The International Review of Law (IRL)

The International Review of Law (IRL)

The International Review of Law (IRL) is a biannual, peer reviewed law journal that strives to embrace a contemporary legal discourse and cuts across borders and cultures. The journal welcomes in-depth legal research in the field of national and comparative law in a way that enriches the Qatari legal environment, and increases its international exposure and openness to comparative legal systems. IRL is concerned with publishing comparative studies between Qatari and foreign laws, as well as commentaries on legislation and court rulings. The journal is an open access platform through which researchers and readers can have access to research studies from around the world without getting restricted by borders or geographical barriers.

Print ISSN: 2305-5545

Online ISSN: 2523-1715

Vision

The journal is concerned with publishing in-depth legal research that discusses international subjects and comparative law. The journal particularly revolves around enriching the Qatari legal environment that leads to improving its international coherence and openness to comparative legal systems. Building on this international comparative character, the IRL is a means through which researchers and readers can access research studies from around the world.

The journal is available online for free in electronic form. The print edition is only available upon request and order. Print editions are chargeable and should be requested from the journal’s contact details.

Focus And Scope

Acceptable research subjects:

The International Review of Law is a specialized journal in publishing legal studies on national laws of various countries and comparative legal studies with the Qatari law or with other foreign international laws in all legal specializations, such as:

• Civil Law.
• Constitutional law.
• Commercial Law.
• Administrative Law.
• Public and private international law.
• Contemporary, emerging laws.

The journal receives research submissions in the form of:

• Articles and theoretical or empirical research papers,
• Commentaries on court rulings or legislations at the national, regional or international level,
• High impact legal book reviews for recently published books in Arabic, English or French.

Publication Frequency

The International Review of Law publishes two regular issues in May and October every year, and one Special Issue in February, which contains researches from Qatar University’s annual research conference, conducted by the College of Law.

Editorial team

Editor-in-Chief

• Professor Sonia Mallek, Professor of Civil Law, College of Law, Qatar University, ORCID: 0000-0003-4019-3620

Assistant Editor

• Professor Eman Naboush, College of Law, Qatar University, ORCID: 0000-0003-1182-821X

Editorial Committee

• Professor Sami Hamdan al Rawashdeh, College of Law, Qatar University, ORCID: 0000-0002-20176826, SCOPUS author ID: 0000-0002-20176826
• Professor Khaled Saleh Al-Shamari, College of Law, Qatar University, ORCID: 0000-0002-6840-9932, SCOPUS author ID: 0000-0002-20176826
• Professor Hamad Alhababi, College of Law, Qatar University, ORCID: 0000-0001-9935-9846
• Professor Mohamed Kamel Charfeddine, Prof. of Private Law, College of Law, El-Manar University, Tunisia
• Professor Mustapha Mekki, Prof. of Private Law, University of Paris-13, co-director of IRDA, visiting university professor, France
• Professor Abbas Poorhashemi, President of the Canadian Institute For International Law Expertise (CIFILE), Canada, ORCID : 0000-0002-4107-2938
• Professor Peter Malanczuk, member of the International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People’s Court of China, former dean and chair professor, Faculty of Law, the University of Hong Kong (HKU)

Advisory Team

• Dr. Abdellah al- Mislimani, Lawyer at the Court of Cassation (Qatar) and International Law Adviser
• Dr. Sheikh Thani Bin Ali Al Thani, lawyer at the Court of Cassation (Qatar) and a representative of the State of Qatar in the Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce
• Professor Dominique d'Ambra, University Professor of CE Universities and President of the Center for Fundamental Private Law, Strasbourg France
• Professor Muhammad Al-Fiali, Professor of Constitutional and Public Law, College of Law, Kuwait University, Kuwait
• Professor Douglas W. Arner Professor in Law, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong

Indexing and Ranking

The International Review of Law is currently indexed and registered in the: Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Arab Citation & Impact Factor (ARCIF), Dar Al-Mandumah, I4OC, Google Scholar, EBSCO Discovery Service, Arab World Research Source, Crossref, Westlaw Gulf, HeinOnline and ROAD.

Author Guidelines

Authorship Policy

All authors contributing to the International Review of Law (IRL) journal shall comply with the below conditions:   

1. Authorship criteria 

   Authorship credit in IRL should be based on a justifiable scientific contribution of the submitted work starting with the problematic definition, structure and design, as well as setting the research methodology, discussions and findings. An author should also have a clear research or scientific contribution in the drafting, review and approval of the final version. Accordingly, substantial contribution in research is of utmost importance. Performing a technical minor paid or unpaid service such as translation, copyediting does not qualify for listing a contributor. This could however be recognized in the designated acknowledgment section.

   The final or revised version of research papers submitted for publishing by two or more authors must obtain the approval of all participating authors in the research.

   The primary corresponding author should ensure that all authors meet the above-mentioned conditions in line with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) authorship standards.

