Report from an organization

OECD. (2024). OECD survey on drivers of trust in public institutions – 2024 results: Building trust in a complex policy environment. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9a20554b-en

Editorial Verification

Reference consistency is checked at two stages:

  1. At submission. The editors check whether citations have been inserted with reference management software and whether the reference list follows APA 7. Manuscripts that do not meet these requirements may be returned to the authors before peer review.
  2. During copyediting. The copyeditor verifies that all in-text citations and reference entries match, that author names and years are identical, that DOIs are complete and active, and that the format is uniform. Authors are asked to resolve any discrepancies before publication.

Responsibilities

  • Authors are responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of their references and must respond to copyediting queries promptly.
  • Editors and copyeditors verify reference consistency before publication and return manuscripts that do not comply.
  • Reviewers are encouraged to point out missing, inaccurate, or irrelevant references.

Errors after Publication

Significant reference errors discovered after publication, such as citations missing from the reference list or incorrect DOIs, are corrected through a formal notice in accordance with the journal’s Correction & Retraction Policy. Minor formatting errors are normally not corrected.