2. Acknowledgements and disclosures

   Contributors who do not qualify for authorship shall be listed/thanked in the acknowledgement section, the first margin of the published article.

   All sources of financial support through grants or other means should be mentioned with the exact spelling of grant funding agency or affiliation name, grant number and abbreviations, date and country.

   Authors whose papers are extracted from a masters or PhD thesis should cite, in the first footnote of the submitted article, that their research is originally a masters or PhD thesis by mentioning: the student’s name, thesis title, acquired degree, granting university/institution, date, and online link to the OA access to the original thesis (if any).    

   Authors submitting a translation of an article should get the written rights permission from the original publisher/journal and author of the translated article, and should thank and cite the original publisher in the first footnote appropriately in the translated version.

3. Order and eligibility of authorship 

   The authors themselves should decide on the order in which their names are listed in the article, taking into consideration the exerted efforts and contribution in the paper. Early communication and written agreement on this matter is key in maintaining a healthy and transparent research environment among authors. A final review on this matter by all authors before submission to the journal is important.

   Primary author: is the person who leads the research study and makes the largest contribution and efforts in comparison to other authors.

   Corresponding author: can be the primary author or one of the co-authors.

   Co-authors: all authorship criteria apply to co-authors who have an actual contribution to the research submitted for publication.

   Authors with no or very limited contribution to the research such as honorary authors, who do not qualify for authorship.

   Supervisors of masters or PhD theses do not qualify for authorship, unless there is a clear major contribution, endorsed by the student, and ensuring major research contribution such as developing and re-drafting the paper. In this case, the supervisor’s name could only be mentioned as a co-author and cannot qualify for primary authorship.

4. Changes to authorship

   All participating authors must agree on the contributing names and order as initially submitted to IRL journal through the final article version and “Author Declaration Form”. Any changes on authorship or contribution order during the editorial stages must be requested by the primary corresponding author in writing by email to the IRL’s E-i-C, and must include: a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and b) signed updated, “Author Declaration Form”by all participating authors. No authorship change is allowed after publication of manuscript unless for non-avoidable reasons, such as if requested by the authors’ affiliation for a reason.   

5. Conflict of interests 

   Since IRL is committed to publish unbiased research, contributing authors are required to disclose any interests that could appear to compromise, conflict or influence the validity of data, analysis, interpretations and conclusions of the research paper.

   Competing interests can take financial and non-financial forms. The declaration of such relationships helps to ensure that academic rigor is maintained and that publications cannot be accused of undue bias or misinformation.

   Examples of competing interests include:

   Conflict of interests must be disclosed to IRL journal through the “Author Declaration Form”. The acceptable and justified conflict of interests should be referred to in the first margin of the article. IRL journal reserves the right to decide on any consecutive relating matters.

   • Receipt of payment, in any form, from an organization or individual related to the subject matter.
   • Ownership of stocks or shares in organizations directly related to the subject matter.
   • Receipt of grants or funding.
   • Membership of relevant boards.
   • Gifts.
   • Known relationships that will hinder impartiality (e.g. colleagues, family, mentor, previous supervisor/student).
   • Political, religious, ideological or commercial interests.

6. Research integrity 

   Authors should ensure that they have written and submitted non-plagiarized and original work only. Plagiarism takes many forms, from “passing off” another’s paper as the author’s own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable and penalized.

   If any part of the research content has been published previously in any form, the author should notify IRL journal. The latter reserves the right to accept or reject the manuscript. The author guarantees that permissions have been obtained, and any required fee has been paid.

   In its turn, IRL journal checks on any suspicious and considerable similarities (above 20%) and verifies the originality of the submission iThenticate and other research platforms.

7. Editorial review 

   All new submissions go through an initial review by IRL’s editorial team to check on adherence to IRL’s authors guide and completion of required submitted documents. At this stage, IRL’s editorial team runs all submissions on iThenticate plagiarism software and other programs to check on any alarming similarities (higher than 15%). The editorial committee assesses the research matching with the scope of the journal and checks whether the submission is in line with the editorial and writing standards.

   Within two weeks from the initial submission, a notification about the initial stage result will be sent to authors and papers that pass the initial stage will sent to double blind specialized peer review. The author thereby commits to await the peer review feedback that could take up-to two months.

   IRL is extremely selective and meticulous in choosing reliable, objective, experienced and specialized external peer-reviewers from leading surrounding academic institutions, since its goal is to uplift the legal research quality in the region. In favor of its respected regional positioning as a trusted scholarly legal platform, IRL has been able to attract the best scholarly peer reviewers in the field that collaborated to provide detailed, specialized and progressive feedback. Each paper is evaluated by at least two peer reviewers that provide objective, critical, transparent and impartial review and in case of conflicting views, a third reviewer shall be assigned.

   Articles will most likely be recommended for minor or substantial review, rejected or rarely accepted without modifications. Accordingly, authors are required to diligently adhere to the reviewers’ suggestions and demonstrate that sufficient effort has been exerted to implement the required changes. Authors are given between ten days and two weeks for revisions and in case of substantial review, a longer period that may reach up to a month and a half may be given. Authors must answer how they implemented the peer reviewers’ suggestions or sufficiently justify why they have not implemented the recommendations through the filling of the “Author Response to Reviewers Comments Form”. The author is also required to submit a revised version indicating the modifications made on the research by a highlighted track-changed Word document. In case of substantial review, the journal may submit the revised version to the same reviewers to ensure that the vital critical recommendations have been implemented.

   IRL’s Editor-in-Chief and the journal’s editorial committee reserve the final decision regarding acceptance or decline of a certain submission in light of the provided peer review comments and appraisal of the revised version.

   The author is notified about the final decision within a period ranging from two to six months at the maximum from the date of submission, depending on the simplicity or complexity of editorial review, author’s responsiveness and availability of peer reviewers.

8. Production and publishing stages 

   Accepted research papers are scheduled by IRL journal and submitted to QU Press for production and publication according to the acceptance dates, and diversity of authors and research topics in the issues. Accordingly, papers go through language review and copyediting, and the revised tracked changed versions are sent back to authors for final review before design and publication. Additional amendments on articles after this stage shall not be accepted, except for un-avoidable cases.

9. Copyrights 

   Author(s) grant IRL journal and Qatar University Press a license to publish, including to display, store, copy, and reuse the content under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-commercial use of the material, appropriate credit, and indication if changes in the material were made. This means that the author(s) retain(s) copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and build upon the material for non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution/reference to the original article. The full terms of this license may be seen at this link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 

   Authors’ Rights

   The Journal grants authors the following non-exclusive rights, subject to giving proper credit to the original publication of the contribution in the Journal, including reproducing the exact copyright notice or logo as it appears in the Journal:

   • To use the published paper by its author, in any other scholarly work;
   • To use the published paper by its author for teaching purposes, including making copies for students, either as individual copies or as part of a printed course pack;
   • To promote the published paper by sharing its link on the author’s personal or institutional webpage or social media account, provided that the platform is non-commercial and with free access; and
   • To deposit a copy of the published paper in a non-commercial data repository maintained by the author’s institution.

10. Open Access - Free publishing model 

    In line with Qatar University Press’s vision to make innovative and rigorous scholarship available to the widest possible readership to support legal research excellence and national and regional economic growth, IRL authors are not required to pay any fees for the publishing of their articles. However, although IRL does not charge any Article Processing Charges (APC) from authors, however, it is open to voluntary institutional funding for fostering its growth and sustainability.

11. Handling unethical publishing 

    Multiple, or Concurrent Publications: 

    An author should not publish the same research in more than one journal. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable to IRL or to QU Press that will follow COPE standards to perform required corrections or retractions.

    Author’s declaration for a fundamental error in a published work: 

    When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

    Publisher’s initiation to a correction or retraction: 

    If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party or discovers by its own means that a published work contains a significant error or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, it is the obligation of IRL and QU Press to follow the Committee on Publishing Ethics (COPE) standards and procedures to promptly publish a correction or, in the most severe cases, to retract the work in question.

    IRL’s editors take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised with regard to a submitted or published research paper. Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior will be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication.

12. Article withdrawal procedure 

    IRL expects its authors to comply with the best practices in publication ethics and considers authors as partners in the publishing process. Authors are expected to value the time resources and efforts exerted by the Journal’s editorial team in reviewing and managing the submission. The authors are therefore invited to be committed to the peer review process’s timelines.

    Unethical withdrawal: 

    The withdrawal of a submission will be permitted only for the most compelling and unavoidable reasons. If the author(s) request(s) the withdrawal of their manuscript during or after the peer review or production stages (early release or ahead of publishing), a valid justification should be provided in written through the filling and submission of the “Article Withdrawal Letter” signed by all authors to the journal’s E-i-C.

    Author(s) must not assume that their manuscript has been withdrawn until they receive a written notification to this effect stating the withdrawal penalty, based on case-by-case basis, to cover the incurred costs and efforts.

    If the authors do not reply to communication from the editorial office, even after multiple reminders, at any stage of the publication process; IRL holds all rights to disclose the conduct of the author/s and content of the manuscript without further approval from the author/s, and cannot be held responsible for the consequences arising from it.

    Tolerable withdrawal: 

    The author is only allowed to withdraw the manuscript without paying any withdrawal penalty, if the withdrawal request is submitted within the early submission initial stages (one week from the initial submission).

IRL Submission Guide

Before submission, authors are required to abide by the “Authorship Policy” and “Ethical Policies” mentioned on the platform as well as following the below “Submission Guide”.

IRL’s editorial team has the right to decline or return publishing requests that do not adhere to the author writing standards, including citation and referencing, structural organization, grammatical and spelling errors at the initial review stage.

1. Type of Published Issues: 
   • Regular Issues: IRL publishes two regular issues per year.
   • Special Issue: Published alongside the two regular issues. The topic is either related to the College of Law’s conference or to a research topic that is determined in coordination between the editorial board at the College of Law and the Qatar University Press. A Call for Paper announcement is circulated for this purpose. The special issue is subject to the same authorship policy, writing standards, and editing, reviewing, and peer-reviewing procedures as regular issues.
2. Submission means:
   • Platform submission: authors should confirm that they adhere to the checklist requirements mentioned on the submission page and ensure that they upload all required documents through the system.
   • Email submission: authors who wish to submit their papers through email to LawJournal@qu.edu.qa can do so while using the “New Submission Cover Letter” which requires authors to implement the same standards and instructions before submission.
3. Submission conditions:
   1. The research must be original and not published previously, in part or in full, and should not be submitted for publication elsewhere.
   2. The research must be original and offer a valid scientific contribution in its respective field.
   3. The researcher shall comply with the intellectual property, integrity, scientific honesty, principles and ethics of scientific research.
   4. The journal accepts research papers in Arabic, English and French. Each issue of the journal states the following disclaimer: “The contents and opinions appearing in the article herein are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of QU Press.”
   5. The research must adhere to the linguistic guidelines of the specialization, and in terms of clarity of writing, language and expression, as well as value, novelty and diversity of scientific references.
   6. Legal research methods must be followed.
   7. Sources and references written in Arabic must also be mentioned in the bibliography, Romanized, included in the list of foreign references and arranged alphabetically. The Arabic reference data used in Romanization must be arranged in the same order as the source information.
   8. The word count should range between 6000-10000 words at the maximum, including footnotes, references and appendices (if any).
   9. The journal may accept an article that is extracted from a masters or doctoral thesis based on a strict selection criteria that includes the research quality and scientific contribution. This matter should be disclosed upon submission and in the “Author Declaration” form which requires that a reference to the student’s name, supervisor, program and university should be acknowledged in the first footnote of the article.
4. Author’s Submission Checklist: 

   Please visit our “Submission” page for more information on the required submission documents.

5. Research Structure

   The following research structure shall be followed:

   Introduction : Definition of the research variables and terms - theoretical framework - previous research and studies - the importance of the subject – the research problem

   Research hypotheses : The relationships between the various variables and elements of the study - possible reasons for the occurrence of the mentioned problems - proposed hypotheses to solve the problem and reach the research result - research objectives

   Research methodology: Clarification on the research methodology and tools.

   Discussions and analysis: In relation to the results, hypotheses, research questions and objectives.

   Conclusion: A summary of the research results - practical and theoretical solutions – advantages and shortages of the study - recommendations - proposed research gaps for future studies.

6. Headings

   Main headings and sub-headings should be numbered as per the following:

7. Level	Numbering
   Heading 1	1.  2.
   Heading 2	1.1.  1.2.
   Heading 3	1.1.1.  1.1.2.
   Heading 4	•

8. Writing Style

   Language: The International Review of Law Journal accepts articles in Arabic, English or French. English or American spellings are acceptable, but must be used consistently.

   Style: One of the following style guides should be used:

   For Articles in French, the Turabian Style derived from the Chicago Style, should be followed: Turabian 7 guide: https://library.stritch.edu/getmedia/3cb84140-2b6b-4afe-b926-809a72d43ce8/Turabian7Guide 

   • Bluebook: https://www.legalbluebook.com or
   • OSCOLA: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/publications/oscola. or
9. Text Specifications:
   1. The text font should be in Times New Roman font 12, line spacing 1.15.
   2. Page margins on all sides are 1 inch (2.5 cm), in the word file.
   3. Use bold font style for titles and descriptions of the figures and tables.
   4. Use bold font style for main headlines and sub-headlines instead of underline and organize the research papers by numbering its sections.
   5. The bold font is used in the Arabic reference list in the places where the Italic font is used.
   6. Do not use bold text in context - as much as possible.
   7. The page numbers should appear in the middle of the bottom of the research pages.
10. Title Page Format

    The title page should have the following information in both English and Arabic, identically:

    The following three historical dates are filled by the editorial members:

    Received: ../../..       Reviewed: ../../..       Accepted: ../../..

    Article title……………… (Bold font size 14)

    Full name of the first author (bold 12 point)

    Title……..,, Academic/professional rank…….., Affiliation/University……., Country…...

    Email…

    Full name of co-author

    Title……..,, Academic/professional rank……….Affiliation/University……., Country..

    Email……

    Abstract:

    A statement of around 250 words summarizing the article and conclusions. No citations.

    Abstract components:

    Background and objectives: Whyo did you chose to write this topic? What is the available literature and what gap/s is your research trying to fill? State the bjectives/aims of the study.

    Methods/approach: What research approach and methods did you use in your research? (Empirical, theoretical, inductive, analytical, deductive, historical, descriptive, case and field study approaches…)

    Results/Findings/Observations: Explain accurately what the study found, and how the study answered the questions you raised, or did the study endorse the idea or theory on which your study was based? (You should specify exactly what your study found, without generalization, exaggeration).

    Originality/value: What is the importance of your study? How is it different than other studies? How does it contribute to future studies; mention some of the primary recommendations.

    Key words: ………..; …………………..; ………; …………..; ………… (5 to 7 key words)

    No less than five words should be selected depending on the topic (separated with a semicolon). Keywords allow researchers to search for the article.

11. References:
    • For papers written in English, the author should set a bibliography of sources and references at the end of the manuscript, in the same style of citing footnotes, but arranged in alphabetical order by the author’s family name.
    • For papers written in Arabic, the author should set a bibliography of sources and references at the end of the manuscript, in the same style of citing footnotes, but arranged in alphabetical order by the author’s family name, in the same style of citing footnotes, then s/he can translate (Romanize) them into English alphabetically.
12. Illustrations, figures and tables:

    The numbering of all illustrations, tables and figures should be consecutive (for example: Table No. 1, Figure No. 1). In case of multiple numbering divisions, each division should be classified (for example Figure 1 (A), Figure 1 (B).

    The captions of the figures should be descriptive and written in bold, such as: Figure 1, Figure 2.

    Each illustration, figure or table should be provided as a separate file named and numbered according to the research and in high resolution that is suitable for design.

    Note: The author must obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures in the journal published elsewhere. Failure to provide this permission can result in images not being included.

13. Supplying Digital Images:

    Most images sourced on the internet will not be of a high enough resolution and cannot be used. If you locate an image on the internet, you will need to find its original source and request a high-resolution version.

    You will need to clear permission as necessary for the use of images.

    Photographs 

    Scan at a minimum of 300 dpi and save as a TIFF image for PC.

    Final size of scan to be approximately 250 x 200 mm.

    Line illustrations (maps, graphs, etc.)

    Scan at a minimum of 1200 dpi and save as a TIFF image for PC.

    Final size of the scan to be approximately 250 x 200 mm.

    Tints

    Tints used on computer-generated illustrations should be no lighter than 15% and no darker than 70%. Do not use pattern fills. Do not use color fills.

    Line weights Bearing in mind that line illustrations supplied at approximately 250 x 200 mm will be reduced in size to fit comfortably on an average page size of 234 x 156 mm, the line weights will be reduced correspondingly. Do not, therefore, use a line weight of less than 1 point/pixel in illustrations.

    Illustration file types TIFF

    Save files as TIFF images for PC. We would prefer you not to compress TIFF files; if you need to compress them, use a lossless compression software package such as LZW.

    EPS

    Images can also be supplied as EPS files, with a laser print for identification. EPS files cannot be altered; if we are required to edit these files, the original application files should be supplied with all fonts used.

    Other digital formats

    JPGs and images downloaded from the internet are normally low resolution (72 dpi) and are not usually suitable for reproduction by conventional printing methods.

    Unacceptable file types: MS Word and Excel.

    Print images

    If you are supplying print images, mark each illustration very lightly on the back (in the corner) in a soft pencil with its number (e.g. Figure 4.1).

Author Forms 

• Submission Cover Letter ( EN - AR )

• Author/s Declaration and Consent Form ( EN - AR )

• Author’s response to reviewers’ comments Form ( EN - AR )

Publication Ethics

1. QU Press’s Commitment to Research Excellence:

   In line with its commitment to support Qatar University’s “Research Pillars and Priorities” and the “United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals” through the publishing of impactful research studies that adhere to universal research ethics and standards, in line with Qatar University’s “Research Ethics and Integrity”; QU Press’s mission is to support QU’s vibrant research culture through the promulgation of rigorous ethical guidelines on all stakeholders including editors, authors and reviewers as detailed below.

   In order to do so, QU Press extensively works with IRL editors to draft policies and processes that support the abovementioned mission that are in line with the core principles and practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), as enlisted below.  

2. IRL’s Commitment to Research Ethics:

   IRL is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards throughout all editorial processes, from initial review to acceptance and publishing, in order to guarantee research integrity, value and impact of its publications.

   Subsequently, IRL and QU Press developed detailed policies and processes in line with international standards, in both English and Arabic languages, for all involved stakeholders in the publishing process starting with authors, reviewers and editors.

   By promoting and producing impactful legal research, IRL aspires to be the national and regional leader of legal research excellence to promote justice, and sustainable social and economic growth.

3. Commitment to Common Higher Research and Corporate Values:

   Both IRL and QU Press are committed to the attainment of the below-shown research and corporate values that motivate all stakeholders, starting with authors, editors and peer-reviewers to attain a common purpose of research excellence:

   1. Innovation and creativity through filling important topical research gaps that affect the largest number of persons, while avoiding descriptive and redundant research.
   2. Practicality and applicability of research objectives hypotheses and outcomes.
   3. Objectivity and impartiality of the comprehensive research process.
   4. Study of the influencing cultural, historical and socio-economic contexts.
   5. Building on strong and obvious correlations for the proposed hypotheses and new theories.
   6. Accepting and declaring limitations in order to determine gaps and future studies orientations.
   7. Guaranteeing research ethics institutional and individual approvals.
   8. Cautiousness and warning of risks and their impact on research hypotheses and results.
   9. Research validation and improvement through testing and review.
   10. Application of human rights and international law principles.
   11. Encouraging the principle of peace, cooperation and partnerships.
   12. Freedom of expression.
   13. Equity and justice for all.
   14. Sustainable social and economic growth as the highest aim.
   15. Knowledge promotion.

4. Violation of Research Ethics: 

   IRL and QU Press are committed to monitor the occurrence of the below ethical violations from any stakeholder involved in the publishing process including authors, reviewers and editor in order to eliminate their happening – as much as possible - and take the necessary actions to prevent them. This includes:

   1. Plagiarism

      Prevention of plagiarism is essential as it provides scientific and academic integrity. All submissions to IRL journal are screened for plagiarism and similarities through iThenticate software. Plagiarism is not only detected and proven by plagiarism software, however, it is also related to the misuse of published articles, or the re-use of the work and/or words of others, without permission or without appropriately citing or quoting the work. Plagiarism takes several forms such as self-plagiarism where the author re-uses his own publications unethically or translation related plagiarism where the author uses foreign language research in his own study without permission or quotation.

      In order to prevent this matter, IRL authors sign an “Author Declaration Form” at the initial submission stage. In case of plagiarism, misuse of published articles, and/or illegal distribution of research papers, IRL is very proactive in the necessary actions it takes as to prevent such unethical action.

   2. Multiple or segmented publishing: 

      Often associated with redundant publication, the segmenting of a large study into two or more publications or the paraphrasing of a somewhat similar study for the same author are unacceptable practices and can have serious negative consequences for the integrity of the scientific publication.

   3. Failure to acknowledge sources: 

      Includes all forms of plagiarism intentionally or unintentionally omitting to cite sources. Any statement, observation, or argument that have been previously published by the author or other works should be accompanied by the relevant citation.

   4. Failure to enlist authors appropriately: 

      It is about omitting the contribution of specific authors or adding other authors’ names inappropriately for any undisclosed conflict of interests or other personal gains. This includes ghostwriting where the identity of an author is hidden, honorary author through the mentioning of a highly regarded author to gain impact, gift or coercive authorship because of institutional or other form of power.

      Failure to enlist the authors is the proper order is also included as well as the use of pseudonyms which is the use of a false name for the purposes of concealment of Author’s identity.

   5. Failure to ensure research and institutional approvals: 

      Failure to ensure appropriate institutional and ethical subject approvals imposed by professional bodies or research funders. This also includes breaches of duty care and confidentiality for human subjects including failure to take prior consent, or provide information and consent to exposure to risks and dangers or safeguard against them whether physical, emotional, intellectual, or reputational of participants.

   6. Falsification of facts or data: 

      Alteration of primary or secondary or any other data through addition, omission, or distortion intended to tailor for personal research aims or to deceptively promote or devalue or otherwise mislead others’ work.

   7. Biases in all its forms: 

      Explicit or implicit sympathy or antipathy toward a specific school of thought that results in the distortion or unfair representation of scientific or intellectual rigor that respond to ideological, political or other personal tendencies.

   8. Offensive language use: 

      Malicious use of logical fallacies or inflammatory language practice such as use of hateful, extremist or intimidating language intended to attract readers or offense for the credibility, or reputation of others work.

   9. Discrimination: 

      Preferential treatment toward any individual or group based on their race, gender, age, marital or parental status, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors

   10. Undisclosed errors or acknowledgments: 

       Failure to report research errors discovered after or before publication to the publisher and/or editor shall lead to a correction or retraction, according to the nature of the complaint and case.

5. Compliance to Ethical Standards by all Stakeholders: 
   1. IRL’s Editors Compliance: 

      - Guarantee the scholarly quality of IRL’s publications. This includes the evaluation and identification of articles that are suitable for review, external peer review, and publishing in the journal.

      - Complete the review process based on the scientific and intellectual content objectively and without any discrimination.

      - Take appropriate action against plagiarism, libel, and copyright and intellectual rights infringement.

      - Allocate specialized peer reviewers that are objective, unbiased and do not hold any competing interests.

      - Make unbiased editorial decisions, to ensure an objective and fair peer review process.

      - Maintain the confidentiality of research ideas and information during the evaluation and peer review process, and not use them for personal benefit.

      - Refrain from evaluating research that presents any conflict of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions connected to the papers.

      - Ensure that authors perform the necessary revisions that are recommended by the reviewers.

      - Maintain the scientific integrity of the published articles by making the necessary corrections or rejecting and withdrawing the article when needed, and investigating when suspected of poor research integrity.

      - Take appropriate measures when complaints related to publishing ethics are submitted regarding a published article. Such measures will generally include contacting the author of the research paper and giving due consideration to the respective complaint or claims made, and may also include communications to the relevant institutions and research bodies, and if the complaint is upheld, the publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other note, as may be relevant.

   2. Reviewers Compliance : 

      IRL reviewers should follow IRL’s peer review process mentioned on the journal’s website and comply with the following ethical considerations:

      - Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

      - Research information or ideas obtained through peer-review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. They must not be shown to, or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

      - Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

      - Reviewers should advise on relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. A reviewer should also call to the editor’s attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

      - Reviewers should not accept the invitation to review a research paper in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

   3. Authors Compliance: 

      IRL authors should carefully read IRL’s authorship policy mentioned on the journal’s website.

      Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should in any event retain such data for a reasonable time after publication. Authors should get necessary ethical approvals from involved institutions and individuals in the research.

      Authors automatically commit to the requirement that the work has been conducted in an ethical and responsible manner and that it complies with all mentioned standards once they submit their research for publishing with IRL.

   4. QU Press Compliance:

      QU Press being the umbrella for the promotion of rigorous scholarly work and research dissemination at Qatar University through the publishing of its academic journals, QU Press works closely with IRL editors to:

      - Draft, review and mandate all editorial and publishing policies and processes to be in line with international standards, required by leading indexing and ranking agencies.

      - Oversee the editorial quality of the published material in IRL and advise on any required improvements on this matter.

      - Streamline the editorial and production processes.

      - Handle the production and publication of IRL’s content electronically and in print.

      - Disseminate IRL’s scholarly work to the widest academic audience possible.

      - Help IRL in investigating on any allegation or complaints on published papers to issue corrections or retractions.

      - Collaborating with IRL in formulating objectives and plans for continuous improvement, further indexing and impact.

      - Develop a sustainable not-for-profit continuous improvement plan for spreading knowledge.

Peer Review Process

The peer review of articles is a cornerstone of the publication process, which improves the publishing quality of our journals. Peer review is designed to select valid research of significant impact.

As a double-blind peer reviewed journal, we rely on expert comments of reviewers to ensure the quality of the papers we publish. Feedback from reviewers is conveyed to authors which frequently results in manuscripts being revised by the author and refined in order to reach the highest publishing quality.

• Initial evaluation stage

• All new submissions are screened for compliance with checklist requirements and adherence to the Authors Guide. The ones that pass are then evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Committee for consideration to assignment for peer review. Authors of rejected articles at initial evaluation stage will normally be informed within one month of receipt.

• Peer review stage

• Referring to our policy, each article is evaluated by two independent reviewers. Referees can either accept the article without any modification, with minor modifications, with substantial amendments, or reject the article.

  Whilst the reviewers are selected by the editorial committee, the authors’ names are not revealed in any way to the reviewers. The blinding of reviews is intended to favor a scholarly evaluation while fostering critical and honest reviews. Reviewers are asked to provide anonymous comments to the author and also given the option of providing confidential comments to the editor. Should the reviewers’ reports contradict one another or a report is unduly delayed, a further expert opinion will be sought. Depending on the availability of reviewers, the peer review typically takes around two months.

  Review decisions require authors to work on a revised version of their article based on the review comments and feedback. Authors would be given a timeframe of around a week or two, depending on the changes required. In case the required amendments are substantial, the author is granted a longer period, which may stretch up to a month and a half.

  The Editor-in-Chief and the journal’s Editorial Committee issue the final recommendations regarding the acceptance or rejection of a specific paper, in light of the peer reviewers’ recommendations and opinions. The author is notified about the final decision within a period ranging between two months to a maximum of six months from the submission date.

• Reviewer’s role

• Reviewing an article written by a fellow researcher is a time-consuming responsibility. Hence, IRL’s Editorial Board, authors, and audiences appreciate your willingness to accept this responsibility and your dedication. IRL adheres to a double-blind peer review process that is rapid and fair, and ensures a high quality of articles published. In so doing, IRL needs reviewers who can provide insightful and helpful comments on submitted articles with a turnaround time of about two weeks. Maintaining IRL as a scientific journal of high quality depends on reviewers’ ability to be objective and fair in their evaluation of articles.

• How the reviewers are selected

• Selection of reviewers is critical to the publication process, and we base our choice on many criteria, including expertise, reputation, specific recommendations and our own previous experience of a reviewer. The reviewer is required to judge the quality of the research, analyze and assess the validity of its assumptions and assess the significance of the work to the field.

• Using the online review system

• The peer review and editorial processes are facilitated through Open Journal Systems (OJS), an online editorial system. The system sends the reviewer an email notification with a review request, initiated by the Editor-in-Chief. The online system will also notify about delays in the reviewing and confirm a successful review submission. The email notifications contain stepwise instructions about the actions needed at each stage along with the link to the respective manuscript (accessible only after login).

  The Public Knowledge Project provides a free online course on how to become a Reviewer including guidance on the use of the OJS system. If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact the editorial team.

  Accepted articles go through copyediting and typesetting prior to publication.

• Writing the review report

• The primary purpose of reviewing is to provide us the information needed to reach a decision. The review should also instruct the authors on how they can strengthen their paper to the point where it may be acceptable.

  A negative review should explain to the authors the weaknesses of their manuscript, so that rejected authors can understand the basis for the decision and see in broad terms what needs to be done to improve the manuscript for publication

  Review reports are required to provide in-depth feedback on the following four points:

  1. Scholarly quality: quality and depth of research; originality of the contribution including presence of new and creative thought; and validity and reliability of the argument.

  2. Literary quality: writing style and structure, including paragraphing, language, syntax, and flow.

  3. Use of resources: including over/under-referencing, sources quality, relationship of sources to the text.

  4. Benefit to the readers and the advancement of the field.

• Review Recommendation

• Reviewers shall provide one of the following recommendations to the editor:

  1. Accept submission: The study and conclusions are sound and the manuscript is written clearly enough that it may be accepted without modifications.

  2. Accept with minor revision: The study requires some minor modifications or re-writing which could be addressed by the authors in a short timeframe to be acceptable for publication.

  3. Substantial Revision: The study needs significant re-writing, further research and improvement in order to be considered for publication. The review highlights gaps or the need for reorganization of the manuscript. The reviewer feels that the recommended modifications require another round of reviews.

  4. Decline: The study does not provide and reliable or valid information is of limited interest to the field or requires extensive additional research or thorough re-writing before being suitable for publication.

• Promptness:

• Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

• Confidentiality:

• Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to, or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

• Standards of Objectivity:

• Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

• Acknowledgement of Sources:

• Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

• Conflict of interest and right of refusal:

• Reviewers should refuse to review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

  Reviewers who feel not able to provide an objective judgement on the research reported in a manuscript should refuse to review the manuscript.

• Handling ethical concerns

• Sometimes as a reviewer, you may discover more serious ethical breaches. You may recognize much or all of the paper, because it has been published previously by the same authors. Alternatively, you may find text or ideas, which have been copied without permission or appropriate attribution from the works of others.

  In the case of suspected duplicative publication or plagiarism, you should obtain and carefully examine copies of the original documents to confirm your initial impression. You should then contact us in confidence to discuss the problem.

  QU Press follows the Code of Conduct of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the COPE Flowcharts for Resolving Cases of Suspected Misconduct.

Open Access Policy

Sharing of the research results is an important component of the research process; research can only advance by sharing the results, and the value of an investment in research is only maximized through wide use of its results. Open Access articles are free to all interested readers, and the publishers place no financial or copyright barriers between the readers and the article. On this basis, IRL provides immediate open access to its content where all content is freely available and accessible without charge. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from IRL or the author, provided the author and the journal are properly credited.

Benefits of open access for authors include:

1. Free access for all users worldwide.

2. Authors retain copyright to their work.

3. Increased visibility and readership.

4. Rapid publication.

5. No spatial constraints.

Free of charge publishing 

IRL does not charge any Article Processing Charges (APC), submission charges, or any another fee. The entire process of article publication is free of charge.

Copyrights Notices

IRL provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

IRL is an open access journal, which means all its content is freely available without charge to the user or institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author as long as they cite the source.

Upon submission and acceptance, the author(s) grants the journal and Qatar University Press a license to publish, including to display, store, copy, and reuse the content under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-commercial use of the material, appropriate credit, and indication if changes in the material were made. This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and build upon the material for non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution/reference to the original article. The full terms of this license may be seen at this link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 

This license does not apply to third-party materials that display a copyright notice to prohibit copying. Unless the third-party content is also subject to a CC-BY Creative Commons attribution license, or an equally permissive license, the author(s) must comply with any third-party copyright notices.

Authors may also reuse the Abstract and Citation information (e.g. Title, Author name, Publication dates) of their article anywhere at any time including social media such as Facebook, blogs and Twitter, provided that where possible a link is included back to the article on the journal site.

Archiving Policy

The journal is archived through PKP OJS System, LOCKSS and Qatar University’s Digital Hub built on DSpace platform.